This post first appeared on the Sewcialist blog.
What a delight to be asked to be a guest blogger! I’m excited to be able to write about a subject very close to my heart – bras for the bigger bust.
So what qualifies me to write on this subject? Good question! Let me tell you a little about myself before we get down to business! My name is Karin and I run Mrs. Weaver’s Finest Unmentionables, a bra and corset making business in Calgary, Canada. Like with so many things, my business grew from my own very selfish desire to have beautiful lingerie which was never available in my size. I remember as a young girl, developing early and being taken bra shopping by my mother only to find that nothing fit. A small ribcage with disproportionately larger breasts meant I was in a DD/E at the age of 13, and heading to a specialist bra shop where a very elderly lady would instruct me to undress, eye me critically and announce 30E.
Initially the exclusivity of this little shop was exciting, it’s frilly little floral bra’s in the window by brands such as Perele and Aubade gave me hope of something deliciously feminine and fragile. My disappointment was huge when yet another ugly beige ‘thing’ was plucked from a little box, thick with dust which looked as though it had last seen service as an instrument of torture in the Spanish Inquisition. I rejected it outright, I would not wear it. “It’s all there is” was the retort. “But it’s ugly!”, “Don’t be so ungrateful” and with that the offending item was wrapped up, my mother paid an exhorbitant sum for it and I loathed it with a passion, picking at the stitching at the top of the casing in the hope the wires would pop out sooner than later.
Fast forward 25 years and I have never worn a beige bra again. Instead, I scoured the world looking for beautiful bra’s for my size. And sometimes I got lucky!! But not often, and when I did there was always still some little issue with straps slipping, cups puckering, bands rolling. All things I was happy to accept because it was ‘pretty’. Then one day, I decided this was crazy and went on a journey to make my own – now I own over 20 bra’s just for me! And some even have matching panties!! And now I am on a mission to provide beautiful bras to all women who feel overlooked or forgotten by ready-to-wear.
So, to business! In this post I want to share with you some of my thoughts about bra-making for the larger bust. Not all of these techniques are necessary, or will work with ALL sizes, but my aim is to stimulate your imaginations and encourage you to try a range of things in your bra-making adventures; the main thing to remember is to embrace all that you have and make your bust work for you; some of the most beautiful bras I have seen have been made for a fuller bust.
The first thing to state very clearly is that support is everything! A heavier bust simply requires more robust engineering, it’s as simple as that. Despite most ready-to-wear evidence to the contrary, this does not mean it can’t be beautiful. Slightly larger/heavier than average busts will not require all of the measures discussed here, only you can decide which ones apply to you.
Support is provided by a number of items, but most notably they are underwires, fabric, elastic/straps.
Underwires
There are a number of suppliers out there with varying grades and strengths of steel. I buy mine from Bra Makers Supply in Hamilton,Ontario – they are strong and durable and come in an incredible range of sizes all the way up to size 60, a wire that can comfortably accommodate bra size 48H. If however you feel you need more support than a single, flimsy wire can offer, use two! It really is as simple as that, by sliding 2 wires of the same size into your casing you will increase the support that it can offer. Just be careful to stitch your casing in such a way that there is room for both your wires.
Fabric
A larger bust requires fabric that is not going to yield to the force of your breasts. For many, duoplex is the answer. Duoplex is a polyester non-stretch knit that is great for a heavier bust. It comes in lots of different colours too – so no need for only beige, black or white! For the very full busted amongst you, you can use a double layer of duoplex, in the same way that you can use 2 wires.
For the smaller end of the large busted range, sheer cup lining provides a great background to lace while still providing a decent level of support. Personally, I love a foam cup bra – not the preformed offerings from Victoria’s Secret – my breasts have never been that spherical! Instead I use cut and sew foam to make a cup which I can then cover with whatever gorgeous fabric I can get my hands on. You may remember Emerald Erin’s post in which she showed her preferred method for working with it. Cut and sew foam gives great shape and support and provides excellent nipple coverage. The downside is that some large/heavy busted women don’t like the idea of more bulk, in which case duoplex remains your best friend.
