Simplicity 8228, Racerback Bra

I've made two of Madalynne's Free Lingerie Patterns available from her website and I have been really pleased with the outcomes so far. I thought it only right to purchase a pattern from her collaboration with Simplicity patterns and see if this was as good as the freebies!

This bra had been on my to-make pile since I got the pattern for my birthday in May last year. I'd been put off by not having any 8" wide double galloon stretch lace in my stash. I recently had a big stash busting session and listed things I had, and things I needed to make those things I had into actual things. Turns out all I needed to make this bra was some lace, so I added it to my Abakhan list then I was away!

I can't lie, the reason I decided to make the racerback version of the bra was simply because there was no fastening... Is that cheating? The pattern came together quickly though so will definitely be making the halterneck version next time round.


The pattern pieces are cut so that the galloon lace edges the cups and the back band, so you have to make sure you line everything up following the pattern lay plan. The mesh lining is then cut a little smaller - using the same pattern piece but without the scalloped edge. The pattern suggests using a spray adhesive to stick the two layers together so that you can work with them as one. I didn't have any spray adhesive though, so I went about it the old fashioned way and loosely tacked the lining to the pattern pieces. This was the most time consuming bit of the project! But totally essential in getting my fabric to behave.

Once everything is prepped putting the bra together is pretty fun. I love how it instantly transforms the moment you sew the first seam! Suddenly cups appear! The key to making this bra look super profesh is to really nail the topstitching. Basically every seam is topstitched. I would recommend using a straight stitch for any vertical seams and a little zigzag for any horizontal to allow for stretch. As the lace and the mesh don't fray nothing needs overlocking (this makes for flatter seams/less rubbing etc), but then extra care needs to be taken to keep the edges neat, then the topstiching can kind of keep things under control.


The pattern suggests pushing the centre front seam allowances of the cups to one side and the centre front seam allowances of the band to the opposite side to reduce bulk. I chose to press all the seam allowances open, as the asymmetry of pressing the seams in opposite directions just didn't seem right! This just meant two lines of topstitching (one each side of the seam) on the centre front, the top back pieces and the straps.

Stitching the bottom band to the cups really takes the shape of the bra. I was so excited when the bottom band curves really started to resemble actual bra-shape.


The top and bottom back band pieces are the same, just one has the scallops at the top and the other at the bottom. The central seam joins with the underbust seam at the side seams, so pay attention when stitching together!


Making the top back is fun. It's really important to make sure all the lace it cut symmetrically, then it makes a really pretty shape. The top back neck is edged with some picot elastic which is sewn to the front and then flipped to the back and stitched again, with the picot edge peeking out. This is the only area of the bra that requires picot elastic so you don't need much (great for sewing leftovers! ❤️). I used a narrow zig zag stitch to attach.

To attach upper back to the band you have to lap the band over the triangley bit and stitch from the top. As long as you made sure everything is straight and symmetrical looking, and take care pinning this is quite simple.

I thought the bra seemed a little bit too small, simply as I'd be lifting over my head as there was no fastening. I decided to stitch the side seams up with 0.5cm seam allowance- so I will be adding this onto the paper pattern for next time. I may try cutting the C cups just to test the difference in size. The B is a good fit and there is definitely no gaping but would be interested to see the difference.

Once the side seams are stitched and topstitched (I pressed these to the back, not open) it's time to sew the elastic around the top of the cups and the top of the back band. This attaches the lining to the lace at the outside edge. I didn't add any tension to the elastic as I stitched- just sewed it down flat to the edge of the lining using a zig zag stitch so that it would stretch but not pucker. The support comes from the shape and structure of the bra, not super tight elastic.


Straps! The final step! Again, I made sure they were cut symmetrically so that both straps and both sides of the straps look the same. They are first sewn to the back- my back piece seemed a little lager than that strap width, but I snipped into a couple of the scalloped edges so that the strap blended into the back nicely.

Now is a good time to try on and check the strap length.

The pattern suggests lapping the strap under the front cup but I decided to sew wrong side to wrong side as in this instance it seemed like a neater seam. Check everything is lined up nicely by making sure the central seam of the cup matches the central seam of the strap.

