Making your own bra is one of the most satisfying sewing projects you can learn to do. Poorly fitting bras can cause many problems, such as chronic backache. Every breast is different, and yet commercially available bras come in a limited range of sizes. This may make economic sense for the manufacturer, but the majority of women end up with a bra that doesn't quite fit.
The most natural solution would be to have bras custom made, but this is beyond the reach of most women. The good news, however, is that with a little know-how and some basic sewing skills, you can make your own perfectly-fitting bra at home.
Your first step is to acquire or make a pattern. There are several ways of doing this - you can buy a pattern and adjust to fit. You can dismantle a well-fitting bra you like and trace the pieces. For a genuinely custom fit, you can use the 'tape and drape' method - this method, used by home sewers and professional custom corsetiers alike, involves supporting the breast with a sling of ribbon, bandage, or surgical tape, then taping or pinning fabric around it to make a form. The form is then cut along any style lines you like, and the pieces laid out flat, traced and tweaked into a pattern.
The other method, the same method used by commercial designers, is to use your measurements and a little simple geometry to draft a sloper or block, from which you can develop your pattern. The cup is formed from a rounded-off triangle, which when stitched together makes a hemisphere, as the basic unit of the cup pattern. The corners of this triangle should be right angles, which means that the sides have to be curved. The easiest way of doing this is to divide the side measurement (one quarter of the circumference of the breast) into four, and then draw each quarter-section of the line at an angle of 10 degrees to the last. Two of these triangles form the bottom half of the cup, and a section of the same block is used to form the upper cup section.
The band is drafted as a rectangular block, which is then curved so it fits the ribcage closely, slashing and spreading the pattern at the side seams, centres of the cups, and in the back, to add around 34-16 degrees. This curved rectangle can then be redrawn into a pattern. Once this is drafted, you can make up a 'muslin' to fit and style the pattern perfectly.
Want to know more about bra making? Take a look at this bra pattern tutorial.
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