Her Room Long Line Bras

It was so cold yesterday that my son asked for a ride to the university. By the time I dropped him off and picked up a few ingredients at the grocery store, the morning was half over. I'm such an early bird. I function best when I can get up early and go straight to work. That was one of the lovely things about working from home - no waiting to get to the office.

My daughter is anxious for her new job to begin next week. After a month at home, she's going crazy. LOL - I keep telling her the solution is to sew. She's doesn't and there's only so much cooking and cleaning, beading and reading, that she can do in a two bedroom apartment. That's one of the ways we're alike. We both like to work.

My friend, on the other hand, would love nothing better than to stay home all day, every day, and cook and clean and garden and paint and read while I can hardly wait to get a job, get dressed up, and get out of the house. I'm looking forward to working - when it happens. I think that a part time job is a great balance of in and out, alone and with other people, earning income to spend on hobbies and time in which to pursue them.




The shoulder seams are sewn and stabilized. The binding is sewn to the neck, turned, top stitched in place with a twin needle, and trimmed close to the stitching on the wrong side. Right now, the neck is blocking. When I took stretch and sew classes in the 80's, one thing the instructor was quite adamant about was leaving the blocking to cool and set for a long period of time. She suggested over night. I've gotten into that habit and it seems to pay off.




Tuesday is knit night. I realized after grocery shopping that I needed to prepare my next project since the black ribbed sweater was finished - finally - thank God. I'm making a 32" round x 24" high cowl for my daughter in 2 x 2 rib based on a picture she sent me. The gauge sample above started with 4.0 then 4.5 - 5.5 - 6.0 and finally 7.0 mm needles. By that point, the stitches were loose and soft enough to give drape. The smallest needles create stitches that were way too stiff. I got 5" done last night. I'm VERY sick of ribbing. I've been making something ribbed for about eight months now between the hats, the black sweater, and this. I'm dreaming of cables.

A few weeks ago, Gertie mentioned some long line bras from Her Room, an on-line lingerie store. Looking through the site gave me plenty of ideas for lingerie month in January. The prices were reasonable and I was curious so I ordered two bras - the Carnival Full Figure Camisole Long Line Bra 720 above in a D and the Rago Lacette Long Line Bra 2202 below in a DD. Surprisingly, the D fit in the cup size and I could barely do it up while the DD fit in the band size and the cup was too big. Shouldn't the same sized band be the same size? I wasn't expecting the band to be the issue.




The bras were quite nice. If they fit, I'd keep them. They don't so they're going back. A word of warning. If you live outside of the United States, the shipping, duty, and taxes are most likely going to be too expensive. By the time I return these bras, those "extras" will add up to the price of one of the bras and that money is a straight loss. Needless to say, I won't be doing that again. I did take a good look at how they were made and some pictures. These are of the Rago Lacette bra.

There were two different laces used. The heavier one to the left is stretchy band fabric. It also goes beneath the cups. The lighter one to the right is non-stretch. It also covers the cups. There are only four strips of boning, two at the back and one at each side.




Both bras had seven hooks on the closure. They came right to my waist. There is 2" wide band elastic running around the bottom that's quite thick. I would have preferred something lighter. The information in The Bra Makers Manual on sewing a long line bra does not indicate that a wider band elastic is necessary. I can see why the length of the bra would be important. If it ended below the waist against the curve of the hips, the bottom might roll.




When I took the bra making workshop, the instructor said not to use a serger. I wondered why not and had anyone tried it. The seams on this bra appear to be made with a coverstitch machine and are wide and dense. The seam allowances are to one side and completely covered with stitching. The seams did not show through my t-shirt. Since I don't have a coverstitch machine, next time I'll try a serged seam and a wider zigzag finish and see how they work. Maybe with fuzzy nylon thread for softness.




This bra did not have underwires. The channelling was there to give the cups shape but there were no wires. Instead, do you see that smooth seam running across below the cups like an extra piece of fabric? That's the same pocket that you see my hand inside of in the picture below.




This seems to add a kind of support to the cup along with the stiffness of that triangle wedge and the band lace that was used. IMHO, it's a lot of extra work for not great results. I'd rather have an underwire. When you're wearing the right size of wire, you can't feel them. They sit flat against the chest wall and are "invisible" HOWEVER...

... getting the right size is the trick. Between sewing my bras and helping my friend sew hers, I've realized that many women are between sizes just like I am with the D and DD samples. The width of the DD cup fits me much better only it's too deep. The depth of the D cup fits me much better only it's too narrow. I need a compilation of the two. I think that's why I now prefer my sewn bras to anything RTW. They fit me SO MUCH BETTER.




My T & T bra pattern is based on Wonder Bra 7422. I've worn this bra for most of the past thirty years. I think it works because the D cup comes with DD wires. I never would have known that until I started sewing bras and took one apart to make a pattern. All I knew was it fit better than any other RTW bra, which is why I kept going back to it.

Looking at the image above, you can see how easy it will be to convert this pattern it to a long line style. There is some information in The Bra Makers Manual on how to use the grainline to support, minimize, or enhance the bust. I'll read that first and pay attention to the inserts and seam lines of the long line bra images on sites like Her Room. If I have time before the Christmas party, I might try making one to wear under my outfit although it's only two and a half weeks away now so that might not happen. It depends how quickly I finish this top and whether the pants are a pain or a joy to make. I also need to finish the waist on my skirt.

Talk soon - Myrna

Grateful - learning to sew bras and liking my sewn ones better although that's a mixed blessing. So far, I prefer my t-shirts and my bras and my skirts. It's going to be difficult if I ever have to go back to buying RTW - LOL.