We’ve started a whole new year of exciting bra-making challenges for you! This year, our overall theme is A Solid Foundation. We are focusing on helping you become the very best bra-maker you can be. Our first month’s theme is We’ve Got Your Back, in which we challenged you to show us your creative backs of your bras, bralettes, swimwear, corsets or other intimate apparel. Are you ready to see the We’ve Got your Back Challenge Entries and where they call home? We are too! As you may know, we like for the bra-makers to tell the story in their own words.
Bonnie (Canada)
Here is my January Bra of the month. A cute bralette made out of scuba and a special back for this month.
Cassy (Canada)
Another month gone by already. I almost didn’t get this one in as I did not get any inspired ideas. However, I needed a new sports bra and thought I’d play with strap elastic. So I have an Ingrid bra in wickable fabric with the straps pulled in so I can wear it with a tank without the straps showing. It does not match the vision in my brain and I may still have to play with them, but it is surprisingly comfortable. Of course, the final judgement will be wearing in a workout.
Charlene (Canada)
Hello Beverly and all! I missed doing any of the challenges last year so I am looking forward to this years! I have been considering trying the back straight across to see if it reduces sag on the upper side of the band. I was a little concerned however with the amount of stress there would be at the strap attachment … which led to wondering if the strap attachment could be widened … so here is my first try at making an interesting yet comfortable bra back! I started with the Heather, fitted at last year’s Saskatchewan Stitches Conference, and made a few changes. I used a 12mm bias tape maker to make the individual straps and attached them under the upper band elastic although I did reinforce the band attachment. The spread also allows the straps to be closer to the centre to help prevent the straps falling off my narrow shoulders. I think I would make the band higher and use a larger hook & eye on the next one, but so far it feels good.
Christel (Netherlands)
I have made a bralette from a free pattern of a sewing pattern. The back of the bralette is my own imagination.
Christine (Canada)
Here is my back submission. This time I reversed my straps (elastic at the front and non-stretch to the back). It is really comfy. Thank you for setting up these challenges.
Dana (USA)
Here’s my entry for the 2019 “We’ve Got Your Back” challenge. I fell in love with Beverly Johnson’s Y-back template in the Sewing Bras: Designer Techniques class. I used a regular navy bra kit with navy lace and navy FOE. I started on January 12, 2019 and finished on January 25th. I’m a US Federal worker, working without pay, so I started making bras, out of necessity, and to pass the time. Thank you for your consideration.
Desiree (Netherlands)
Good day, Attached pictures of my January idea. I Made a swimming suit for my daughter with a “racerback”. I used lycra with tribal print. Greetz!
Jodi (USA)
Hi! My name is Jodi and I have my first bra to submit! Yay! For this challenge, I decided to use the Mama Bralette. I used the cross back version and I absolutely love it. I did not think I would ever get support from a bralette (I have the Sweet Sixteen pattern but haven’t had a chance to make it yet!) and I was pleasantly surprised by how supported I feel in this bra. I generally wear a 30H or HH as I’m nursing at the moment and I made this (40F with a 5-inch cross-over at the front) and it feels amazing! I used 8.5-9 inch stretch lace and lined the cups with stretch mesh. I love the back cross and hope to make some open back sweaters to show it off. I’m also thrilled that I finally had the time to make something!
Karen (Canada)
I was a little pressed for time, but here is my 1st submission for 2019. I added a little lace to jazz up this otherwise bland white Ruby bra.
Kathleen
This bra is based on the horizontal cup, “Heather,” and has the lace extending to the shoulders in front. The back has somewhat exaggerated back strap extensions, with the straps moved as close to the center as possible. Even with narrow, sloping shoulders, the straps never fall off. Yes! Thank you Beverly and Denise for showing me how to solve that problem.
Louise D. (Belgium)
I would like to submit a creation of mine for January’s challenge. I finished this late yesterday and just had the time to take pictures today. Hope it is not too late! It is a mix of a band I designed with an additional back piece based on a top block pattern and cups from a modified bra pattern. The emphasis here is on the back side of the bra, with a black lace all over, lined with light skin tone tulle (stretch and non-stretch). The cup at the front are on the contrary very stable and made of black soft tulle (non-stretch). All seams are enclosed. I must say I dreamed of such a bra when I began the adventure of bra making two years ago, but the idea got lost in the process of learning the basic techniques and trying to get the perfect fit. I am glad you chose this as a challenge to begin 2019, and very proud of it as it fits beautifully. Thanks a lot for organising this challenge!
