An Easy Cover-up

Picture yourself at the beach in your lovely new swimsuit...but you would like to walk along the beach to take in the sunset. Do you take your walk in your swimsuit, bikini or monokini? Or do you go back to the hotel room to change? Here's the…

A Big Book of Swimwear for all!

I've been wanting to write a much more in-depth book on swimwear since I wrote Make & Fit Swimwear some years ago. There wasn't any book on the market that went into the fitting, design and construction of all types of swimwear, including tankinis,…

February Challenge Fashion Show

For the Ultimate Bra-makers Challenge 2018, we asked you to make intimate apparel from RED stretch satin. You did not disappoint us! Here is our February Challenge Fashion Show! I've tried to keep the entries in first-name alphabetical order. First…

Spring Splash

Are you thinking about your next great design for our Ultimate Bra-makers Challenge? We are too! In February, we challenged you to work with red stretch satin - a fabric many of you had never sewn before. Your entries were amazing! This month…

Our Logo Bra – part 2

In my last post here, I showed you how we assembled the cups on our logo bra. We got this far along - the constrast colour is inserted into the seaming of the cups. We added a ruffled edge by cutting off a bit of some lace trim, gathering…
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Our Logo Bra – part 1

I designed our business logo several years ago. I've always loved the bra style that I used, even though it is not a style in my pattern line-up. It is a multi-seamed vertical balconette cup with a ruffled upper edge (that's a mouthful!) I decided…

That Peek-a-boo Bra

For those of you have been following my Facebook page, The Fairy Bra Mother, I recently posted a picture of a red satin bra that garnered quite a bit of attention. A lot of you expressed an interest in learning how to make it. So here now in…

January Challenge – we have a winner!

I am so pleased to announce in the Ultimate Bra-makers January challenge - we have a winner. (Actually we have 3 winners!) We had a LOT of entries and a hard time making a decision...so we asked you, our wonderful followers and Facebook fans…

Love Yourself

Hello again, my Fairy Bra Children - are you ready for February? Get thinking about your next great design for our Ultimate Bra-makers Challenge. This month, we are challenging you to make undergarments using the "Love Yourself" theme. We…

How to work with Stretch Satin

Recently, I wrote a Stretch Satin Primer, detailing some tips on choosing and cutting wonderfully luxurious stretch satin. No post on how to work with stretch satin would be complete without some sewing tips. Here are some based on my experience. Stitching…

A Stretch Satin Primer

Stretch Satin is wonderfully luxurious and so silky, it's almost liquid to the touch! Nothing says sexy like satin! In this tutorial, I want to share with you a Stretch Satin primer, so that you will be able to create luxurious, comfortable,…
Lingerie Laundry Bag Bra-makers Supply

Top 10 Reasons why you need a Lingerie Laundry Bag

Lingerie laundry bags are an inexpensive and helpful laundry tool.  In my opinion, you should have a few on hand whenever you head to the laundry room. Here are the Top 10 reasons why you need a Lingerie Laundry Bag: You will avoid stretched…

The Stick and the Straw

Do you turn a lot of tubes? Do you make a lot of tiny spaghetti straps, straps for swimwear or bras? If so, you know the pain that comes from turning fabric tubes right side out. When our sales rep showed us this amazing gadget, I immediately…

Purple Reigns

This January 2018, Purple reigns supreme! Actually, it's Ultra-violet that reigns...but I thought Purple Reigns was a nice play on words (apologies to the late Prince). In any case, our Ultimate Bra-makers Challenge has officially begun, and…

Colour of the Year

Hello, Bra-makers of the world - are you ready for a great challenge? Fill your bobbins and clear your cutting table for our Ultimate Bra-makers Challenge. This month, for our kick-off, we are challenging you to make a garment using the Colour…

Ultimate Bra-makers Challenge

Everyone wants to improve their bra-making skills, right? How can you do that on your own? One way is to challenge yourself each month with a new fabric you've never sewn before, or a pattern you've never made before. You'll learn techniques…