Fin! I love how professional handmade underwear looks just by adding a lining to the pattern. I would like to experiment with different coloured linings - this bra would be totally different if I'd used a flesh tone for the mesh. I'm also very much in love with the yellow version on the pattern packet (Angela, don't forget this would mean buying yellow elastics too!). There's lots to play around with and all you really need is some pretty lace! I'll definitely be making the halterneck version before long

x

Location: Sheffield
Currently listening to: Downtown Lights, Frankie Lee

Kwik Sew 3764 Moto Jacket

It was the sheepskin I spotted at the Identity Store's last leather fair that inspired me to hunt down some faux sheepskin sherpa. As much as I loved the real deal on display at the fair, there just didn't seem to be enough to make the glorious lapels I was already dreaming of. I bought my faux sheepskin from Samuel Taylors in Leeds before I went to meet my friend for a festive weekend before Xmas. I chose the suede-backed variation as I thought the structure of it would be good for a jacket. I was a little concerned it might be too stiff, and decided it might not be possible to line a full jacket with it, but lapels and collar seemed like a good starting point.

Having made the Simplicity 1070 Jacket a long time ago now, I was very tempted to make another and add a few tweaks to encourage myself to wear it more. Once I started browsing moto jacket patterns online though, I found every company had their own take on a leather moto style jacket and I was too excited to not buy myself a new pattern. I decided on the Kwik Sew 3764 as it didn't look toooo hard but would still push me to try things I haven't done before, like open ended zips and inserted pockets. A quick browse through Instagram and Pinterest and I was falling in love with everyone's K3764s. The jacket looks totally wearable for any occasion, but also totally customizable by changing up fabrics and playing with contrast in those panels.

My next job was to find a fabric worthy of the pattern and my contrasting sheepskin lapels. This called for my annual New Year's trip to Manchester and a long overdue browse around Abakhan. I had been tempted by using leather or a suede for the jacket, but was a little scared to throw another tricky fabric into the mix. I was searching for a nice wool blend that would look good with the fleece, behave kindly towards me and not be too... bland?! I kept telling myself in my head to avoid plaid and avoid having to dedicate my entire weekend to pattern matching....

The fabric I decided on maybe wasn't far from plaid- I would still have to pay attention matching up both the horizontals and verticals in the design, but I was totally sold when I picked up this fabric and found it already had a fleece lining attached to the underside!!!! And it was sooo soft! Okay- so it lead to totally copping out of lining the jacket, but I couldn't hide away the lovely soft fabric!

The piece was an offcut from the stash baskets downstairs, but was 3m so I knew there would be plenty there to make sure I matched my checks up. There was a New Year 15% sale off, and I'd filled another row on my stamp card up, so I bought this, some chunky striped knit, some bias tape and elastic all for £20!! I thought she'd added it up wrong for a second! I bought 5 matching zips from the market when I was back in Sheff (x4 Jeans zips at 15cm and x1 open ended zip at 40cm) all in black and gold, and then I was fully stashed up and ready to go.

I'd made a cheeky muslin of the jacket before I'd collected my supplies so I knew what I was letting myself in for. I cut a Small and made no alterations to the pattern, it fit really well!! I held it in mind that I would need a little extra wiggle room in there for my fleece as it is so chunky, and I'd probably want to wear my jacket over a big jumper, so I made sure that particularly the shoulders didn't feel too tight and that there was enough room in the bust.

This also gave me good opportunity to practice making those pockets and imagine inserting those zips. I absolutely LOVED the satisfaction of sewing the pocket to the right side of the garment, cutting a slit down the centre and turning through to the wrong side... and wow! Super neat lil rectangular cutaways to warm your hands in! The pocket can then be hidden behind the lapel facing inside the jacket.

I spent a solid portion of my Saturday cutting out my fabric, making sure both my checks were matching and my fleece underside was all cut following the nap of the fleece. Sometimes having a linear print to work to really helps with ensuring that you are following the grainline of the fabric (I will often match the grainline marked on the pattern piece to the markings on the fabric), and this also helps with making sure the pieces you cut are symmetrical. I like to mark on the edges of my pattern piece with pen where the checks are so I can match these up when I flip the patten piece over and cut the other side. I made sure I was happy with my centre back placement (as there is a seam down the back that I didn't want to look weird), and tried hard as hell to make sure that the horizontals around the front panels, side panels and back panels all ran together nicely.

I was unsure at first if I should interface my sherpa. I was tempted not to at first as the suede back already added so much structure, and I really didn't want this to outweigh the rest of my jacket. Despite my main fabric being backed with a fleece it still wasn't super chunky like the sheepskin. I decided to use a lightweight white interfacing on the back of my sherpa and I'm really glad I did. It just added that extra bit of structure to the build of my lapels. It was also important not to forget the nap of the sheepskin, its subtle but I wanted to make sure it stroked the right way.

