The Watson Bra

I’m loving all of the lingerie sets I’ve seen made up lately. I especially love the Watson Bra pattern by Cloth Habit. It has a real 70’s vibe to it. Nice and natural with no pads or underwire. Being a very small 34A cup (AA when I lose weight) this pattern is perfect for me. I love padding to give me a boost for a “fake” boob job look but I love the Kate Moss/Twiggy a la natural look much more.

I bought the fabric in a bra kit from Measure Twice Cut Once and have been looking at it longingly forever. I was inspired to get sewing after seeing a blog post from Very Purple Person with all of her gorgeous lingerie sets.  Once I got started and cut the fabric it was an instant love affair.  Working with lace is kind of like a good book you can’t put down. What’s not to love about working with delicate, beautiful lace? It’s a real hands on sensory experience which I’m sure is one of the lures of sewing.

The first thing I did was to baste my lace to the sturdier tricot fabric which is required for the back and bra cradle. I hand stitched it to give me better control over the lace. I decided that the bra cup would look best unlined as the lace is just so beautiful.  The only hiccup I had was that the Picot elastic trim for the bra cup should be 6mm and the bra kit I purchased only included a wider trim. I had a look around for some 6mm trim but couldn’t find anything to match the gorgeous colour. I didn’t want to ruin it by adding a “blah” skin coloured trim. So, I did the unthinkable and trimmed the wider trim down. It worked out ok as I just finished the raw edge with a tight zig zag stitch.

A couple of little hints which are mentioned in the Watson bra pattern. Make sure the top of your bra cup where the strap ring is threaded through measures less than 1.3mm otherwise you will end up with a bunched up bra. Also, when I attached the hooks and eyes I needed to use a zipper foot otherwise I couldn’t sew it on without the hooks getting in the way.

I love how the Watson bra has turned out and what surprised me mostly about this project was how relatively easy it was. The instructions are super easy to follow. The bra is so comfy! You forget you’re even wearing one. Now,  onto the next one….