Babycakes inspired Bra

With one day of Bank holiday sewing left before going back to work tomorrow I wanted to make something fast that used up some supplies I had kicking around the house. My usual go-to project would be a pair of lacey knickers, but this weekend I wanted to mix it up a bit and make a bra to match my last pair. Although the worst thing about losing weight was my boobs getting smaller, this actually comes in pretty handy for making soft-cup bras!

The pattern I used is based on the Babycakes Bra pattern from Secrets of Sewing Lingerie book, however instead of cutting two separate cups I extended the shape and cut on the fold to make one solid front panel. I then cut the wings from my favourite lace fabric- again cutting on the fold so I wouldn't have to mess about with a fastening. Initially my plan was to make the band out of the red velvet I used on my knickers to that we could have a synchronised set. I made quite a good band, but actually attaching it to the bra I had made was just a nightmare! So I unpicked and thought I could make some rouleau velvet straps instead. Well. that didn't work so well either! The rouleau was too bulky and really wasn't getting the job done. So I sacrificed the velvet dream and attached some spare lace to some elastic, which in fairness does look pretty neat.
I am currently toying with the idea of making the centre of the bra (where the darts currently are) a panel and using my velvet in the centre. I'm not too sure how easy it would be to work out the dimensions of the panel- one wrong move and I could have some dodgy looking boobs!

Anyway, despite it not quite being what I set out to do, I am pretty happy with it! I love adding a lace trim to underwear- I was pretty lucky to find a bundle of stretchy wide black lace in Hillsborough that was ideal for lower edge. It also came in handy for hiding any dodgy stitching on the elastic!

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Currently listening to: Boys Boys Boys, Lady Gaga