100-year-old Underwear Challenge

Underwear has not been around forever. The first underwear you might recall might be what is affectionately known as "granny panties". This month, we celebrate 100 years of underwear! Whether you make thongs, g-strings, granny panties or even…

Need Wider Lace? Make Some!

Busty Girl Problem: You want to use a particular lace, but when you lay out the pattern, the lace is not wide enough to accommodate the pattern piece (usually the lower cup). What can you do? The solution is simple: if you need wider lace,…
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Convert a Sweet Sixteen into a Babydoll

One of the easiest ways to have that iconic Babydoll pyjama look but with full support we need today is to use a pattern we already know and love and convert it to a modern interpretation of that classic nightwear. Our Design Team paired…

The Baby Doll Challenge

Oh, what a night! Late December 1963... Remember the 1960's where Baby Dolls were on every teenager's pajama wish list? Here's your chance to re-make that iconic nightwear look in today's fabrics and today's patterns. We challenge you to…
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Make Ingrid into Baby Dolls!

Baby Doll (pajamas) were all the rage in the 1960s. Women of a certain age will remember (with fondness, hopefully) all the frilly styles that were especially appealing to teens and young women. The Baby Dolls almost always had a full skirt,…

How to make a Bullet Bra

If you are under the age of 40, you can be forgiven for not knowing what a Bullet Bra was (and is). After all, its heyday was in the late 40s and 50s. Those of us, of a certain age, however, will know exactly what we mean by a Bullet Bra.…

The Bullet Bra Challenge

Our first bra-makers challenge of 2020 is to re-create the iconic Bullet bra of the 40s and 50s. With its distinctive cone shaped cups and circular stitching, it was "the" bra for any sweater girl of the times. We challenge you to re-create…

The 2020 Ultimate Bra-makers Challenge

Have you enjoyed the Challenges we've presented over the last few years? Well, here we are again with a whole new set of challenges for 2020. Our theme this year is "Hindsight is 2020". The year 2020 is full of promise, but this is our year…

Turn the Arm Shaper into a Shrug

We recently added an Arm Shaper to our Body Shaper Pattern. This arm shaper does wonderful things for sagging skin under the arms. If you've avoided sleeveless garments because of your sagging arms, this garment will become a staple in your…
plush waistband elastic sports bra elastic EP-137.98 from Bra-Makers Supply folded shown

10 ways to use Wide Waistband Elastic

Our wide waistband elastic is some of the nicest elastic we have worked with. We originally bought it because we knew it would make the perfect finish to the top edge of our Men's Underwear Pattern. And it does! It turns out that the…

The No-finish Neckline Edge

Some of our patterns, such as the Classic, Linda, Shelley and Sherri use elastic trim to finish the neckline edge. Others, including all of the Jewel series as well as the Ingrid and the Sweet Sixteen Bralette, use Fold-over Elastic (FOE)…

Ta da! The New Classic 2.0

It is with much fanfare and celebration that we announce the arrival of the Classic 2.0 Bra pattern! We've worked on this pattern for a long time (it seems like years...) but the wait was worth it. The Classic 2.0 is the Original Classic…
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How to Sew the Allie Sports Bra

We have recently retired the Alison Sports Bra and re-released a more modern and user-friendly version we call the Allie Sports Bra. Think of the Allie as the new and improved Alison. An Alison 2.0 as it were. It has a number of features that…
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Allie vs. Alison

We have re-released our popular Alison sports bra pattern but many are asking - what's new with Allie and why is it replacing Alison? In the comparison of Allie vs. Alison, let's first look at the original Alison. It had internal pre-formed…

A Spring in Your Step Challenge Entries

What fun we are having with the Ultimate Bra-makers Challenge. This past month, we asked you to celebrate the season and put a spring in your step by using performance fabrics to make activewear, ath-leisure wear or sportswear. You did not…
reversible fold-over elastic binding EF-5 ivory or Pantone 11-0507 winter white from Bra-Makers Supply shiny fold shown

Fold-over Elastic and how to use it

Several of our bra patterns use fold-over elastic as binding along their neckline and/or underarm edges. In the case of panties, it's used on either legs or waistline (or both). Fold-over elastic, or FOE for short, is a viable alternative to…

Add a zipper to your bra

If you've always wanted a front closure bra, but couldn't decide which closure to use, you might have looked at the possibility of a zipper closure. If you think that might be a tough bit of sewing, don't worry. In this tutorial, we'll share…

Things every low-contour breast owner should know

If you have trouble finding a ready-to-wear underwired bra that fits, you might be inclined to join the growing number of women who are choosing NOT to wear wires. They have chosen Wireless Freedom. But do you know WHY you find wires uncomfortable…

Convert a wired bra to be wire-free!