Tour of the New Store

We are pleased to announce the re-opening of our Grand New Store on Ottawa Street North in Hamilton, Ontario. Your memory is serving you well if you remember that we have been on Ottawa Street for seven years. Our new store is just two doors…

Sports Bra Hack

Do you make up a pattern exactly as the pattern instructs? Or are you comfortable with changing...or in today's terms "hacking" the pattern to create a new look? We took our favourite sports bra pattern, Kerri, and changed it to have the same…

How to make lace edged underwear

Confession time....the problem I have with store-bought underwear is the elastic at the legs. It's got a stranglehold on my legs it seems, especially when I am sitting at the computer. To express it as a town from an Agatha Christie novel...Much-binding-in-the-groin.…

Lingerie, Lace and Latex Tour

How would you like a trip to Europe? Of course, you do! Even better - how would you like a trip that embraces the things you love - like Lingerie, Lace and ...(maybe) even Latex? Hmmm? We are offering (in conjunction with Triple M Tours) the…
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Christmas Mannequin Tree

We needed something special for the display window in our new store. The shop features a window that is easily accessible from inside the store, with an opening large enough to accommodate a display that is almost one metre in diameter.We decided…
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Bedazzle it!

Every woman needs a little sparkle now and then. We recently started a project that (quite frankly) needed some help. It started as a plain ivory corset with a hand-sewn lace overlay. It was ok and some people thought it was stunning actually,…

How we made the Crystal Empress

Do you remember snow storms where overnight the world was transformed into a crystal wonderland? We do too! We decided to create a bra that invoked the spirit of a winter wonderland- crisp, clean and lots of bluey-turquoise colour.  I really…
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How to Insert Bra Cups into Swimwear

Do you know what stops most sewers from making their own swimwear? In a word, it's the cups. You might be able to muddle through inserting one pair of cups in one swimsuit, but what if you want to make that swimsuit over and over again. If you…

Boob Camp October 2017

We held Boob Camp October 2017 recently and it was a bittersweet time for all of us. It was to be, not only the last Boob Camp in our old building but our last class of the year. We had hoped to be in the new location to have these last few…

How we made the Spider Bra

A lot of you have commented on our Spider bra we made for Halloween. It's on our Ashley mannequin in the window of the new store (along with a life-size witch who cackles when folks walk by) A lot of you also asked how we made the spider bra.…

Boob Camp August 2017

Here we are again as we finish up another one! These are the makes from Boob Camp August 2017. As you know, we always start off making the basic white Classic bra just to perfect the fit. Then we start playing with colours, fabrics and techniques…
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How to make a Ruched Triangle Top

I love it when a customer brings in a garment from ready to wear so we can see it. Not only is it good for us to see what the trends are for that season, it gives us a chance to see behind the seams - and really check out the construction. In…
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Tale of Two Triangles

Every now and then someone brings in foam cups from a ready to wear swimsuit for us to match up to what we have. Most often we have something very similar if not identical. However recently someone brought in a swimsuit top that had triangle…
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When Bra-making meets Quilting

You probably already know that bra-making is not an isolated skill set. We borrow skills from all aspects of the sewing spectrum. But when Bra-making meets Quilting, you just know something special is about to happen. That's exactly what happened when…

10 Commandments of Sewing

Did you ever meet someone with whom you had so many common interests and you bonded right away? That's how I felt about Joan McKenna on our European Lingerie Tour. Joan teaches college level sewing classes in San Diego (and is now their Program…

How to work with Latex

If you have ever wanted to glimpse into a fascinating world of which you know nothing, I strongly suggest you take a class in which you learn how to work with latex. I took such a class recently in Amsterdam, where I went with 19 other ladies…

The Mother of all Lace Stores

While we were in Amsterdam with the European Lingerie Tour (I wrote posts about each stop in London, Paris and Amsterdam), we made a stop to what must be the Mother of all Lace Stores. Yes, ladies, we went to Kantjeboord, in Amsterdam. I did…