While some may be delighted with duoplex and the range of colours available, others may feel that it’s still too industrial and needs to be prettier, lighter, more feminine. Here too, you have options! Cover your duoplex in the same colour, or contrasting, lace for a glamorous and sophisticated look. Really don’t like duoplex, but don’t get enough support from sheer cup lining? Then use it as your liner fabric and cover all of the outside with something sumptuous and stunning like this velvet that I used in My Thermal Valentine.
Woven fabrics are usually not recommended for bras. The exception is when covering cut and sew foam where you pretty much choose any fabric you like to cover your cups with. This Spring, I did an entire range using silk charmeuse, I don’t think I’ve ever worn anything quite so luxurious against my breasts. And if you thought that only the smaller busted ladies can get away with the most delicate of lace on their bras, think again – over cut and sew or duoplex you can make a bra that is simply stunning in all sizes.
The larger sized bra generally has a duoplex band with really wide elastic. Again, ladies at the smaller end of the big busted range could opt to use sheer cup lining for their band and cover it with something gorgeous, just make sure you reinforce the bridge area of your bra with a tiny piece of duoplex as this is where most of the stress will be when the bra is on. This is exactly what I did on the Peaches and Cream bra pictured below and it works really well! In the picture you can also see that the duoplex reinforcement of the bridge, a gothic arch in this case, is totally invisible from the front.
Elastic and straps
The larger the bust, the bigger the elastic gets. I wish I could say that 1/4” elastic is an option, but it just isn’t. And as most elastic is turned under it isn’t usually a problem. However, every now and then I will get a lady who doesn’t want her elastic to be so wide, she is looking for something more feminine than that. In cases like this, instead of going for thinner elastic, I actually opt to make the band wider still and design a long-line bra. This may seem counter intuitive but like on this Alice bra here, it can optically slim down the rib cage as well as making the breasts appear smaller, or at least, more in proportion to the chest area as a whole – the result is a very feminine look without skimping on elastic. An added tip for long line bras (or any bra for a larger bust) is that you should sew a little casing into your side seams and insert a short length of boning. This will prevent the band from rolling up and help keep everything in place.
Wide straps are not so easy to hide, and no matter how delicate the cups, big wide straps can instantly turn your dream bra into industrial sacking. Instead of wishing we had a perfect perky B cup, we should rejoice! Wider straps provide a wonderful opportunity to truly customize. Use the wider strapping as a base and add ribbon or lace as shown in Cup A – it’s a lovely way to frame your chest. Adding a lace external power bar, as in Cup B is also lovely, just remember to line your lace with sheer cup for extra support and some ribbon or duoplex in the FOE for non-stretch strength; this wouldn’t work for the a very large/heavy bust, but in that instance you can cover your strap with lace for a similar effect.
If you really want something more delicate, and you have a smaller large bust, you could try this lovely spaghetti strap technique. These straps are made from duoplex and are super sturdy. Long lengths are folded using a bias tape maker, and are then folded in half along the length again. This narrow strip of folded fabric is then stitched close to the open edge and voila! Super sexy, super skinny straps. Make as many of these as you require, although I used only 2 straps on Cup C, I’d recommend 3 as a minimum and always work with odd numbers as it’s optically more pleasing. You can either space them further apart as on Cup C below, or stitch across them for a more vertical look as in Cup D. Either way, because of the space between the straps, these provide a lovely delicate result while still keeping everything exactly where it should be.
I could go on and on! I hope that at the very least I have given you lots to think about and try in your own bra-making adventures – regardless of your bust size. If you’d like any further information on some of the suggestions and techniques listed above, leave a comment below, or hop on over to mrsweaversfinest.com, check out the blog and leave a comment there and I’ll be happy to provide tutorials on any aspects that come up.
Love your bust!
Mrs. Weaver
Thanks for the post, Karin! I’ve just started sewing my own bras, and it’s so much fun! I did have a question for you, though. You say that woven fabrics aren’t usually recommended for lingerie; why not? Is it just that they often don’t have stretch, or is it something else?
Hi Delirium
So sorry for this shockingly late reply!!
Woven fabrics have more ‘give’ in them and are generally less supportive which will affect the look of the final item. However, if used over a lining (e.g. sheer cup lining) or foam, they should work just fine.
Thanks for the tips… truly inspiring. Having a full breast, is always a challenge to find something that fits well and even more when we talk about bras – which by the way, I think I need to upscale…
Thanks for taking the time to read it! 🙂
This lingerie series of posts is making me think maybe I should invest in a class to learn how to sew my own bras. I’ve never had any that haven’t been basic and boring.
