Another day, another Harriet Bra! This time, I decided on a beautiful corded, black & navy stretch lace that I purchased on Etsy.
I actually made this several months ago, but just never got around to actually blogging or sharing it. It’s uber comfy! I found this lace on Etsy about a year ago, and bought several yards of it, knowing I’d want to make all sorts of lingerie makes with it. One of the things I really look for in a lace is dimension in the embroidery, and the deep valleys in the lace’s border. This corded lace truly has it all! Plus, it’s so soft against the skin and stretches like a dream.
I lined the cups with a silky, black stretch mesh that I also purchased on Etsy. So not only is the lace itself soft against the skin, but the silky stretch mesh lining makes it a dream to slip on. (All of the fabric and findings that I used in this bra were purchased in bulk, not in kits.)
Usually, because I’m a little obsessed with symmetry and love to save on fabric, I cut the bridge from two pieces of fabric, and sew each half together so that each side mirrors the other. But this lace’s floral pattern is so “muted”, that I didn’t see the need to do that. And it came out great.
The only thing that I changed in making this bra was the way in which the channeling is sewn in. It’s a small change that I make to every bra that I make, but it makes a huge difference on the interior of the bra – allowing for a more elegant finish. Other than that, I stuck to the pattern’s instructions.
I decided not to use a picot edge bra band elastic for this particular Harriet. The lace’s border was just so elegant and beautiful, that I felt that a picot edge would only distract and take away from the beauty and simplicity of the corded lace. So only the armband elastic has a picot edge…and a delicate, understated one at that.
The leotard back is one of my favorite features of this bra pattern. I feel like it adds a touch of elegance to every bra, and I’m always disappointed when a bra doesn’t automatically come with it.
It will be hard to pull myself away from this bra pattern. I’ll probably make two more and then move on to Betsy Johnson’s Pin-Up Girls bras. But, needless to say, I definitely recommend this pattern, but for intermediate sewers as it requires some advanced bramaking techniques.
