I made the Watson panty a whole bunch of times but the bra pattern sat for awhile before I felt ready for it. Finally I was convinced when I had enough silk scraps left over -- this is stretch silk which I dyed last summer using the Shibori technique. I made a Renfrew from a friend out of it, hence the scraps. In order to stabilise the fabric, I cut two layers of everything. I cut a 32C. My spray glue came in handy! I glued the fabric in half and then cut double thickness of each piece, except for the front part, where I had to cut it on the fold anyway and just cut two.
According to the size chart I should be a 34D. I didn't believe the size chart. I cut a 32C. My silk is pretty stretchy and my boobs are pretty small. I think that I will never have believable bust measures since my high bust is bigger than my normal bust size due, most likely, to my back muscles.
I basted the front together, which is recommended by the instructions, then sewed all the double pieces as one unit. Had some trouble figuring out what I should use to finish the front cup, but I went with lingerie elastic as that is all I had. I don't know if I had high expectations due to other people's pictures, or if I thought making two Marlboroughs turned me into a bra genius, but I had no fun making this bra and I don't like it. AND I know there isn't a good reason for the latter. My Pfaff makes bra making catastrophic. A short zig-zag stitch doesn't get caught by the IDT foot and the fabric sits still and makes lumps of thread. Anything horizontally uneven gets pushed to the side and so, for instance, sewing on the clasp at the back was terribly frustrating.
For a next version I would try the shorter one so that it feels like a normal bra. I would use much finer elastic on the front and top. I really don't like the look of this wider elastic (and something can also be said for pretty findings - I'd match the elastic colour instead of mixing black and white). I would round the cups at the bust point and take a tiny bit of fabric out of the right one. I might also take a tiny wedge out of the lateral side of the outer cup. I always have gaping there and I don't know if pulling the elastic tighter would be enough, or if I would be better off with slightly less fabric in that spot. The 32C was the right size though, so I wouldn't change that. I usually wear a 32C or 32D bra so this is consistent with RTW for me.
In terms of bramaking in general, I think that this is almost comparable to the Marlborough for a first bra pattern. I think the Marlborough has more hand holding details and it is possible to get a better result. Here I found the intersection of the cups and also the top of the cup where it goes through the strap to be spots where the results could vary a lot. But overall I don't think there is a huge difference. And I think some of my lack of excitement is that I am not sure what I would do with a bra like this. I am pretty partial to underwires in my daily life. Maybe the shorter Watson would convince me more.
According to the size chart I should be a 34D. I didn't believe the size chart. I cut a 32C. My silk is pretty stretchy and my boobs are pretty small. I think that I will never have believable bust measures since my high bust is bigger than my normal bust size due, most likely, to my back muscles.
I basted the front together, which is recommended by the instructions, then sewed all the double pieces as one unit. Had some trouble figuring out what I should use to finish the front cup, but I went with lingerie elastic as that is all I had. I don't know if I had high expectations due to other people's pictures, or if I thought making two Marlboroughs turned me into a bra genius, but I had no fun making this bra and I don't like it. AND I know there isn't a good reason for the latter. My Pfaff makes bra making catastrophic. A short zig-zag stitch doesn't get caught by the IDT foot and the fabric sits still and makes lumps of thread. Anything horizontally uneven gets pushed to the side and so, for instance, sewing on the clasp at the back was terribly frustrating.
For a next version I would try the shorter one so that it feels like a normal bra. I would use much finer elastic on the front and top. I really don't like the look of this wider elastic (and something can also be said for pretty findings - I'd match the elastic colour instead of mixing black and white). I would round the cups at the bust point and take a tiny bit of fabric out of the right one. I might also take a tiny wedge out of the lateral side of the outer cup. I always have gaping there and I don't know if pulling the elastic tighter would be enough, or if I would be better off with slightly less fabric in that spot. The 32C was the right size though, so I wouldn't change that. I usually wear a 32C or 32D bra so this is consistent with RTW for me.
In terms of bramaking in general, I think that this is almost comparable to the Marlborough for a first bra pattern. I think the Marlborough has more hand holding details and it is possible to get a better result. Here I found the intersection of the cups and also the top of the cup where it goes through the strap to be spots where the results could vary a lot. But overall I don't think there is a huge difference. And I think some of my lack of excitement is that I am not sure what I would do with a bra like this. I am pretty partial to underwires in my daily life. Maybe the shorter Watson would convince me more.
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