I’m on a roll with filling my undy drawer with freshness! I guess one could say it is part of preparing for Spring :). As soon as the email announcing her new Bra pattern, Harriet, I hopped on over to Cloth Habit and made the purchase. Something about this one had me hooked.
The Harriet’s classic style features a lovely balconette neckline, supportive scoop-back straps, and a 3-piece cup seam design that lifts and centers.
Views A and B feature supportive, unlined cup fabrics and an optional lace upper cup. View C has a partially lined cup and fully lined cradle which gives you opportunities to play with lace on the front of the bra. from ClothHabit.com
I haven’t yet had terrific success with the other underwire bras I have made. That is not to say that they didn’t fit, they just weren’t exactly the right feel. The girls didn’t stay happy for more than a few hours. I set out to select my size using the instructions. She explained that the sizing is not the same as with Watson, which makes sense I suppose considering this is an underwire and the Watson is a soft bra. I came up as a 30DD! Um yah…no way. So instead of making a tester bra with this size, I thought I would pin-fit it so to speak. What I found is that the cup was way too big…projection-wise. Here is a picture showing what I mean.


The 34C seemed to be the closest to a good fit, so I set out to make it up using a scrap of some duoplex. I didn’t have any black plush picot elastic, so I decided to use FOE to finish the neckline. I removed the seam allowance in order to maintain the correct size. The fit was darn near perfect except for a tiny amount of excess fabric in the upper cup at the apex. I really like the overall look of this bra and for left over materials/notions…I do like the finished bra!

I removed a total of 3/8″ from the apex; taking 1/8″ from the upper cup and 1/4″ from the lower cup pieces. The other adjustment I felt it needed was to add 1/8″ the to bridge width. As for design changes, I did not want to use picot elastic at the neckline, so I decided to self line the upper cup by placing the seam-line on the fold. I then attached clear elastic to the inner layer to stabilize the neckline to be invisible. It worked like a charm!
I found the instructions to be written and illustrated very well, although I kind of went my own way. I have no issue with the order of construction used, but just prefer my own quirky order of things. 😉 One thing I want to point others to, is the underwire. I did not have the size wire suggested, so went through those I had and low and behold…the Plunge wire size 36 was a perfect fit for this bra. You can get them at Emerald Studio on Etsy. Unfortunately, I live in the US and the shop is in Canada, so I set out to find an equivalent if not the same. I believe I found the same wire sold by ArteCrafts; she has a PDF with actual size wires of all types she sells. I ordered them and should get them soon and am hopeful!
I just love this bra, it is so comfortable, easy to make and super versatile. I have a kit sitting on my cutting table ready to cut out…it will be the lace version. I am so excited! Anyone else out there sewing up this beauty?
thanks so much for sharing this – I really want to try this pattern but had exactly the same sizing issues – I’ll try your hacks straight away!
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Terrific! My breasts have much more density low and to the side; I believe that is why I usually get the excess fabric at and around the apex. Not sure, but I learn with each make. Good luck in your endeavor and have fun!
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Oh Christine I hope you dive in, BraMaking really only takes patience and after a few under your belt you’ll be on your way. Thank you for your kind words ❤️
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