Louise F. (Canada)
I made a posture bra using skills I learned from Beverly’s Craftsy class on Shapewear. I must say that I am standing up straighter with my shoulders back. Hopefully, I will be able to sew more with my back better supported. Thanks, Beverly for the skills & idea. I’m very happy with the results!
Megan (Switzerland)
Here is my submission for the Ultimate Bramakerschallenge January “We’ve got your back”. I wanted to make a comfy yet good looking back for this bra so it is still easy to put on and off. That meant no decorative crossing straps or fully covered backs with cutouts. After picking the fabric I decided to make this tank top strap look to show off the pattern of this velvet topped mesh even more. My pattern base was the Barret bralette. Thank you for the lovely idea to make this challenge. I find it great and it is very motivating to step out of my comfort zone and try new things. Sadly I only discovered your website last December so I missed the whole 2018 Bra-makers challenge. But early enough to join this one.
Michelle (Canada)
Here’s my entry for the Got Your Back challenge. I was inspired by a ready-to-wear back. Oh, I was just reading the challenge guidelines again and realized I’d left a bit out of my description. This is my Shelley pattern. I’ve changed it from a back opening to opening on both sides.
Rachel (Canada)
This months challenge entry is a Sapphire pattern with widened strap placement on the back band. I “guessed” the lace placement. Then I zigzagged the lace to the straps.
Roni (Israel)
This is my first time entering the Ultimate Bra-makers challenge, so a bit about me… I’m Roni, 33, and have been sewing clothes for many years (almost everything I wear, wedding dresses for friends, pole dance outfits for myself and friends, etc). I have a deep love for lingerie and have dreamed of sewing bras for quite some years. I’ve owned Beverly’s first book for quite a while now, but life, work, kid, etc got in the way… After seeing all the amazing entries from last year, I decided this year I would join in and I hope to be able to do all 12 challenges. (I recently ordered Beverly’s second book as well as a bunch of patterns and kits, so I hope to get those soon… A friend is bringing them to me from Canada. I live in Israel.) For my first entry, I did a sports top with an asymmetrical back. I pole dance for fun and I make most of my pole outfits, so the front is a plain one I’ve done many times before, but for the back, I wanted to do something special, as we have a photo shoot coming up and I usually like to sew myself something new for photo shoots. I got the inspiration from a dance outfit I saw on Pinterest. It was really hard getting all of the little straps right and I had to do each one individually, taking off the bra each time, having hubby help me pin the next one into place, sewing, rinse and repeat… 🙂 The bra shell is made of swimwear fabric in a pink camouflage like print. It’s lined with lycra in a dark bordeaux and the bindings are black lycra. There’s a layer of powermesh between the two fabrics for extra support. I really like to use the swimwear fabric for sports bras because I find it comfortable and doesn’t really show sweat stains. Also, it’s really hard to come across a good wickable fabric here, so it’s a good substitute. During the summer months, we have a plethora of swimwear fabric designs to choose from!
Sonia (Canada)
Hi ladies! For January challenge, I sew a very simple bra with a pattern I drafted. I have issues with falling straps so I decided to try a very wide back band with a high back strap extension. I’m hoping to get rid of my problem this way the straps being higher and closer to the centre of my back.
Virginia (Australia)
My January entry is another Linda partial band bra modified to accept pre-formed foam cups with a strappy back band. Two more techniques copied from RTW:
- turning the picot edges to the inside of the band; and
- folding narrow elastic into a triangle where it joins wider elastic on the straps.
Well done everyone and what a great start to our 2019 Ultimate Bra-makers Challenge! Next month, share with us photos of your tips and tricks for the Basics of Bra-making as we continue to build our Solid Foundation of Bra-making Skills!
Your Fairy Bra Mother
So many beautiful bra backs. There are a couple I want to try out!