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 what better way to get your bobbins revving, than by picking a colour that most women love already! (Good thing for me, the Colour of the Year wasn’t a nasty shade of browny-greeny-gold! You can read all about the Colour of the Year by clicking here.

You can enter any form of intimate apparel (bras, bralettes, panties, corsets, swimwear) and you can enter more than once (you must really love Ultra-violet!) Our Ultimate Bra-makers Challenge rules for this month are easy.  You need to have made the garment in 2018 (that’s why it’s called a challenge!)

1. The theme, which is Colour of the year – must be obvious in the design (you can use our lilac and/or purple – both are close to Ultra-violet)
2. The pattern used must be a Pin-up Girls patterns or a modification of one, or a draft based on the Bra-makers Manuals.

Here are some inspiration bras made by our staff and design team. To be fair, some of them have been here for a few years, but they were worth being dusted off for this post. But this is a new lace bra made by our very own Rebecca. It’s a Classic bra with the butterfly lace overlay.

Here is another Butterfly lace bra made for the Craftsy class Sewing Bra: Designer Techniques. This is a Linda bra (partial band bra). It’s way too small for Ashley (our mannequin) but she didn’t complain too much.

Next up,  we show you the Victorian Amethyst bra, Denise made from the Quartet of the same name. In the challenge, this would be allowed because the Colour of the Year is still obvious.

Here is a longline bra, panties and garter belt we made a couple of years ago.

Yes, you can make bralettes too! This one is the simplest possible – cut & sew foam with fold-over binding laid flat on the seam and covering the top and bottom edges.

You can also make panties. This pair is super plain, but at least the challenge theme is obvious! We made these for the Craftsy Panty class. I know you can be much more creative than I was!

And just in case, you are feeling creative, you can go all out, as we did for this set, made of lilac 15 denier for the cups. We used stretch lace for the external power bar and the trim on the panty legs.

I do hope you consider entering the challenge. Submit your entries any time before January 31. Entries will be shown on social media (so if you are shy, don’t model it!)  and the winner will be chosen after all entries are in. Remember, the garment does not have to be on a model. You can even show off your entries to all your friends and family on Facebook or Instagram. Please include the hashtag #bramakerschallenge2018 so we can see too! Send us your photos to our email [email protected].

Good luck everyone…remember Purple Reigns this month!

Your Fairy Bra Mother