Nights In White Satin

This set was supposed to be part of Cloth Habit's bra making sewalong but life conspired against me and I just didn't get time to participate.  It wasn't the sewing that took the time, although I did have to dedicate an entire day to the project, but the collecting of the supplies is where most of my time was used.

  

I made the set out of some white nylon lycra (note exactly white satin, I know) that I did buy specifically for a set late last year.  I made my trial pair of undies out of this fabric here.  I bought half a metre of this lovely fabric and this was enough for 3 pairs of undies and 1 bra, so at $8 per metre it was very cost effective.  The lace content was leftover from Courteney's dress and has been used for  a few projects since.  This time I bought a set of wires from Lincraft which actually worked out at $3 per set which I thought was very reasonable.  Their elastic on the other hand was not.  I bought a lovely heavy lingerie elastic for the bra which was the same elastic I used on my last set but I ran out of the lighter undie elastic and ended up also paying $5 per metre for some more at Lincraft and when each pair uses 1.6 metres, it actually works out quite expensive, although it is nice quality.

The pattern I used for the undies was once again McCall's 5400.  I actually cut the elastic smaller than is called for with swimwear elastic, like I did with the last set, using 60cm around the waist and 50cm around each leg.  I added a small lace detail at each side but instead of cutting away the back of the lace, I left the lycra there for durability.

For the bra, I once again used Kwik Sew 3300.  I made this bra, slightly differently to the last one.  I found that the lycra combination I used last time is a little stretchy and is therefore not as supportive as it could be.   This isn't really a big problem when you are a B cup but this time I was aiming for more support.   I pondered the lining for quite a while before I delved into my scrap box and came out with some white cotton fleece knit with no stretch.  This proved to be the perfect solution because I prefer natural fabrics next to my skin.

The straps were made using matching lycra and stitching and turning before threading through some poly braid elastic.  I then used my 3 step zig zag to secure the elastic in place.  It has provided the perfect amount of stretch.  I have anchored it at both elastic points on the back and permanently attached it to a ring at the front.

I have temporarily retired these patterns now, while I search for elastics in colours.  I think I have it sorted.  Some red and blue elastic would be nice!  I already have a bag of small pieces of suitable fabric to make more sets but finding the elastic is the biggest challenge.  I am always up for a sewing challenge!