February Bra: Make Bra Free Bralette & String Set Pattern

Hi everybody,

Today I have something a bit different for my monthly bra, the free bralette and string pattern from Make Bra:

As this is difficult to photograph when it lays on the floor, and as it does not make sense to take a picture from the black bralette on my black dress form, and as I am not willing to model it for you, you will have to refer to the picture from the Makebra site to see how it looks on the body:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is a really cute, little strappy set and I especially like the bralette. The fabric is sheer lace that is a leftover from my Ladyshorts.

For the elastic I used foldover elastic. The pattern is for regular elastic. At some places I had to cut the fabric to make it work for the foldover elastic. I did not have the recommended wide elastic for the bottom in black so I sewed a casing for the elastic out of black cotton batiste that I had in my stash. I made sure that the length of the casing was the same as the elastic when stretched to its maximum. In order to sew the cup pieces to the bottom elastic I put the elastic around my dress form and pinned everything in place. While sewing I stretched the elastic so that the cup fabric would lay flat.

The inside looks quite messy at least for me:

First I was afraid that I would feel all those raw edges, but I do not. However, after some hours it starts to itch. But this is not a set that you wear all day long.

I found the instructions not very clear at some points, especially for the string. This was such a nightmare to sew and somehow the elastic always got twisted. In the end I put it on and tried to lay the elastic how it should and pinned it in place. Somehow it was twisted again when I put on the string the next time. I think I unpicked it at least five times….I may also have misunderstood the instructions at some point, as one elastic is a bit too long while another one is too tight. Look at this mess:

You also have to pay attention where each elastic belongs when you put on the string. I did not fix the elastic in the front where they cross each other. The instruction did not say anything about it and so I am still able to adjust them how I like.

The pattern comes in one size only. I did not find any hint for what size range it might be, but I think it is rather for small sizes. As the cups looked a bit huge to me, I made them smaller. I marked a point 1.5 cm below the upper corner and drew a line from there to both lower corners, keeping the bottom of the cup as is. I now think that it would not have been necessary. But on the other hand, it is totally appropriate for this teeny tiny bralette to have teeny tiny cups, don’t you think so?