Thread: covering a bra....with NON stretch material

Okay, I've never had this much trouble before. Maybe I'll take some pictures.
I tried one cup with putting a few gathers all along the bottom of the cup and the other with one large fold in the fabric. i'm not sure which i like better, or if I like either at all.
Its hard to say because the bra will be mostly covered, so it shouldn't be that big of deal to have a few little pleats, but I don't want it to look super unprofessional.
What do you ladies do? the fabric is too amazing to change it
and I already finished the belt, so that thought is out! Haha.

thanks!

I'll post pictures in a few mins here.

Top stitch the few small pleats using 2 or 3 needles loaded with one strand of the various colors you will be stitching down. They will never be noticed if they do not protrude and cast a shadow.

what do you mean various colors i am stitching down? The fabric is all green with silver streaks in it?
thanks anala

You can also cut the fabric you are using to cover the bra into diffrent shapes which will come together as a covering. . .

Does that make sense?

{{{HUGS}}}

I am doing a costume like that (non strech). Since it streches somewhat on the bias try to fit it that way. Honestly it took me 3 hours longer than it should have to cover the bra. Will post photos later.

Originally Posted by tahiradancer

You can also cut the fabric you are using to cover the bra into diffrent shapes which will come together as a covering. . .

Does that make sense?

{{{HUGS}}}

haha, I wish it made sense! do you mean to use more than one piece of fabric to cover the bra?

I see...no pattern to match thread to. I dont like the little puckers either...undo (sigh) and smooth into one or two big pleats at the sides (yes, I agree...on the bias) where they will be less noticable. Some trim to cover the indentations where the needle and thread have put inward tension on the fabric would be good as well. It is hard working with this type of thin fabric that has no give to it.

I was thinking that a bit of fabric glue to keep the fabric stuck to the base could be helpful, that way the fold that stand out a tad could be flattened out, I'd guess. (Try on a sample first.)

Originally Posted by Susanna

I am doing a costume like that (non strech). Since it streches somewhat on the bias try to fit it that way. Honestly it took me 3 hours longer than it should have to cover the bra. Will post photos later.

i tried that! I thought it would work, but I think its the metalic threads because it wont stretch at all. It is rediculous actually. It stretches about as much as grossgrain ribbon. Haha.

Hi Jenn:

This is just my opinion, but I wonder if adding a dart to the cups or following a seam across the band in the middle of the cup would help with smoothing the material out a bit.

It may never be completely flat because the non stretch material doesn't "give", but you might be able to get more curve from the material if you could "shape" the material a little more.

Still, what you have looks pretty good. Just don't make it too tight. I've had fellow dancers who have covered their cups too tightly only to have them flip inside out!

Azeeza

Originally Posted by anala

I see...no pattern to match thread to. I dont like the little puckers either...undo (sigh) and smooth into one or two big pleats at the sides (yes, I agree...on the bias) where they will be less noticable. Some trim to cover the indentations where the needle and thread have put inward tension on the fabric would be good as well. It is hard working with this type of thin fabric that has no give to it.

on the sides of the bra?
as in like the r & l of the cup sides?
I'm wondering if I could just cut a chunck of the fabric out, and put a fold on the edge of the cut.
there's like 5 inches that should be taken out. it hasn't been an easy task.
I plan to put beaded trim around the whole cup, that's why I didn't try to make it look perfect. Plus, this was just a baste to get an overall feel for how I'd work with the fabric. very rough draft. Haha.
what do we think about cutting the chunks of fabric out?

When you stitch down the big pleat(s) do not go all the way into the bra itself. With a light hand and relaxed fingers...use a long thin needle to stitch the protruding edge of pleat to the lower fabric in loose slanted basting stitches. This will avoid the tension puckers.. Capich?

You run the risk with this type of fabric of the BIG FRAY. Once that starts..abandon all hope...dart (pleat) is a better, more durable method. Allow the dart to happen at the side of the bra..arnpit to nipple in direction and stitch down with a light touch.

hmmm, this project might need to wait a bit. Haha. Might need some more thinking to be put into it.
Iam not sure how I could shape the fabric before I put it onto the cup, unless I gather it on the machine before I baste it to the cup.
how do you put shape to non stretch fabric? maybe this is a bit advanced for me.
I have a lesson on my serger today and maybe I'll take it to ask the lady there. she's a pretty amazing seamstress. Its a free lesson because I bought my machine there, so I'm not sure how much help she will want to give on this...but its worth a shot!

