Boylston Bra review

This weekend I finished up my last open order. I almost never get down to zero open orders on Etsy--there is almost always a bridal order awaiting supplies that keeps me from getting all the way down to zero.  So when I shipped it off, I wasn't quite sure what to do for my Saturday night sewing.  I probably should work on my sewing patterns. I have two I'm working on simultaneously, and the only thing holding me back from sending them to testers is that I am offering them in new sizes, and want to test those new sizes myself first.

 

Anyway, I've been working on bra sewing off and on for awhile.  I recently bought a bunch of elastics and notions and patterns, and then everything has sat in a tote for months.  So I pulled out the pattern I most wanted to make, and sewed it up yesterday and today.

 Isn't it beautiful? This is the Boylston Bra by Orange Lingerie. I have also purchased her Marlborough pattern.  With both of them, I had issues figuring out my size.  I stitched a few muslins up and determined that I needed to go for the largest size (which is not what I have to sew for any other pattern, but hers run small). This pattern is made to work with foam.  So I also sewed foam cups to go inside.  You can see them in the below picture.

There are not instructions on how to do that in the pattern. I found instructions elsewhere.  That's definitely a deficiency in the pattern--why say that this is compatible with foam, but not give instructions?

Oh, the problems I ran into.  First off, there were a couple typos in the pattern that I emailed her about.  The cutting instructions only tell you to cut one of each cup piece.  That's easy enough to figure out--just cut two, mirrored.  One of the pieces is basically a triangle with curved sides.  It is super easy to turn this the wrong way.  So you have to be very careful. I kept the paper pattern piece on top of the fabric pieces so that I could see how the orientation was supposed to be.

I didn't always find the instruction super clear, but since it's just my third bra, I think it's just my unfamiliarity.  I was able to figure everything out, and I think the final product is nice.  Oh, yet another problem--I made this with the size of elastics suggested.  But my straps fit a 2-hook, not a 3-hook like it called for.  I fixed this mostly by aligning the center of the strap elastic with the edge of the fabric, making it a bit wider.

(Update: I emailed the pattern designer about the cutting instructions and strap length, and she will fix the cutting instructions.  The strap length is completely my fault--I had my whole bra cut and sew while the powernet was getting dyed and dried.  When I cut it out, I used the frame piece instead of the band piece.  So the hook and eye issue AND strap issue would have been resolved if I had used the correct piece! **Egg on face**).

The biggest pattern typo was the length of the strap elastic.  It was way too short.  I ended up guessing and made it too long instead.  So I had to make it shorter.  It was still too long. I gave up, because it's never going to fit me.  The cups gape horribly.  I took tucks next to the straps and next to the center.  The straps are at a very weird angle to the cups.  The tuck helped that.  The band is too short for me, even though I added half an inch in length to each band piece.

Sigh.  It's sad to spend all that time on something completely unwearable, but every bra teaches me something new.  Interesting that my very first bra was the only one I've been able to actually wear, but I sewed it while nursing and the cups are too big now.  My next one will be in that pattern again (Pinup Girls Shelley Bra).

Tomorrow I'll be back to my regularly scheduled purse sewing!