I loved reading this posts and seeing all the examples of such beautiful bras. Thanks ks for sharing!
Thank you Kate!
Loved this post, and your bras! They’re beautiful!!
I’m curious, though, what you define as “large bust”, “smaller large bust”, and “small bust” as far as determining how much support you need. At what size do you feel like duoplex is needed over sheer cup lining?
Thanks Kelley! It’s difficult to give hard and fast rules about this. It’s a combination of rib cage size in relation to cup size and bearing in mind support level. I would say I have a smaller large bust – 28F/G, so optically not very large, but large in relation to my rib cage. Yet a smaller bust which has a lower support level would also require more lift regardless of size. Sheer cup lining is pretty strong, I have made a bra in a 44 H for a client and it looked lovely and worked perfectly. Although she was no longer self supporting, she still had some firmness of her own.
So, really, this doesn’t help you much. The best advice I can give is to try both and see what works best for you. Duoplex will always give the most support so try this first. And then try with sheer cup, either one layer or two and see how this works for you.
Wonderful post. Bemoaning the lack of gorgeous lingerie in sizes beyond 42, friends and I are intrigued with bra making. After problems with Big Name bras namely, but not limited to,’larger’ cups sizes ending at 42, cheaper wires that rust (shame on you, Big Name Bra Maker!), colors that stop at 42, greatly diminished quality coupled with steadily rising prices, monthly online sales (even on sale, buyers still expect quality at BOGO garments priced from $36.99), and much, much more. A friend constructed a Regency corset for a client, a work of art. I’m eager to see what pattern(s) she would choose, how she will construct a bra, and in what colors. (If I could hack a Ren bodice, including front stays (petticoat wire), eyelets, lacing, maybe a bra…?)
Thanks ZB WonderWoman! Sadly, quality is diminishing in so many areas, your own work is so often of a much higher standard that it’s so worth learning the bra making art. Your friends corset sounds stunning! Once you nail bra-making you will have so much fun combining the two arts. A stunning underbust corset with a matching bra is very Dita von Teese and gives a fabulous look, especially for those with a bigger bust.
Decades ago, I enlarged a friend’s RTW corset by inserting stretch panels on both sides of the hook-eye tapes. It worked, aside from being ‘too loose’. Fast forward 12-18 months and it fit perfectly, even with the lesser grade elastic fabric. Point taken re constructing bras. While the thought of stays is daunting, the reality of support with beauty is the stuff of dreams. (Can’t be harder then encrusting a padded bra with sequins and bugle beads by hand.) Many thanks for your encouragement!
Superb post Karin! Can’t wait to try your spaghetti strap suggestions!
Thanks Ginny, can’t wait to see what you make!
This was an inspiring post. I’m married to an engineer, so I frequently hear things about enhancing structural integrity in a design — that is exactly what double wires and doubling up layers of fabric does.
I’m starting to get excited about the prospect of having fun lingerie (and not beige, white or black).
Thanks Mariah! Yep, there’s a lot of engineering that goes into getting the girls to feel comfy. There are so many gorgeous fun colours out there to choose from – I hope you try them all 🙂
Thanks for this fun post”. Lots of food for thought on getting some ” hoist” into the pretty. I immediately sent your info to two of my cousins’ daughters. Both bodacious and delightfully curvy and both close to Calgary! A few weeks ago they were lamenting the lack of color in plus sized bras!
I had never thought of 2 wires but of course it would work. I am working on refitting myself. My bra making class was long enough ago that I am afraid that my first bra no longer fits. So onward and upward! This time I am also working several patterns to find the pretty in panties also!
Thanks Elaine! I’d be delighted to help your cousin’s girls in any way I can. Size should never limit colour or options 🙂 There are some gorgeous panty patterns out there, personally I am a big fan of Ohhh Lulu’s patterns, but Beverly Johnsons book on drafting panties is also recommended if you find the existing patterns out there not to your taste.
Good luck with your makes, and give those double wires a go!
Mre. Weavers link is not working for me
I tried to fix it – Hope it’s working now! http://www.mrsweaversfinest.com/
Thank you, the link is working now