Blossom bra alterations
Marit was one of my lovely testers for the Blossom bra. I thought her story was fascinating, as she discovered along the way that she needed to make some alterations to the pattern for her shape due to a previous breast reduction. Her determination paid off as she now has a very comfortable and beautiful Blossom bra.
Hi all,
I would like to tell you something about the alterations I made to make my Blossom Bra a perfect fit!
Based on my size: underbust 81cm, full bust 94cm, I made a first draft in size 14B. Well that turned out not quite pictureworthy 😉
Next I went back to a size 12, combined with D cup. That made for a much improved fit, but still not a wearable bra.
My full bust only went to a 94cm after I had a breast reduction, some 8 years ago. Turned there is lot to find about bra making and breast reduction and when your bust size is compatible with, in my case, a D cup, my breast width was not. To make a perfect fit for the girls, I then tried on different wires to determine which wire would fit the outline of my breasts. I ended up with a WR-42. Two sizes bigger than the recommended size for a 12D.
I used the instructions in the tutorial to adjust the pattern to a bigger wire. Since I went up two wires, I doubled the amount mm added and removed.
By then, I made a testbra. I called it, my Frankenbra and yes I am sharing pics 😉
The fit was nearly perfect, but as it is with bra making (and I found out the hard way) there are no two boobs alike, so a lot of little things can be altered to make the fit epic.
To accomplish my epic fit, I needed to take some off the center front of mrs. Left and turns out, mrs. Right has a totally different nipple placing then mrs. Left. What do you know, the twins are not identical after all!
So I altered one set of cups to move up the cup seam 2 cm so it was aligned with mrs. Right’s right nipple.
Last but not least, I needed to give the center front piece some more room so I cut the Frankenbra to make some more room. I then adjusted the pattern piece – AND the lace piece 😉
And tadaaa! Epic Bra!!
So as you can see it was quite a ride for me to make this bra, but I am so happy I continued trying, because WOW these finals bra are sooo comfortable, I am never going back to store bought.
I would like to advice you to
a) Make a Frankenbra for fitting purpose and don’t be disappointed if the fit is not great, they say that is super normal for bramaking.
b) Ask for help from your sewing friends, or join a bramaking group and read about alterations and fitting.
c) If you have had any cosmetical adjustments to the girls, make sure you measure your breast width to determine which wire you need. Don’t be scared to alter the pattern, the instructions are spot on and if you follow them you will be rewarded!
Also have fun!!
