Makebra Petite #DL05: In progress

makeBra recently released a new downloadable pattern and I was quite excited about it. I’ve been wanting to try one of their patterns, but the sizes are too big for me. The newest pattern, makeBra #DL05 is drafted for smaller sizes, featuring foam lined two part cups and underwires.

For me, the most interesting part is that the bridge and wing is the same pieces as the cup. You can see the pattern piece in the makeBra sewing tutorial here. I think this design will also look great if you use fabric with stripes or other directional pattern.

I bought the size 65C as it is the closest to my size. Annele from makeBra actually has voiced concern that the cups might be too small. My size is usually around 65D so she has guessed correctly, so hopefully I was able to make some alterations to the pattern.

I recently won the ebay auction at Merckwaerdigh ebay store for a package of foam lining pieces. The quality is not as good as the ones from makeBra, but these would be great for making muslin as I don’t want to waste my makeBra lining.

Here’s my first muslin made exactly as the pattern. I then stitched some cheap lycra fabric for the back band and straps, the hooks and eye were cut from an old bra. The underwires are size 65D.

Makebra DL05 muslin
makeBra DL05 muslin

The original cups were a bit too revealing for me (maybe too small?) so I raised the center front bridge and added some more coverage to the upper cup. Here’s how it looks after alteration. The left cup is unaltered, the right one is altered. The single cup above the bra is the unaltered one.

Makebra DL05 muslin - altered
makeBra DL05 muslin – altered

I think the alterations worked quite well so I began to construct my bra using another foam lining from Merckwaerdigh. The foam lining has pretty raised floral pattern, so it didn’t need cover fabric. Once I started stitching, I realized that this foam lining is quite stretchy and also moved a lot, so I put non-stretch lining on the inside. The seamlines are covered with velvet stretch ribbon to emphasize the details.

Makebra DL05 - in progress
makeBra DL05 – in progress

I was quite happy with this project until I noticed the are around the center front. The sections on the left and right of the center front are unbalanced! My husband said that they are not too obvious but I had to disagree with him. Now, I can finish the bra half-heartedly but what’s the point of making your own clothes if you’re not happy with it? I guess I will discard this one and start another with better planning. The pattern is great so I don’t want to give up on it.

Things I learned: with this kind of design, it is important to mark the placement of the black ribbon. The space is not big so a slight mistake will be obvious!

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