Bra in Progress

Last summer I ordered supplies and a pattern to make my own bra.  I'm finally between projects enough to make it!  I have to do it now in order to problem solve for one of the next two costumes I'm making.  (Being a girl of some bosom, I want to make a top that would work better on a girl who is less endowed.  I have to troubleshoot how I'm going to keep my dinners contained, and making a bra is going to help me with that.)

I bought Elan bra pattern #511 and the kit that goes with it.  When I'm done, I'll have an unromantic white bra.  (Once the fashion industry figured out that white people aren't actually white, the surplus of white bras seemed to drop off the market.  Now everything is nude, cocoa or black.)  I'll also have the know-how to make a contemporary bra.

The pattern instructions are lacking.  There was nothing in the bra kit (the fabrics and notions to make the bra) that explained what everything was.  The pattern pieces aren't marked to delineate which fabric you should use for each piece.  I had to pull out an off-the-rack bra and try to determine what fabric made the most sense for which piece.  Tonight I cut the pieces.  I have to check to see that I have the right thread and needle for my machine tomorrow so I can crank this sucker out this week.

I intend to dance in a Southern city this summer where I have to wear a net bra.  I know this won't be the last time I'll have to cover my bazooms to follow the letter of the law and keep my hosts out of trouble.  I'm going to make my own bra with the skills I learn doing this pattern, but I think I'll get a much better shape by copying the bra in the photo.  I think the seams fall in better places. :)