The Machine....the devil's playground......

Jenn, I make my own all the time and yours looks absolutely fine.
I don't see what the problem is. You will HAVE to gather it somewhere, usually even if it's stretchy material. If you don't like the little puckers along the edges, which should be COVERED UP by trim anyway, so you won't see that anyway, I sew mine on the inside of the cup without catching the front side of the fabric.
The gathers at the bottom look great! Haven't you seen costumes where much of the detail is how the fabric is gathered? It looks very elegant. You could use more fabric and make the gathers even larger, or even give it a ruched look.
Good luck and keep working on it, it looks good.

I agree with Melania. Also I would add that when I cover a bra I treat the stretchy and non-stretchy fabric the same way. You don't want to stretch the fabric over the cup - it can and will alter the shape of it, possibly reducing its size, but it could definitely take away from the roundness.
I usually just make a big fold at the outside bottom, usually make it symmetrical, so the fold is on the outside on each cup. (one cup on the right other cup on the left)
I have used strech velvet, lycra and non stretchy fabric the same exact way.

I just covered a bra with a fabric that has only a little stretch in one direction. I kept the two cups connected and covered it in one piece. It's nowhere near being done, but here's a picture of how I gathered the fabric:

http://i251.photobucket.com/albums/g...ah2111/004.jpg

It's the best photo I could get, but you can kinda see how I gathered the fabric horizontally

Nice!!!! I think your fabric has a heavier "hand" to it allowing the drape to be more fluid than Jenns would be if she tried the same thing..but then anal is part of my name...

yeah, I wasn't sure if it would work on her fabric or not, but figured it might offer a different approach. You really have to play around with it...

The metallic fabric I used is actually sheer. I had to first cover it in stretch velvet.

Originally Posted by jenlindseys

Iam not sure how I could shape the fabric before I put it onto the cup, unless I gather it on the machine before I baste it to the cup.
how do you put shape to non stretch fabric? maybe this is a bit advanced for me.
I have a lesson on my serger today and maybe I'll take it to ask the lady there. she's a pretty amazing seamstress. Its a free lesson because I bought my machine there, so I'm not sure how much help she will want to give on this...but its worth a shot!

Have you seen the older type of bra cups with a seam through the center? That is, from armpit to center front, across the nipple area? You can cover your bra using that same pattern, which is like putting darts in the sides without all that extra fabric bulk that makes up the dart:
Draw a line through the center of the cup where you want the seam to be (I'm assuming it will wind up covered with beading, anyway), then cut a piece of muslin to cover the top half of the cup, pinning it in place. Trace with a pen or tailor's chalk around the top half of the cup and across the "seam" line. You'll wind up with a pattern that is sort of banana shaped.
Next, you do the same thing with the bottom half of the cup, winding up with a sort of half moon shape.
Cut around these "patterns" on your fabric, allowing extra for seam allowances. The top piece should be fairly straight, so that when you sew it to the curve of the "half-moon" piece you'll wind up with a copy of your cup shape and shouldn't need to make any pleats or folds anywhere.

Wish I could sketch a diagram for you, 'cos I know that probably sounds as clear as mud

This is my lousy attempt at a diagram of the pattern I'm talking about ,r:; . It's as large as I could get it.
Because it's so small I'll explain the writing. The top one says "draw a seam line on the bra cup". The diagram below that shows pinning tracing paper or muslin to top half and tracing it. The one below that shows the same for the bottom half. Below that to the left are the two finished patterns with seam allowances added. Next to that shows how they're sewn together.

Safiyah, that's exactly how I cover most of my bras, so it gathers in the center.
Looks good!

Vilia - that is exactly what I was thinking of and, being on my way out the door for class (or was it in to bed between? I can't remember on these weekends) was un able to articulate!

{{{HUGS}}}}

Originally Posted by tahiradancer

Vilia - that is exactly what I was thinking of and, being on my way out the door for class (or was it in to bed between? I can't remember on these weekends) was un able to articulate!
{{{HUGS}}}}

I thought that might be what you meant. I'm glad it makes sense to someone, anyway !

ahhh cool! I get it! Safiyah's way wouldn't work...not only because the fabric, but I have a design of sequin, jewels, & beads that I want to do that would look awful over that many folds!
Thanks so much ladies. I think I might try the one pleat under the armpit and I'll post pictures when I accomplish something new!

