Since my last Maya fits for the most of it, it's time to start making some more adjustments to get (hopefully) towards the perfect fit!
I've been doing a lot of research (browsing the interwebs endlessly) trying to learn as much as possible about bra making, all the different parts of a bra and their purpose.
I found quite some information about underwires and how they should fit and be fitted in a bra. Around this point I found the ''Bra making forum", a Facebook group which, if you're into bra making you are already a member of!😉 Lovely ladies willing to help anyone with questions about bra making!
I found this blog post from Arte Crafts talking about wire spring (I had never heard of that before) so I figured, I'll grab my half decently fitting wires and lay them on my cradle pattern piece to see how those 2 went together.
Hmm...😕 That definitely doesn't look right...
Not having the slightest clue how to fix this, I asked the ladies on the Bra Making Forum for help.
Surprisingly I got help from Ana Filimon, the designer of the Maya! She said that, while keeping the notch intact and still connected, cut horizontally just bellow it and rotate the outer part of the cradle until it reaches exactly where the underwire is. So that's what I did but because my cradle was now somewhat distorted, I reprinted the original cradle and drew the new underwire line on it while keeping the rest as it should be.
She was also kind enough to show me:
Since this bra was going to be sort of a test bra, I decided to keep it relatively simple and inexpensive. Well, as much as possible anyway, some lycra and lace from the old stash and all the necessary notions of course.
I've kept the bridge lowered and made it a bit narrower than on the previous bra.
I doubled the lycra for the wings (yes, I've learned my lesson about stability in the band😜) and played around a bit with the lace.
For this one I chose a thinner foam since the thicker one is now my favorite! This was still kind of a test version. Although I didn't want to ''waste'' the thicker foam, I still wanted the cups to be thicker than 1,6mm. I grabbed some leftover neoprene I had from some other project and doubled the foam with it.
For the rest, I repeated the steps of the other 2 bras.
Would this Maya finally fit me perfectly!?
Unfortunately not... 😭
I thought I had figured out my problem and it'd be better but no... I'm sure Ana's suggestion would have worked well for someone who actually has their size figured out but I guess that still not the case for me...
This alteration changed nothing to the fit, my bra is still sitting awkwardly around me and it's not the length of the band... The top of the bridge is also not totally flat...
As I'm trying to figure out what the problem is, I'm readjusting the band, scoop and swoop etc and I'm realizing that for a couple of seconds it fits better till I move...
💡The cup size is too small!!
Pressing the bridge down flat on the chest creates overspill (a sign that the cup is too small, as I've read somewhere, can't remember where though...), placing the cups where they should be but they're not staying put, both things mean that the cup is too small!
How didn't I notice it earlier?? Oh yea, probably because I never wore a properly fitting bra...😖
At this point I have to keep repeating to myself that I didn't waste time and materials making these 4 bras but I've been learning and it takes time...😏
I think its time to give Maya a rest for a little bit and maybe try another pattern, maybe the Maya doesn't fit my shape? I'll come back to it for sure, no matter how many tries and adjustments I'm gonna have to make, I just love how this bra looks!
Oh yea, I also made a matching string! 😁
(P.S. I did buy the Wings pattern from Merckwaerdigh but I'll talk about it in my next post 😉)
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