Black Lace Watson Bra by Fiona Parker

Black Lace Watson Bra

The garment I've got to share with you today has been a long time coming! Bra sewing has been on every one of my project lists for years now as well as goal-setting challenges like #makenine on Instagram.

Sadly, other garments seemed to continually jump ahead in the queue, pushing back any plans to make Lingerie. I think my delay was partly due to the fact that this is a project out of my comfort zone, and when sewing time is limited and I'm tired, it always seems easier to sew something that feels familiar and that I can complete satisfactorily without too much thought.

As well as this, I was initially really put off by the thought of gathering all the different supplies I needed for this project. The list seemed mammoth in size, and with numerous elastics, fabric, lining, hooks, eyes, straps and sliders on the list, I never felt like I had quite all the right matching bits and pieces for a bra. However, in the end I decided my first bra was never going to be perfect anyway so just dove on in there with what I had accumulated.

Indeed, my first bra is not perfect, but I'm actually very pleasantly surprised with what I've managed to make. I've wanted to make the Cloth Habit Watson Bra since its release. This bra is a great starting point as its stretch makes the fit more forgiving and it doesn't involve underwires or too much structure. I was very excited to use this black stretch lace fabric that I have had stashed away for absolutely ages, packed away for so long that I have actually forgotten exactly which Knitting & Stitching show stand I got it from! The fabric was quite narrow, 25-30cm wide, but I had just enough to cut my pieces out of a meter. I fell in love with the Art Deco/early 20th century feel of the pattern in the lace and couldn’t not make use of the beautiful, scalloped edge. Trying to incorporate the scallop was obviously going to make my first attempt at bra making much more complicated, but I couldn’t stop myself from veering away from the pattern!

My advice to beginner sewers is to be adventurous and make exactly what you feel like. Create things you are excited about, rather than things you think you should make because they are labeled 'beginner'. You might not get great results first time, but you'll put your all into making it work and learn a huge amount along the way. With this in mind, I decided to go ahead and attempt the scalloped edge!

There's a great post on the Cloth Habit blog as part of the Watson Sew Along feature about how to cut a scalloped lace cup that recommends slightly altering your inner cup pattern piece. I also wanted to use the scallop along the lower edge of the band, so another good resource was Lladybird's post, a tutorial on how she made and finished the edges on her lace bra. To finish the lower edge, I attached the power mesh and the lace pieces together as instructed then simply stitched the elastic to the inside above the scallop trimming away any power mesh beneath to leave a beautiful, delicate scalloped edge. I used the wider picot elastic despite not being able to see the decorative edge, as it was all I had to hand with the soft, plush back. I didn't turn that bottom edge in as instructed and this left my back edge too wide for the hook and eye pieces, so I had to trim down the top edge as advised in the instructions.

I wasn’t loving the look of the clear elastic which I used to finish the inner edge of the cup. The bra does need elastic here in order to provide stability and prevent it stretching out over time, but I couldn't use picot as recommended because I wanted to retain the scalloped edge. In hindsight, if I'd had a narrower clear elastic I probably wouldn't mind as much. Lauren, from Lladybird used a strip of selvedge from her power mesh which looks much better, but as I was working with scraps I didn't have any selvedge left.

If anyone has any alternative finishes they can recommend in the comments I would love to read them! I'd also appreciate any advice from any experienced UK lingerie makers about where to source your fabrics and notions from. Also, I would love to find out if I can buy any lingerie making kits that contain everything I would need. The ease having everything I would require in one place would certainly encourage me to make more lingerie! At the moment, I personally would recommend Sewing Chest, but I am very open to other shop suggestions. 

In terms of the scallop, where the cup meets the ring at the top, it certainly has room for improvement. You lose the narrowing of the cup, because the low points of the curve meet at the centre, due to the need to straighten the front edge of your pattern piece and line up the scallop. I ended up trying to pull quite a wide piece of scallop through the ring, which worked, but it didn’t look ideal. I’d also recommend cutting longer pieces for the straps as I cut the recommended 18" after measuring myself but think I'd like a little more room for adjustment.

