Thread: Major bra surgery - would you dare?

Have any of you lifted the fabric and decoration off a bra and placed them on another, better fitting bra base? I'm looking at a beautiful Pharaonics... one of the bra cups is covered with ruched fabric and embellishments that I *think* could be easily lifted off and draped on another base. The other side I don't know as the sequins seemed to be sewn more directly onto the bra. It might involve undoing all the beadwork and then redoing it again.

My questions:

1. Have any of you tried this and found it easier or harder than the project first seemed?

2. What unforeseen issues can arise in doing this?

3. What kind of bra base did you choose for your new bra?

4. Am I insane for even thinking I should do this or should I just pass the costume along and wait for another that actually fits?

It depends on your fit issue...sometimes moving shoulder straps inward or outward can help. I've also taken the sides off of a bra (required taking the lining out, at least partially). I also made the inside of the bra fit better by adding some buckram (heavy duty felt type stuff) to the pointy area it had. Stitching that pointy area of the decorated cups to the buckram with matching thread also helped smooth that out. Obviously, pointiness was an issue with this one! If you let us all know what's going on with your costume maybe we could help you better? BTW I've used fabric store bra cups and zig zag stitched them like crazy ALL OVER to stiffen them. Works pretty good, but lining with buckram with or without that technique works better. Keep in mind that the all over stitching takes up almost a cup size, as does the buckram lining.

Originally Posted by deelight

Have any of you lifted the fabric and decoration off a bra and placed them on another, better fitting bra base? I'm looking at a beautiful Pharaonics... one of the bra cups is covered with ruched fabric and embellishments that I *think* could be easily lifted off and draped on another base. The other side I don't know as the sequins seemed to be sewn more directly onto the bra. It might involve undoing all the beadwork and then redoing it again.

My questions:

1. Have any of you tried this and found it easier or harder than the project first seemed?

I have done this. it was about what I expected in terms of difficulty. I am also a person who has (numerous times) ripped up old carpeting without knowing the condition of the floors underneath, and I have also chopped up and dyed antique assuit. So taking a bra apart doesn't give me the vapors.

2. What unforeseen issues can arise in doing this?

You could start the process and then find that a huge area of the beaded part that you thought would be free is in fact stitched to the base with a million stitches...

3. What kind of bra base did you choose for your new bra?

I used a strapless bra from walmart, the kind that has two extra thick, partially overlapping strips of heavy elastic for the band part.

4. Am I insane for even thinking I should do this or should I just pass the costume along and wait for another that actually fits?

It depends on how much you love the costume and how much the costume is worth. In my case, I bought a cheap ($225 or so) costume with issues already knowing that I would replace the bottom of the mermaid skirt. The bra had so many wierd issues that I didn't feel bad about gutting it.

I've considered it many times. Only done it once. About two years ago I started diassembling the bra section of a dress. Turns out ALL the sequin work goes right through the cups, which are some kind of foam.

That project is still half-done in a basket somewhere.

Had the sequinwork NOT gone through the bra cups, it would've been totally doable!

Done it a couple of times. Over a sheet. To catch all the design that fell off both cups. That had to be redone. That took a month, at night in my "spare" time. I am about to do it again on a white dress. I have a real aversion to prow shaped breasts.

not the bra, but I'm going to be messing with a belt soon
and I know that a lot of the stones and sequins are sewn through the fabric, so like starting from scratch.

I say go for it! I'm actually debating doing this a Pharaonics costume of mine, I hate the shape of the bra but I love the costume so much that I can't bear to get rid of it. I took the lining off and it looks to me like she sewed a few of the stitches all the way through the bra cup, but definitely not all of them. Have you looked inside the lining?
I don't know when I'll get started on this, but I'll post updates and pics when it happens.

Good luck!

A couple of years ago, I took my fabric coin and ethnic looking beady bra that the cups were simply too small "B" and I'm a full "C" and just sewed it onto a brand new larger bra. I had already extended the cups on top by sewing grosgrain ribbon and then trimming and it simply wasn't enough - the girls were so squished even when I removed ALL padding that after one troupe gig, I had a boob bruises from "forcing" the girls into the bra cup. I knew I had to do something; this was my one coin and tassel troupe costume and it was unwearable.

However, I did NOT dare removing the fabric from bra - decorations and beads were sewn right through and I did not want to have to sew them all back on individually .w.:; but I did cut off side/back strap and shoulder straps, and the connecting strap between the cups and just "transplanted" the two decorated cups right onto the new bigger cup bra.

Then simply added stretch velvet material all around cups and it blended in so well with bra that you'd never know decorated bra cups had been "transplanted" onto new bra.

Of course, this was a really good fix because I had lined the original bra cups right away when I bought it years ago with a good layer of felt, thus the inside of bra was in good shape - felt absorbs the sweat better than other linings and this protects the bra cup fabric and threads from sewn on decorations from corrosive effects of sweat. If not, then yes, I would have had to remove fabric with decorations from bra cups and it would have been a lot more work replacing all those beads & coins when they fell right off the material because they were sewn right through bra cups..w.:.w.:

Nisima, that is a very clever solution!

Nisima, you clever girl!

I got yer surgery for ya...right here

B to DD. I cant find the right color sequins...so I am stuck at the moment.