Burgundy bralette and panties

A very pretty burgundy bralette and matching panties, perfect for this holiday season. Read and see how I made it, and how you can make it yourself.

This set is made in collaboration with Sew Projects. Yelena from Sew Projects provided me with both patterns (the Barbary bralette and the Blossom knickers) and this gorgeous burgundy bamboo and lace kit.

The notions that come with the kit are black and silver, but I thought it would be more ‘me’ to use copper bra straps, burgundy picot-elastic and rose gold rings and sliders.

I also hacked the pattern a little bit, as I will show you step by step.

Blossom knickers

This is a pattern I really like. A pair of panties that has a lot of coverage, but still looks dainty and elegant. The side-straps are a great design element to add color or interest to the panties.

I used this pattern in my previous blogpost and think this will be a go-to piece in the future too.

I didn’t really hack the pattern, but did make some alterations. The front of the panties is made out of 2 layers: lace on the outside and power mesh inside. I like a transparent look, but don’t want it really see-trough.

The back is made with a single layer of bamboo jersey. Because the bamboo jersey has a lot of stretch and the pattern is made to be sewn in lace, I sized down (size XS instead of S). This worked out perfectly!

Barbary bralette

Now for the bralette. The straps with flounces give it an interesting and creative twist. Maybe I did that more to blog about it than for myself to wear haha. I was looking for ways to ‘pimp’ a basic bralette and this is where my imagination brought me.

To create a lighter, more transparent look without losing support, I used laced combined with power mesh. Turned out, the power mesh gives too much support. I should have sized up for the bralette because the power mesh is squishing everything in front. A regular mesh could also solve that problem.

I can show you the way to place your lace on the pattern to find the design you like, but Yelena just made a blog about it! So you can read all about it here.

Sewing the bralette

after cutting one side of the lace, use that piece to mirror the other side.

When you cut out your lace pieces, place them on the lining (the power mesh) and stitch along the edges with a fine zigzag stitch. You can baste the other edges so you treat the front as 1 layer.

Now you sew the side seams. If you follow the pattern instructions the side seams will be invisible from the inside and outside.

Then you sew on the picot elastic in 2 passes. Begin on the front from the left edge to the right.

Second on the bottom. Here you overlap the edges of the elastics by 1 cm. Before I sew the second pass of the bottom elastic, I place the back bra straps (8cm) in between elastic and fabric. That way they are covered by the picot elastic when you sew the 2^nd pass.

Third you sew on the elastic on the back, going to the frontstraps. Make sure you leave 3cm on the edge to sew the ring on. Also be careful that this elastic from the outer edge of the strap nicely covers the elastic from the inner edge. If you follow the pattern instructions, you will be fine!

It's time to sew the straps! I think the pictures speak for themselves here.

Et voila, the bralette is finished. Read just a little further if you also want to sew decorative straps on the bralette like I did.

Sewing the straps with flounces

A strappy decoration to elevate your bralette. If you use a hook instead of a ring, you can even make it detachable. I would definitely do that if I had rose gold hooks in the correct size. It’s nice to have a fun and flirty bralette, but you will wear it more if you can also undo the frills.

To make the pattern for the flounces, I used this video tutorial. You will need to measure how long you want the straps to be and how low you want the flounces to come. Once you have the pattern, cut this 2 times out of the bamboo jersey.

Cut 2 straps in the length you chose + 3 cm. Sew the bamboo jersey on the straps with a zigzag stitch. Make sure to leave 1.5 cm of strap on each side.

Take 2 little pieces of strap elastic. Wrap them around a ring and sew them in the middle of front and back bottom.Take the long straps and sew them on the front and back ring.

Now put on that freshly made bralette and dance and twirl baby!

I hope you liked this hack. Don’t forget to tag me on instagram or facebook if you’re making this as well so I can see your results.

If you’re looking for more inspiration, go to my ‘Patterns’  page were you will find all commercial and indie patterns I made.

Love,

Clio