bra cup question

Dear ml,

Bra cups are molded, so I don't know how successful your results would be with making home-made ones. But, what about using an old padded bra? The cups can be cut to shape for your triangle top.

Teri

In the old days, bra makers quilted their top fabric to a thin layer of fiberfill and a nylon lining. You can also stitch concentric half circles under the point to give it some, but not a lot of, uplift.

Miz Spike

_mL_ wrote: ...

... Old shoulder pads removed from RTW by those of us with linebacker shoulders.

HTH

--Karen D. who has bags and bags of these; use 'em to stuff pillows

Joan coming out of the lurk mode (but I do read this group daily) to say a big AMEN to the statement of "us with linebacker shoulders."

thanks for the suggestions. this is a very helpful group! :-)

I'm a big proponent of reuse. How about cutting out the bra cups from thrift-store swimsuits? Around here the suits go for pretty cheap, though I don't know what the retail price is for new cups. On the other end of the scale, I once investigated purchasing the flat foam-fabric that makes bras for swim suits. It comes really wide, like

60", but costs $15-25 per yard :-( If you were going to be making padded triangle tops for years to come, it might be worth it to invest in 1/8 of a yard. That would probably last forever!

Pora

Great idea, hadn't thought of that! We have a lot of thrift stores in my neighborhood.

I've purchased skirts and dresses from thrift stores so that i could have the fabric to make something else. Sometimes even purchasing an old blouse just for the buttons is cheaper than buying the buttons new. Also made some skirts out of too-short used jeans. I love the idea of re-styling used clothing and making something completely new out of it, as long as the fabric is still in good condition.

Me too. I'm in the process of preparing to sew my own fashion bras since my size is hard to find. (My favorite bra is out getting a pattern made from it.) I've been buying beautiful colored bras with wide 3-hook backs at Ross, TJ Maxx and Marshalls (can't find any at thrift stores) and taking them apart for all the neat bits. Colored back closures, straps with colored sliders, colored underwire channeling, and matching plush elastics and laces. And I've also bought a few cami-boyshort sets off the clearance racks. I'll cut up the camis to make the bras and then will have complete sets with the boyshorts. I'm positively champing to get sewing!!!

How did you come to make your own swimsuits? I can get good results with the sewing part but never do well with the fitting...

Pora

That's great! I don't think i'd have the patience to make bras, they seem so intricate. I have experimented with making panties and tap pants though. I'd be interested in following up on how this works out for you.

I haven't tried making the bottoms in a long time, used to make bikinis when i was a teenager (and had more patience and better eyesight!) :-) Now that i'm older i want more coverage on the rear so i'll be experimenting with those. The tops are easy for me to fit, i'm not very big in that department. :-) I'd like to make some to give away, too. The triangle ones don't need much fitting becuz they adjust so much. Probably wouldn't be too suitable for larger sizes though. I thought they might look pretty to make to match shorts or skirts for summertime, there's always enough pieces left over after i cut those out. I've seen some really cool fabrics in bright playful prints (i'm from the hippie era and still love that stuff). Too bright for me to wear for a top or skirt, but maybe for a swim top, halter, scarf, bag, or ??? Ever see some fabric you just LOVE but really couldn't wear anything made out of it? :-)

I love this idea of cutting apart thrift store stuff for the parts, kind of like getting a car for parts. I thought of doing it, but that it would be a lot of work. I guess a skirt would be a top jeans that fit, opening the inside legs and adding a gosset of denim. People make stadium blankets with patches of used denim. those things must be heavy to carry around. I imagine would be a printed flannel plaid backing. It would be a rag quilt with flannel in the middle for the batting. I would like to know how to restyle old clothes to make something that would actually fit. Maybe someday, I will come across something useful at a garage sale.

During the hippie days, my sister and I made that Simplicity halter top pattern. In California, companies by the beach made bikini tops to order, but I thought they would only be for the smaller ladies, and not suitable for larger endowed women. I always wanted to get one and wear it. As I am from the midwest, I am not inclined to exercise myself to death for that purpose unfortunately. One winter, I wore hot pants. I think I had knitted them. boy was I cold. They used to sell this polyester knit fabric for home sewers with art nouveau themes, and it was fun to sew, even the polyester suit knits were fun and forgiving due to the stretch. I will be nostalgic for the 1970's for a while. I strung my own beads, tried macrame, knit, crocheted and the like. Now, it is all about embroidery and sewing clothes, warm enough for the midwest winters. that means sewing with that amazing fleece. I have lots of tips on sewing but not for sewing bras or bathing suits. However, my sister can actually make these and taught a course in it.

One of the styles I've been seeing is a skirt with a yoke made out of the top part of a pair of jeans (the bottom of the zipper) and then tiers of gauze.

-- Jenn Ridley : snipped-for-privacy@chartermi.net

I've seen some totebags made from old jeans. They're kind of cute!

Whoops, I think I responded to your post in my head, but not in reality! ;-)

Thanks for being interested in my bra-making adventure. It's something I've wanted to do all my life. (I'm turning 40 today...) I just posted another message that I went ahead and made a bra pattern from another bra, while waiting for the one to be returned from the pattern cloner. I'll start cutting tonight and see what happens! I've never had good luck sewing my own panties, despite having tried several times.

Re: adorable fabrics. When I was in high school I fell in love with a royal blue/purple check silk dupioni. I bought it and made a tea length prom dress with a strapless basque bodice. Used black velvet for the bodice and the dupioni for the skirt. It was absolutely darling but the person I asked to the prom was already going with someone else! Lol. I think I reused that fabric too, tee hee.

You're nice to make bikini tops to give away.

Pora

i hope you had a chance to wear that dress SOMEwhere... :-)

Thanks. i think it's just that a person only needs so many bikini tops!

Speaking of bras, my husband always cracks me up when the ads in the Sunday paper have bra sales. He'll make remarks about the "buy one get one free" that "don't you need two anyway?" or "half off all bras" and he's like gotta SEE that, those women running around with their bras half off.... LOL Or "buy two, get one free", that one's really puzzling.... "three? who has three?" ;-)

A witty guy I know wrote a song about those ads, and called it, "My Macy's Girl." Apparently those photos were the highlight of his day. I guess being an engineering grad student wasn't all that exciting.

BTW, just finished cutting out the fashion fabric for my first home-sewn bra! But I discovered while shopping on line for hardware that the wires are unusual. It's a British brand, so I had to order from the UK to get exactly the right wires. Costly shipping, bleah.

Pora