BARRETT BRALETTE A SPORTY FEMME BRALETTE BY MADALYNNE INTIMATES

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BARRETT: A SPORTY FEMME BRALETTE GETTING STARTED

I SINCERELY HOPE YOU ENJOY also called a soft , meaning that it does not have underwires. The amount of stretch your fabric has and THE BARRETT BRALETTE, A the firmness of your elastics will play a big role in the amount of support your bra provides, but this bra is FREE PDF DOWNLOAD FOR ALL generally intended for smaller sizes - cup sizes AA-C. BARRETT BRALETTE BARRETT LEVELS OF BRA MAKERS SUGGESTED SELF FABRICS: The pattern was designed for stretch fabrics that have approximately 30-50% stretch. Some examples include, but are not limited to, stretch lace, stretch mesh, jerseys, or any OVERVIEW: The Barrett is a sporty femme pull-on fabric with 4-15% spandex. Fabrics with stretch greater bralette that has adjustable straps, a triangle opening than 50% should be lined with another layer of stretch at center front and an elastic band at the bottom. It fabric. has a forgiving fit, and lends itself to being layered underneath oversized tops and dresses. SUGGESTED LININGS: Stretch mesh, micro mesh or powernet. INTENDED BRA MAKERS: The Barrett is a bralette,

PAGE 3 GETTING STARTED

GETTING STARTED PRINT PATTERN: Be sure that your printer settings SUPPLIES (see image on page 8): are not set to scale or zoom and that you are printing • 1/2 YD self fabric at 100%. To ensure you’re printing the right size, first • 1/2 YD lining fabric print out the page with the test square then measure • 1.5 YDS 3/4” picot or flat elastic (for bottom to ensure the square is 2” x 2”. If it isn’t, you may band) need to adjust your printer settings. • 2 YDS 1/4” or 3/8” picot elastic (for front neckline, armholes and back band) FIND YOUR SIZE: Determine your size using the • 1.5 YDS 3/8” shoulder strap elastic size chart below. If you are between sizes, I suggest • 2 rings 3/8” wide sizing UP. Generally, if you normally wear a 28/30 • 2 sliders 3/8” wide band, choose an X-SMALL, a 30/32 band - a SMALL, • Stretch needle size 11, 12 or 14 depending on your a 34/36 band - a MEDIUM, a 38 band - a LARGE, a 40 fabric band - an X-LARGE • Polyester thread BARRETT BRALETTE • Odif’s 505 temporary spray adhesive (optional) SEAM ALLOWANCES: All seam allowances are 1/4” unless stated otherwise.

SIZE CHART - FULL BUST MEASUREMENT

X-SMALL SMALL MEDIUM LARGE X- LARGE

FULL BUST 28.5-30.5 in 30.5-32.5 in 32.5-34.5 in 34.5-36.5 in 36.5-38.5 in (around the fullest 72.5-77.5 cm 77.5-82.5 cm 82.5-87.5 cm 87.5-92.5 cm 92.5 - 97.5 cm part of your breasts) PAGE 4 PAGE 5 BARRETT BRALETTE TRACING AND CUTTING plus, itwon’tgumuponyourneedle! short amountoftimeand/orduringwashing. Alsoa permanently adherethem–thegluewillwearoffina to cutting(seebottomrightphotoonpage8). Youwon’t spray bastetheselfandliningfabrictogetherprior use atemporarysprayadhesivesuchasOdif’s 505to like cuttingchiffon–lotsofshifting!Tomakeiteasier, Cutting finelaceandliningcanbereallydifficult. It’s page 3. Next, findandcutout yoursizeusingthecharton bottom ofnextpage(page7)forreference. circles align. Tapetogether. Refertothe3 photoson Then, overlaporbuttthesheetstogethersothat page 4ortheleftedgeon5alongblackline. scissors orarotarycuttertocutofftherightedgeon test squaremeasures2”x2”.After,useapairofpaper Even thoughthedirectionsstateit,besurethatyour Follow theinstructionsonpage2toprintyourpattern. THE BRALETTE... BARRETT TUTORIAL ON HOW TO MAKE THIS WILL BE YOUR VISUAL LET’S GO! LET’S BARRETT? SEWING YOUR READY TOSTART can youdisregardthelinesandcutinanydirection. SELF andLINING. Ifyou’reusinga4-waystretch,you the directionofyourfabricthatstretchesMOREforboth make surethattheDOGSlinesonpatternalignwith If you’re usinga2-way stretchfabricforyourBarrett, stretch. stretch, orastretchinalldirections,called4-way there iseitherastretchinonedirection, calleda2-way crosswise. Whathas more stretch? Onstretchfabrics, To findtheDOGSonyourfabric, pulllengthwiseand Barrett, lineswitharrowsindicateDOGS, notgrainline. stretch (DOGS).So, whenlookingatthepatternfor patterns arecutaccordingtothedirectionofgreatest cases, patternsarealignedwiththisline. Inbramaking, the fabricthathasleastamountofstretch. Inmost In awovenfabric,grainlineindicatesthedirectionof back bandNOTGLUED. You’ll seewhylater. Leave theliningandselfforsidecups the selfandliningforcenterfrontcupsonly. you didwasjustawasteoftime. ForBarrett, spraybaste few daysbecauseifnot, thegluewillwearoffandwhat If youspraybaste, Isuggestcuttingandsewingwithina online atAmazon.com oratyourlocalcraftstore. A temporaryspraysuchasOdif’scanbepurchased PAGE 6 STEP 1 BARRETT BRALETTE TRACING AND CUTTING FABRICS + TRIMS PAGE 8 PAGE 9

