Black leaf bra

I got this lovely black sheer knit mesh fabric via Minerva Blogger Network and I thought it would be perfect for a bra. I had black push-up foam bra cups already waiting in my stash, so I decided to use one of my go-to bra patterns: The Amanda and Alyssa pattern by Pin-up Girls.

Disclaimer: I am a Minerva affiliate but my opinions are my own.

This mesh fabric came in two colourways, grey and black. I chose the black as it is easier to combine with the black bra cups. The leaf pattern has been created out of thread loops which makes it slightly three-dimensional. It doesn’t fray badly but it is a fabric that can be prone to snagging. Besides bras, I think it might make nice festive dresses and tops when lined properly.

Sewing the bra

To cover the black foam cups, I pinned the mesh onto the cups and removed the extra fabric by forming it into a dart. I sewed the dart closed and trimmed the seams. Then I pressed the seam open and zigzagged along the seam to flatten it out.

I could now cover the push-up cups. First, zigzagged the edges of the cup covers with a long zigzag stitch to keep the cover fabric in place. Then I could trim away all the extra mesh fabric. I then changed into a very tight zigzag and used it to finish the top edges of the foam cups. This is one of the easiest and fastest methods to finish foam cup edges! However the zigzagged edge is not very pretty on its own, so I then added a strip of pretty lace:

I made the bra band out of some black lycra that I had in my stash. I decided to use the Make Bra techniques and thus eliminated the side seam. Now, since I had a stretchy front band I had to add a piece of stabilizer fabric to the middle of the band and the bridge to keep the cups in place.

The other thing about using lycra is that you’ll have to use a super stretch needle. Otherwise, you’ll get skipped stitches that don’t look good. You’ll also need to be very careful not to stretch the bra band while sewing the elastic on. Even though I was being very careful, I had to rip out some of my elastics after getting a wavy edge – a clear sign of a stretched band. I finally pinned the elastic down and that solved the stretching problem. The other way would have been to stretch the elastic a tiny bit so that it would compensate the stretching lycra fabric.

Another setback came when I noticed that I had lost the hook part of my hook and loop tape I used as a closure. Finally, I decided to make my own hook piece using hooks from a hook-and-eye closure. That fixed the problem!

The finished push-up bra

I think this push-up bra looks very nice and after wearing it for two days I can say that it also feels very comfortable. The three-dimensional leaves do show through the thinnest teeshirts but that would happen with many lace bras, too. As the winter is closely approaching I have already packed away most of those skimpy tees and blouses anyway and nothing shows through the knits I plan to surround myself with during the colder months!

You can get this mesh fabric and lots of other gorgeous fabrics through Minerva crafts, so check them out!

This is all for today! Do subscribe if you haven’t already done so and happy sewing!

Katja