In my last post, I showed that a wire-free bra could indeed be as supportive as a wired bra. In today's post, I'll show you how to convert a wired bra to be wire-free. That's great news for those who for a number of reasons do not wish to wear…

Can a wire-free bra be uplifting?

In my bra-making classes, I always have women who do not want to use wires in their bras. Yet they want to wear wires because they believe that only a wired bra can give support to their breasts. Can a wire-free bra be as supportive as a wired bra?…
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Bamboozled by Bamboo?

One of the definitions of "bamboozled" is to be perplexed or confused by something. Have you been bamboozled by Bamboo fabrics? There is a lot of misinformation out there about Bamboo fabrics. Let us help you clear the confusion and help to…
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4 ways to Elasticate Edges

When you are making your own intimate apparel, there are a  number of basic skills you need to master in order to give you a Solid Foundation in the art. One of the most basic skills is working with elastic. Elastic can be very intimidating…

Back to Basics

One of the keys to great bra-making (and the theme for this year!) is A Solid Foundation of skills. This month, we go Back to Basics and challenge you to share with us photos of techniques you have found to make your bra sewing easier, faster…

A Bra Back for your Swimsuit

If the pattern you’ve chosen does not have a back fastening, you can add a supportive bra back for your swimsuit very easily. This bra-back keeps the suit on your shoulders while swimming, which makes it an ideal addition to the suit of competitive…

Three Essential Bra Backs you should know

If you are new to bra-making, you may be following the pattern instructions to a T. However, there are some changes to the back of the bra that will greatly impact your comfort, but they do not take a lot of drafting skill or sewing knowledge.…

Best Bra-making Tutorials of 2018

In January 2019, our theme is "Looking Back". We'd like to kick off this year, by looking back at the Best Bra-making Tutorials of 2018. You may have missed some of them. Instead of you wading through pages of blog posts, we've gathered here…

The art of Fussy Cutting

We love Scuba for bra-making! Not only is it always beautifully coloured and printed, but it is also co-operative at the sewing machine. Who could ask for a better fabric? If you don't know Scuba, you might consider working with some in the…
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His and Hers Santa Shorts

The holidays are almost here, and for those of you wanting a gift for that special couple or for yourself, here's how we made the His and Hers Santa Shorts. We used the Lillebror version of the Mens Underwear pattern to make the Mens shorts.…

Our 2018 Christmas Mannequin Tree

We were looking forward to the planning and decorating of our 2018 Christmas Mannequin Tree since the summer. What colour should we use? What style of dress should she have? Real branches or artificial? All these questions brought forth ideas…

How to Make a Piped Sapphire

We got a lot of comments when we posted this lovely Sapphire bra on social media. Denise, our talented instructor (and member of our small but mighty design team) made this using one of new printed fabrics. True to her style, Denise added piping…

Our Manly Challenge Entries

Here are our Manly entries for the Ultimate Bra-makers Challenge. Most of you used our Men's Underwear Pattern, but a few of you also took advantage of our FREE Men's Tank Top offer. I am sure the men out there are quite happy to be seated in…
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How to Convert Over-the-top to Front Access

Our Men's Underwear pattern has been getting rave reviews. It has an inner support sling and two stylish views, both with over-the-top access. That's a growing trend in men's underwear, in a manner of speaking. However, if your guy prefers front…

How to Make Professional Binding

I love the look of binding on the edge of a garment. (Not Fold-over Elastic, but proper double folded fabric binding) When I make my own knit tops, I almost always use binding on the neckline. Why? Because I have a lovely industrial cover stitch…