Stitcher's Guild

This is a heads up for a really interesting post on Fashion Incubator (http://www.fashion-incubator.com/mt/archives/a_question_of_thoracic_shaping.html) about a variation on standard thoracic (chest cavity) shaping.  This may sound boring and arcane, but it has to do with why your bras don't fit.  Who can resist learning more about that?  I'm still trying to decide whether I'm the egg-shape she's discussing, or whether I'm the more standard oval.  I know Mardel has read it too.  Anyway, it's worth taking a look at, as are all her posts, IMO! :)

Thanks for sharing this information.  I will check it out.

I frequent the fashion-incubator daily! It is a great place to learn.

This may sound weird, but I have had an interest in why bra's don't fit after watching TLC's What Not To Wear. They sent a woman to a bra specialist to be fitted properly. You could feel for the woman after she started crying because it was the first bra that had ever fit her properly. Kathleen Fasanella's article adds a great insight!

The article by Kathleen FAsanella is very intersting and I am seing all kinds of connections in fitting, being myself of the egg shape.  To think I have been sewing all these years and never noticed that fundamental difference.  Now that I know, all kinds of things that I would puzzle over suddenly begin to make sense.

Thanks for the link, Liana!  I visit her blog and forum periodically, but hadn't seen that yet.

The comments were also interesting and informative.  While I don't have the egg shape problem that some do, I do have a subtype of EDS (and fairly severely, too), and one woman suggested that that can lead to odd-shaped chests.  That might explain why my bra fitting problems are not the same as what's mentioned in the blog article and that the egg-shaped women are experiencing.

When I was skinny, I was a 32DD to 32DDD.  Now, after gaining a buttload of weight, I'm a 38DD to 38DDD.  My rib cage is (still) small compared to the rest of me.

I've toyed with the idea of constructing my own bra, but I don't have a pattern and can't get 'em here.  I can dismantle an existing bra to make a pattern from that, but honestly, I don't actually have any that fit properly, and I don't know enough yet about modifying a bra pattern so it will fit properly.  I've found some resources on the internet, but haven't puzzled my way through them yet to see how logical they are.

That, and I haven't scoped out bra-making supplies yet.  You know, underwire and the rest.  Given that Victoria's Secret and other lingerie factories exist here, it would seem plausible, but I haven't found them.  Gotta get other women I know involved and see what they can find out for me.  :)

Oh, and have I mentioned that underwire bras for sizes above 36C don't exist here?  Evidently because, and yes, this is a direct quote, "Larger sizes don't need underwire."    ::)

I've toyed with the idea of constructing my own bra, but I don't have a pattern and can't get 'em here.


Hi quidscribis,

Beverly Johnson has a Bra Making Supply Store. I have made one of her  patterns,(P-530), a few years ago and I was
quite pleased  :)
She also has a great book, on bra design, draft, fit and construction......Bra-makers Manual, B-001.

Quickly looking at her  patterns....you may like....the Pattern-P530-  "This one is identical to the Second Skin bra from Victoria's Secret, and a pattern that can easily be converted to swimwear. Very Comfortable bra with Full Coverage, Underwires with back closure, Wide Straps optional. Sizes 32A through 40DD". :) or

P-645..."The best basic pattern for a full band bra. A diagonally seamed bra with a full band with lace trim on the upper cup and the option to wear with or without wires!. Once you have this bra and the 530 mastered, you can copy virtually any bra you see in ready-to-wear! Pattern contains all sizes 32A through 42DD."...descriptions quoted right from the site.. :) ..

Here is her site: Beverly Johnson Bra Makers Supply (http://www.bramakers.com/bms_sindex.html).

Hope this helps.

Sew-4-Fun