For lining the cradle, I used some thick black power mesh I had left over from sewing activewear and, as the lace was quite delicate, I used it to line the rear band pieces too. The strap elastic, plush back picot elastic and hook & eye piece all came in a kit from Sewing Chest, which I've also had in my stash for a while. I bought some sliders and rings from MacCulloch and Wallis because I happened to be nearby, but be warned that they only stock these in black and white and in two sizes. Using black made my life easier; trying to find all those elements to match in any other colour but white must be a nightmare and I'm no natural with a dye pot!

I usually love doing really accurate sewing, particularly since I got my Brother Innov-is machine as it makes it so easy. Working with small seam allowances will always be challenging, but with some patience, practice and a bit of time with the unpicker I was achieving results I was happy with. Again, I probably didn't make my life easier with this by choosing such a fine lace for my first attempt! The bra uses a quarter-inch seam allowance throughout which makes sense for such small pattern pieces but is much smaller than I'm used to. It took me a while to figure out how to keep to that distance accurately as the markings for such small seam allowances are quite hidden on the machine. There is one before the bobbin cover and one behind the foot but no groove in the standard machine foot to line up with. In retrospect, I could have marked the bobbin cover and used masking or washi tape to create a temporary marking. 

I found stitching along the elastic, particularly where the strap elastic joins the back band in a curve quite difficult to keep in the right position, but hopefully, this will come over time. I love that as the lace is black with a bit of texture, as you can't see the stitching in it at all. This is very forgiving for those first-time wobbles! I was nervous about inserting the cups correctly, but it was actually really easy and I love the shape. I'm particularly proud of how neat and tidy the central tip of my cradle is where the two cups meet. I made full use of the needle up/down button when sewing tight little points and corners like this. Pressing this button rather than using the foot allows you to sew individual stitches so you can stop exactly at the point you want then pivot rather than accidentally going a stitch or two too far.

Carmen gave me a great tip to make sure I held my thread ends as I started sewing. One of the biggest problems I encountered was getting a seam started without the thread knotting up or fabric getting sucked down into the throat plate. My F420 sewing machine has a thread cutting function which means the bobbin thread is hidden in the machine after cutting the last seam you sewed. I found I needed to ignore this function and lift the presser foot and snip my own threads like I used too so I could leave two nice long thread tails and get my next seam started smoothly.

I treated this as a bit of a wearable toile and sewed the whole thing on my machine for accuracy, rather than risking mistakes with such fine seam allowances on the overlocker. The visible seam allowances inside are trimmed right down and topstitched, so I don't really mind the finish. I also took the seam through the cup, which, solely lace, is much less visible and bulky this way. My duck-billed appliqué scissors where invaluable when it came to trimming down seam allowances in such delicate fabrics.

I cut the 34D after measuring myself and following the pattern instructions, which is different to my RTW size, but I trusted the pattern and it has turned out great. The band is slightly roomy and the centre of the cradle doesn't lay quite flat, but I think this is more to do with the way I applied the elastic than the sizing of the pattern. I didn't stretch the plush back elastics enough (as the armhole gapes a bit too) and stretched the clear elastic too much as it bunches up a little! Working with the elastics and figuring out how tight to apply them as I sewed was probably the hardest part of this project and is something I hope will improve with more practice; I was getting more of a feel for it towards the end.

This pattern was fantastic, and I highly recommend it as a starting point for any beginner lingerie sewer. The sizing information is particularly helpful, the PDF pages you need to print for each size are clearly listed and it’s such a small pattern to assemble! The instructions were thorough and well-illustrated. I didn't find myself left feeling unsure at any point; which is saying something considering bra making felt so foreign to me when I started! I particularly appreciated the hints and tips included within the instructions and also the recommendations of stitch type, length and width when zig-zagging. Thanks to Amy, my bra turned out great!

I expected bra sewing to rapidly become an addiction but can't say it is yet. I did enjoy the process and was amazed at how quickly and neatly it all came together once I got going. However, I do feel like I've still got a lot to learn so don’t be discouraged if you do too. I've got some white stretch lace I could use for a second Watson bra, but I think I'd like to try a version in a plain mesh so I can finish all the edges as the pattern intends and work on my accuracy. Then I'd love to move on to more structured non-stretch bras using the Orange Lingerie patterns as I have Norma's book already and think working through that could really help. I certainly won't be leaving it years before my second bra this time!