Heavenly Bodies

Our instructor for this class was Linda Crawford from Ontario, Canada. Her company name is Heavenly Bodies and she specializes in custom fit bras, mastectomy bras, and shapewear. WHAT an interesting business. I have her contact information if you're interested in taking a class or live near enough to her to have a bra made.

Numerous people have asked me if I intend to teach bra making or sew custom bras. No. I've never wanted to sew fashions for other people and a bra is a pretty intimate piece of fashion. AND... if I was sewing something for re-sale, I'd want to make it and sell it which IMHO defeats the whole point of having something hand made. The customization of style and fit are the really good points.




Here are some of the bras from this group. A few of the women had left already. They wanted to get home before the roads were busy or it was too dark. I drove the furthest distance but over half the class was there from somewhere else. Of the nine of us, only one talked about making a bra for her friend who has difficult fitting issues. The rest of us seemed to be there purely for personal entertainment - and it was - LOTS OF FUN.

This is the front of my sample bra. I'm not sure about those wrinkles to the sides however, the stitching was a little too tight so I've lengthened the stitch and will see what happens next time. My guess is that the cup is high enough but slightly too wide. The bridge - the part between cups - was also too wide. I've narrowed it by 1/4" on my second bra. That might take care of the wrinkles.

Unfortunately, I ate something with gluten in it yesterday and by noon, I was really not feeling well and my face was beet red. I sewed but a lot slower so my "real" bra is almost finished. I have one piece of lace, the straps, and the closure to put on. Next time...

... I'm going to go up a band size. The way the back cuts in like this, creating back boobs, is not the look I like. As I mentioned in a previous post, bra size is about width and volume so several sizes like the 36D I sewed in class and the 38C I normally wear are actually the same CUP size with a different band size. I'm going to measure and compare my bought bra to the pattern and do some fine tuning. Perhaps I'll end up somewhere in the middle.

S sat at the table beside me. This is her second bra with corrections. She did a fabulous job. We're close in age and have been sewing for about the same length of time. Both of us - in fact most of the class - commented repeatedly about how absolutely wonderful it was to be with a group of women who loved to do what we love to do. YES YES

As you can see, the back of S's bra is much smoother. I'm guessing she has more band width. I'll get Howard to take a picture of the back of my commercial bra (on me) and compare because it feels much smoother than the one I just sewed.

All in all - a very fun, very informative, and completely doable workshop. If you've been intrigued with the idea of sewing lingerie, give it a go. I came home with enough supplies to make one or two more bras. I did NOT buy the book or any patterns or more fabric. I'm going to let the ideas simmer and see if this is something I want to do more of and what kinds of fabrics are out there. DEFINITELY, if I sew more, I want color and lace.

Barb arrived at the B & B last night. Today, we're off to a gluten free bakery that makes the MOST DELICIOUS chocolate cake. Kathy - one of the women in the class - told me about it as she also eats gluten free. Last night, she recommended a Mexican restaurant that is allergy friendly called Gina's. The service was excellent and so was the food. It was so nice to have a different flavour. Kathy has invited us for dinner on Thursday night. She's going to tell me more about gluten free foods then. YES YES.

After the bakery, a yarn shop, a gallery, several second hand book stores, a walk, and lots of moving slow and being lazy. Have a great day.

Talk soon - Myrna

Grateful - a day of fun