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Make the Ultimate Lounge Bra: Florence in Jersey

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What is the first thing you do when you arrive home after a long day? My ritual goes as follows:

  • Greet my boyfriend and cat
  • Unload my purse and gym bag
  • Take off my underwire bra (sometimes this even happens before my shoes come off)

I look forward to that moment everyday. It’s the little things, am I right?

Most days I like to trade my underwire, boning, and power-mesh for a light jersey bralette when I swap my work-wear for loungewear. These bras are okay, but because I buy them ready to wear they are just that, okay, not so well made, and barely cute.

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For Florence month I wanted to experiment with adapting this delicate lacy bra into a super comfortable jersey bralette. I am happy to say that this experiment yielded results that are as adorable as they are easy to achieve.

You’ll need:

  • 1/2 yard medium weight knit fabric with good recovery
  • 2 yards of 3/8” lingerie strap or plush elastic
  • 2-3 yards (depending on size) of 3/8” plush picot edge lingerie elastic,
  • two 3/8” bra rings
  • two 3/8” bra sliders

How to sew elastic

For the purposes of this project, all elastic will be applied using the following technique.

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1) Pin elastic to edge of jersey right sides together, aligning plain edge of elastic with raw edge of fabric.

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2) Sew using a zigzag stitch set at length 3 width 4, then fold elastic to the wrong side of the garment.

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3) Topstitch using a 3-step zigzag with a length of 1 and width of 4.

Bra Assembly

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1) If you are making a size large or bigger lengthen band by 1″. For all sizes reduce band circumference by cutting 1/2″ off the center back.

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2)Fold jersey fabric in half wrong sides together with the fold parallel to the selvedge.

3)Pin pattern pieces to fabric aligning all grainline guides so they are parallel to the fold. Bra band should still be pinned on fold.

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4) Sew front and side cup together.

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5) Attach plush lingerie elastic to front cup. to determine length, measure top of front cup, and reduce measurement by 1/2″.

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6) Sew cup to band.

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7) Sew centerback seam.

8) Measure the top of the band and cup from center back to top of side cup. Double this measurement then reduce by 1″. Cut plush elastic to this length
If the top band and side cup measure at 16″ then, 16×2=32, 32-1=31

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9) Attach elastic to top band and side cup.

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10) Measure the bottom edge of the band and subtract 2″. Wrap the 3/8″ plush elastic around your rib cage just under the bust, and adjust if necessary. Add 3/8″ for seam allowance. Cut the elastic.

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11) Sew elastic to bottom band.

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12) Assemble and attach straps.

finished

Enjoy your new amazingly comfortable lounge bra!

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Thank you to our lovely model, Solanah, and to Christine for the photography.

Don’t forget, Florence is just $5 this month only!

Haley Glenn

Editorial Director

Five years ago, Haley left the apparel industry to join the world of home sewing. She has been empowering women to sew ever since – first through years of in-person teaching at Sew LA, and now through her writing at Colette. Haley writes tutorials and articles on our blog, teaches sewalongs, and writes and edits for our magazine, Seamwork.

Comments

Dee

June 19, 2015 #

How fun to see Solanah here! Makes me want pink (or purple) hair of my own. The bra looks really comfy. One thing I think makes lounge bras even better is an opening so they don’t have to be wrangled over the head.

Yvonne

June 19, 2015 #

Wonderful idea. I like the panty too. Which pattern did you use for that?

Haley

June 19, 2015 #

We used the Geneva panty, and raised the rise by 3 inches for a more vintage appeal. I love this look so much it might be my weekend sewing project!

Yvonne

June 19, 2015 #

Thanks! I thought about making it this weekend too. Just need some bra straps to start.

Becky

June 19, 2015 #

Thanks! And thanks to Yvonne for asking – I was going to do the same!

Siri

June 19, 2015 #

Aahhh, that looks sooo comfy! And cute too:)
I’ve never sewn underwear, but I would really like to try this.

Susan

June 19, 2015 #

These pieces are so cute and the model is adorable!

Annie

June 20, 2015 #

Thanks so much! A thoughtful pattern to share.

Abbey

June 20, 2015 #

This adaptation is so amazingly cute!

Alice Elliot

June 20, 2015 #

Anyone….? How do I save these instructions including the photos? Duh

Abbey

June 22, 2015 #

Hey Alice, if you use Chrome browser, you can save the page as a PDF, by using Ctrl-P to open the print window, and change the destination to “Save As PDF” instead of your default printer. Or you can go to https://www.printfriendly.com/ and enter this webpage to get an even simpler PDF that only shows the post.

Midnite Baker

June 21, 2015 #

For Alice Elliot. Go to this webpage and save in your bookmarks.
https://blog.colettehq.com/tutorials/make-the-ultimate-lounge-bra-florence-in-jersey

Susan E

June 21, 2015 #

I can’t seem to negotiate your web page. I want to buy the Florence but can’t find it. Follow you on on Bloglovin’.

Haley

June 22, 2015 #

The Florence bra is a pattern from our new Magazine Seamwork. You can view all of the Seamwork patterns here.

Marsha Nikooforsat

June 23, 2015 #

Love the lingerie…
Model is gorgeous!!