Last weekend, I cut and sewed up a 2nd bra from the Bravo Bella pattern. I'm working through proper fitting. It helps me see numbers and compare things side by side, and likely this may help you. In this post, I'm going to cover sizing and fitting results from V1 to V2 of Bravo Bella 2.
Starting Bra #2 opened a whole new world. I'm suddenly Bra woman. I've like 3 or 4 posts right now queueing on the topics of drafting, making, and fitting bras. I'm going to post them as a mini series and I've been brainstorming names. I think I settled on *the one*.
My Bra series shall be "Lifted, Gifted, Higher...".
Who can tell me the name of the artist who sang the lyrics in my title WITHOUT Google-ing it. Now, NO CHEATING you guys. :D Please tell me in the comments! And, like Stephen Frye on QI, I shall give points for interesting answers and negative points for the obvious answers. Watch the show, my friends. Hysterical.
Starting Bra #2 opened a whole new world. I'm suddenly Bra woman. I've like 3 or 4 posts right now queueing on the topics of drafting, making, and fitting bras. I'm going to post them as a mini series and I've been brainstorming names. I think I settled on *the one*.
My Bra series shall be "Lifted, Gifted, Higher...".
Who can tell me the name of the artist who sang the lyrics in my title WITHOUT Google-ing it. Now, NO CHEATING you guys. :D Please tell me in the comments! And, like Stephen Frye on QI, I shall give points for interesting answers and negative points for the obvious answers. Watch the show, my friends. Hysterical.
Bravo Bella 2 - Bra V1
Size: 40 band, 42 I cup. This is basically a 42 J.
Size chosen per recommendation from Bravo Bella Bras when measured at Sew Expo. I don't have those #'s available to share at this time.
(HOLY Sha wow wow. I usually buy a 38DDD. Color me shocked. Ignore sizes. Focus on fit, Gwen.)
Fabrics / Kit:
Bravo Bella basic. Single knit for the cups, powernet for the band.
Fit:
Result: Too big. It doesn't fit, I don't wear it. Learning process on construction and fitting. When worn under a shirt, odd wrinkles appear along the cross cup seam. They are very noticeable. Uncomfortable. Interesting. Must try again.
Size chosen per recommendation from Bravo Bella Bras when measured at Sew Expo. I don't have those #'s available to share at this time.
(HOLY Sha wow wow. I usually buy a 38DDD. Color me shocked. Ignore sizes. Focus on fit, Gwen.)
Fabrics / Kit:
Bravo Bella basic. Single knit for the cups, powernet for the band.
Fit:
- Cups - Too large in the cups
- Band - too large in the band.
- Underwire - the underwires poke into my sternum and side chest in the under arm area. Ouch!
Result: Too big. It doesn't fit, I don't wear it. Learning process on construction and fitting. When worn under a shirt, odd wrinkles appear along the cross cup seam. They are very noticeable. Uncomfortable. Interesting. Must try again.
Bravo Bella 2 - Bra V2
Size: 38 band, 38F cup.
High bust 39.5. Bust 45. Ribcage 37.5. I selected this pattern based on current measurements and followed the size selection method within the BravoBella pattern.
(Note: This is not an apples to apples comparison. I have lost a couple inches on my bust over the last year and most of those inches likely melted off with my health recovery followed by increase of walking, skating and hiking since January of this year. Between Sew Expo in March and September, my measurements have changed. Thus, my sizing experiment is skewed because I am not the same size from bra #1 to bra #2.)
Fabrics / Kit:
My own combo. A firm double knit for the cups, + powernet for the lower cup, powernet for the band.
Fit:
Result: Too small. Not worth wearing. It's close, but somethings just not quite right. But!! I will hang onto it to review what I did. Made the mistake of getting rid of the V1 bra and couldn't look at my construction as I made V2.
Next time I will round the cups, test a few different cup sizes, increase the height of the band. I liked the underwire length. I'll definitely trim the rest of the wires I have in my stash.
I'm not sure if I'd use powernet on the lower cup again. That added a lot of bulk at the cross cup seam. I thought it would lift more, but with the weird wrinkles, it didn't work as anticipated. It would likely be better with butted seams, otherwise known as Flatlock. Good to know by experimentation and discovery with powernet.
Interesting self discovery.
When I cut it out, I intuitively knew Bra V2 wouldn't fit. I was aware consciously and subconsciously. The feeling lingered like smoke from incense. But, I continued sewing anyway. It felt good. I really enjoyed constructing a complicated (seemingly though it really isn't) piece. It really didn't matter that it wouldn't fit. I was fully captivated by how I was turning a few pieces of wire, netting, fabric and elastic into a 3-dimensional supportive garment.
High bust 39.5. Bust 45. Ribcage 37.5. I selected this pattern based on current measurements and followed the size selection method within the BravoBella pattern.
(Note: This is not an apples to apples comparison. I have lost a couple inches on my bust over the last year and most of those inches likely melted off with my health recovery followed by increase of walking, skating and hiking since January of this year. Between Sew Expo in March and September, my measurements have changed. Thus, my sizing experiment is skewed because I am not the same size from bra #1 to bra #2.)
Fabrics / Kit:
My own combo. A firm double knit for the cups, + powernet for the lower cup, powernet for the band.
Fit:
- Cups - too small, but also have wrinkles as though I cannot fill out the full cup. Instead of filling out the cup, I'm overflowing the top of the cup and pushing out the sides in the top underarm area. Not pretty. Squishy and flat like. Odd. I think my breasts are not quite as pointy as this pattern.
- Band - may be closer to an accurate fit, but it is also too small height wise. Spillage over the top and bottom of the band occurs all around.
- Underwire - GREAT! I cut ~ 1/2" off of one end. Just as an experiement.
Result: Too small. Not worth wearing. It's close, but somethings just not quite right. But!! I will hang onto it to review what I did. Made the mistake of getting rid of the V1 bra and couldn't look at my construction as I made V2.
Next time I will round the cups, test a few different cup sizes, increase the height of the band. I liked the underwire length. I'll definitely trim the rest of the wires I have in my stash.
I'm not sure if I'd use powernet on the lower cup again. That added a lot of bulk at the cross cup seam. I thought it would lift more, but with the weird wrinkles, it didn't work as anticipated. It would likely be better with butted seams, otherwise known as Flatlock. Good to know by experimentation and discovery with powernet.
Interesting self discovery.
When I cut it out, I intuitively knew Bra V2 wouldn't fit. I was aware consciously and subconsciously. The feeling lingered like smoke from incense. But, I continued sewing anyway. It felt good. I really enjoyed constructing a complicated (seemingly though it really isn't) piece. It really didn't matter that it wouldn't fit. I was fully captivated by how I was turning a few pieces of wire, netting, fabric and elastic into a 3-dimensional supportive garment.
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