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This is a continuation of my original adventures regarding pattern grading and bra construction. I'm very pleased that I actually have my first home drafted and sewn wearable bra!
My primary aim with this bra was basically to create a prototype to test out the pattern which I'd made, and I opted to make something wireless for lounging around the house ... both because wireless bras are not really a thing if you're my size, and I rather fancied the idea of having something I could sleep in if I felt like it without having to worry about waking up with a wire stabbing me (sleeping in bras for me seems to be an almost guaranteed way to pop a hole in wire casings).
I went for a 2-piece cup with a vertical seam as I knew it would make it easy to make alterations if the shaping of the cups wasn't quite right, and the alternative easy version with a horizontal seam never seems to provide much lift. I knew full well that this was going to create an almost bullet bra pointy shape, and my expectations have not been disappointed in this regard (I wasn't dying for the pointy shape or anything, but I knew that's what I'd get with this construction).
The materials are mostly from a bra kit which I purchased from the Australian company who does bra supplies; Booby Traps. After discussion with the staff, I bought an All Woman sized kit (they've got it suggested for 40DD-48C, although I think they may have changed up their sizing for kits recently so this statement may be irrelevant to the curious), and the quantities of the materials were adequate. I'd think they'd be pretty generous allowances if you were in the correct size range, but I wouldn't like to be making a much bigger cup from that amount of cup material. I did make one significant change in that instead of using the blush hem elastic (the normal stuff on bras with the scalloped edge) for the bottom, I've used regular garment elastic like you would in pajama pants etc.
I used the Foundations Revealed articles on soft cup bras (the first one is free, but the continuation would require a membership to view), to get a basic idea on how to put everything together, although I also just used my other experiences with fitting myself, bras I've liked, and alterations I've tried to put this together.
Things which I've learnt from the process? My breasts seem to be even shorter rooted than I think they are. When I made up my first draft cup, I'd already taken quite a bit of extra height out of the basic scaled cup. I then took some more out of the cup, then some extra out of the pattern using some extra measurements, but even so, when I'd cut out the cups, I still needed to cut some of the upper cup off. I dispensed with the idea of having a gore space and just sewed the two cups together most of the way up as my breasts are basically that close set. Even so, this cup was designed to sit flat against the chest, so there's a bit of weird extra floaty stuff in the middle as it only 'tacks' at the bottom where the elastic is. I also figured out something which I probably should have known if I'd thought about it properly; it's really not suitable to use straight stitch to make the casing on the bottom for the garment elastic as you would on pants etc, because the whole garment needs to stretch, it's not gathered. It *may* hold together, but I know that next time, I'll use a short zigzag instead. Also, I probably should have matched the thread to the cup material instead of the powernet, as they're not identical in colour. We live and learn.
I don't really know that what I've made is of merchantable quality (I also don't know if anyone else would even want a super pointy wireless bra like this), but everything seems to be pretty comfy and fits really well. Although it looks utterly bizzare under my pajama tops, it looks more okay under something which isn't a stretch item. Regardless, I don't think my husband is a fan of this aesthetic. Good thing it wasn't made for him then right? 
I'm not quite sure how to add the bra to the site so I can add the measurements, pictures and such for the curious, ticking 'Unknown Brand' 'Unknown Model' options didn't seem to be letting me continue? Jj is this just incompetent user error? Is there something else I should be doing?
I've got coutil and some spiral steels so that I can have a play with making proper underwired bras. The basic pattern I have now seems to be good, though obviously, I'll play a bit with different constructions and shaping. As I'm making it to actually fit me with me as a handy fit model around, the sky is basically the limit, and so I may try out a few different cuts to see what I like the look of. One worry I do have though is will spirals be okay if they're washed? I can't really not wash a bra like you do with corsets, but I wouldn't want the spirals to rust or otherwise damage the bra (I'd be handwashing only, which is what I'd normally do with my bras, but especially with something like that I think the machine could be a really bad idea). From preliminary tests, boning the cups makes a *huge* difference to the stability and support of a cup, almost totally removing the issue I have where the weight of my breasts eats the bottom section, causing it to fold under.
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Shared on Dec 09, 2014 Flag this
i don't have any bras for you in that size range, but points for the spamalot reference.
I recently dragged a completely full trash bag that was the largest size carried in stores out of my house to put into the car so I could take it down to donate - there were at least 8 bras in there, though most of them were only 34D/DD. If I come across anyone (I have a friend who wears a 36-38G/H) with dead bras they want to get rid of - can you do anything with larger bands? Since you're planning on dissection, maybe the volume of the cup and ability to mess with the underwires to your heart's content would be possible even though the bra as a whole would be the wrong size?
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