Plus, I'll have to post the centerpiece, but its actually a ring...which looks good with the gathers over it, but I have a different attachment to make to the bra.

soooo close to being done!

One dart (a triangular pleat that ends in nothing) anywhere on the cup should take care of all the puckers - it will be a big one most likely, but from the surface all it will look like is a fold that goes from under the arm towards the center point, and it would be easy to cover up with decoration. You could also pull everything else flat except the very bottom edge of the cup, and then make a dart at the bottom so that it goes from the bottom edge to the center point of the cup, then cover it completely with decoration. It's still important to get both cups looking the same, though - that's always the tricky part. And make sure the darts on the right and left cups fold in opposite directions, so they are mirror images of each other. Under the arm coming in usually creates the most classic line, but if it's all covered, it doesn't really matter where the dart is.

I have a bra that I covered in non-stretch brocade, which shows a good example of making darts unnoticeable - if I get a chance I'll try to take a photo and post it.

I like that center pleating look too, but yeah, it wouldn't work for every design. Works best if you have a fabric you love so much that you don't want to put a lot of beads/jewels on it, so then you let the center pleating be a focal point of the design. It's a pretty look : )

Okay... I was watching the super bowl last night and got a chance to mess around. I ended up taking all of your advice and putting it together. I will post pictures later tonight/tomorrow!
I left the other cup the same and started working with the op. cup. I used nylon thread and stitched the thread to the back of the bra. using a similar pattern to safiyah's, but I made the gathers in the center a little more planned. There are 3 small pleats in the fabric, which I ended up top stitching together (only the fabric as mentioned by someone above). This did make it look completely unnoticeable from a few feet away.
I'm so excited and want to say that you are all amazing!
I decided to do it this way because my pattern for sequin that I plan to do follows the inner/top cup and the fabric will be nearly not covered with sequin/other stuff under the arm pit area.
I also tried doing one large pleat in the middle and under the armpit, but there was just enough fabric to make the "pucker" or point of the fold/pleat, whatever you want to call it accent my NIPPLE! I am not a fan of nipple accents no mattter what circumstance...so I decided to do 3 smaller pleats in the center.
I will post a picture of both cups side by side and hopefully you ladies will be as impressed as I was with myself. Haha. Just kidding. I was pretty excited though.
I think the stitching/folds...will be completely covered with my sequin swirls, so it will look even better in the end.

more questions for you oh-so-talented ladies:
I had a hard time stitching on the inside of the cup near the underwire. is there something you do special for this?
Has anyone ever used this nylon thread? Just curious. I've used it a lot and love it, but I was skeptical at first. I wasn't sure if it would reflect light on stage, etc? any advice?
Thanks so much!

Originally Posted by vilia

Have you seen the older type of bra cups with a seam through the center? That is, from armpit to center front, across the nipple area? You can cover your bra using that same pattern, which is like putting darts in the sides without all that extra fabric bulk that makes up the dart:
Draw a line through the center of the cup where you want the seam to be (I'm assuming it will wind up covered with beading, anyway), then cut a piece of muslin to cover the top half of the cup, pinning it in place. Trace with a pen or tailor's chalk around the top half of the cup and across the "seam" line. You'll wind up with a pattern that is sort of banana shaped.
Next, you do the same thing with the bottom half of the cup, winding up with a sort of half moon shape.
Cut around these "patterns" on your fabric, allowing extra for seam allowances. The top piece should be fairly straight, so that when you sew it to the curve of the "half-moon" piece you'll wind up with a copy of your cup shape and shouldn't need to make any pleats or folds anywhere.

Wish I could sketch a diagram for you, 'cos I know that probably sounds as clear as mud

this is a great idea villa! Thanks so much. I will have to try it sometime. It will probably end up looking a lot better this way, but take a little more time. No? Is this the easiest technique for you? I guess I was a little worried because I don't plan to cover the bra near the armpit area with many beads/sequin. Mostly just a large trim near the top/chest curve and a beaded trim around the whole bra.

Thanks again! specially for putting all the time into posting a diagram and explaining in great detail. I really appreciate it.