I added a medium weight facing in black to the pocket lining and the sleeve facing (where the zips are inserted) to make sure everything was solid. Instead of using a silky lining fabric, I decided to use the underside of my main fabric for the pocket bag, just so I could touch that lovely soft fleece! I cut my sleeve gussets with it in mind that I would use the soft side as the right side, so that you could catch a glimpse of the contrast when the zips were unzipped. I also totally loved how good the black looked against the gold zips.

The new skill of open ended zips was one of the first steps I had to tackle making the jacket. I don't know what I was so worried about! For a girl who's main zip experience has been invisible zips, this was a breeze! Just make sure you follow the placement instructions so that there is room at he bottom for the waistband to be attached etc, snap on your zipper foot and there is nothing to worry about!

The zipper placement for the pockets was slightly fiddlier. The zips are tacked into the gap then sewn in from the right side. My fabric was quite chunky, so really had to pay attention on making sure the stitching around the edge was even all the way round. I maaaay have had a couple of attempts at one side, but I'm super happy with the results. To ensure accuracy I had used a spiky rolling wheel and carbon paper to transfer the pattern markings onto the wrong side of the pocket and the front jacket. This meant that pinning the pocket in place just meant matching up the carbon paper lines then following on the machine.

Attaching the facings was probably my favourite part of making the jacket. That's when it really starts to look the way it did in my head! I was aware the seams were going to be pretty bulky, and as there was a fair bit of topstiching to do I was going to have to do something about it. I first tried using a razor to shave out the extra fluff from the seam allowances. This had minimal effect, probably because my old disposables weren't quite up to the job! I found the quickest way was to use my dressmaking scissors and just keep cutting away the fluff behind the stitch line until I was just left with the backing. This made topstitching 100x easier- I was unsure I was even going to the the fabric under the machine foor before!! Be warned this also makes a terrible mess! It looked like I'd been shearing sheep in the studio! Hehe.

To reduce bulk in other areas I pressed my side seams open (so overlocked these and the sleeve underarms prior to stitching together), and I pressed the centre back seam open- but decided to finish this with bias binding for a more professional finish. Luckily when topstitching the armholes, shoulder seams and front panel seams I didn't find bulk too much of an issue.


My wobbliest bit of stitching was thankfully well hidden within the sleeve gussets! The zips had inserted nicely (remember the zipper pull should be at the handhole... close call!) but I think I'd made things hard for myself by not using a thin lining fabric for the facing and the gussets. There is quite a lot of bulk in the zipper area, which I think is fine visually as the rest of the jacket is quite structured, it just made for some fiddly stitching getting the pieces sewn together!

I was a little bit worried that attaching the bottom band was going to be the downfall, as I would be sewing through several layers of fabric, including the sherpa. I cut the excess fluff from the seam allowance before sewing the seam to try and ensure it moved under the presser foot. I didn't have any massive problems with bulk, but it did become clear after doing a row of stitching that I would be better hand stitching the inside of the band to the inside of the coat and then topstitching the band, otherwise the first line of stitching attaching the two together was really obvious.


I was really glad I stopped and unpicked then did this, as it made the topstitching look much more consistent from both the inside and the outside and also meant I didn't have to rely on pins while I was sewing the band.

I was a little worried the band would look like I just couldn't be bothered to pattern match any more, as it would be impossible to match all the way round. I made sure my centre back was exactly in the middle of one of the squares, and I'm not going to lie- it was a total fluke that I had cut the band on a darker row of squares to follow the alternation of the colourway. I would definitely consider cutting this on the bias next time to eliminate having to consider matching. I would also use thicker interfacing- I did cut two pieces with the intention of doubling up, but I got so freaked out about bulk that I left it at one layer! I don't think adding in another layer of interfacing would have had bad repercussions, but sometimes it's really hard to tell how fabrics are going to behave together until you have them all stitched up.

The cuffs are hand sewn with a blind hem. They are meant to be turned under 4cm but I was a little worried the sleeves would be too short so I think I aimed to turn them under by about 3cm and hope no one noticed. Next time I think I will add a couple of cm into the sleeve length so my paws don't get cold.

To finish I used a black 15mm Prym snap on the bottom band. It might have been better if it was gold and 20mm but I didn't have any okay! And I was eager to finish! I think the black is subtle enough and matches the fabric so it looks fine!

I hope you like my jacket as much as I do! I'm super excited to wear it our and about (and a little nervous about ruining it somehow, you know I'm a bit clumsy right?!). What fabrics would you like to see next time? Should I dare to go leather? Or have some suede panels? I would love to see your moto jackets for inspo!

x

Location: Thornhill / Yorkshire Bridge, Derbyshire
Currently listening to: Guess Who's Knocking, Ryan Bingham