CUT SELF AND LINING SEPARATELY FOR SIDE CUPS TRACING AND CUTTING TRACING

CUT SELF BARRETT BRALETTE BARRETT AND LINING TOGETHER FOR CENTER FRONT

use a spray adhesive - refer to CUPS photo on bottom of previous page PAGE 10 SEW IN SEWING G

The very first step is to sew the center front cup (lining only) on top and pin all layers cups together. With right sides together, together. See photo on top right on page use a straight stitch and stop 1/4” from top 11. Use a straight stitch to sew through all and bottom - indicated with pins in photo layers, then flip side cups right sides out. above. See photo on top on page 12. Repeat for the BARRETT BRALETTE BARRETT other cup. The next step is to sew the center front cups and side cups together. We are going Why use a straight stitch on stretchy fabric? to clean finish this seam, which means we Generally speaking, a zigzag stitch is used are going to sew the seam in such a way on horizontal seams, and a straight stitch is that the seam allowances are encased in used on vertical seams. During daily wear, the lining. This is why we didn’t use a spray your body moves widthwise, not lengthwise, adhesive to temporarily adhere the self and unless you’re doing jumping jacks all day the lining of the side cups when cutting - long ; ) You’ll see later when we attach the they have to be separate at this step. elastic, that we’ll use a zigzag stitch.

With right side of center front cups facing Also to note, I use a slightly smaller stitch up, place side cup (self only) down - right length when sewing a straight stitch

LET’S START LET’S START SEWING! sides facing. See photo on top left on page on any kind of open mesh/net fabric 11. Then flip over and with wrong side (approximately 2.0mm instead of 3.0mm). of center front cup facing up, place side PAGE 11 SEWING

Next, attach the cups to the back band elastic like I am, the elastic should overlapping. at the side seam by using the same extend 1/8” beyond the fabric’s edge. method we used when sewing the In both cases, the picot should face Also, try to stitch as close to the picot vertical seam on the cups. inward (towards the fabric) and plush as possible without going off the edge side should face up. See photo on left of the elastic. If you think you’re Then, attach the 3/8” picot elastic to below. Sew along the picot edge with going off, you’re probably doing it the front neckline and center front cut a zigzag stitch. right. When sewing the elastic at out. Now you’ll see why we stopped the center front, fold back the other sewing the center front cups 1/4” Stitch width and length for a zig center front cup and sew all the way from top and bottom. zag stitch will vary from machine to to the edge. See photo on left below. machine. A good rule of thumb is to With right side of bra facing up, place ensure that the stitch width does not Sew elastic on other neckline, then elastic on top. The pattern has ¼” exceed half of the width of the elastic. on center front cut out the same way. seam allowance throughout, so if Why? Because we’re going to sew When finished, your elastics should you’re using ¼” elastic, you will align another “pass” of zig zag stitches on be criss crossing. See photo on right the flat edge of the elastic with the the other side non-picot side. This below. edge of the fabric. If you’re using 3/8” will prevent the zig zag stitches from BARRETT BRALETTE BARRETT

PAGE 13 SEWING

Next, attach the 3/8” picot elastic to allow you to flip the elastics to the opposite to the one you just sewed. the armhole and back band using the wrong side in the next steps. If it’s Use a zigzag stitch again. same method as in the previous step. anything less than 3/8”, you won’t be able to flip it. If it’s anything more When you reach center front, pivot If you’ve attended one of my than 3/8”, you won’t be able to fit the your sewing so that the neckline and workshops or taken a lesson from strap points through the rings when center front cutout are both sewed in me, you’ll know my favorite quote, attaching the shoulder straps (if one pass. After, trim elastics so that “We’re not curing cancer, we’re you’re using my kit). the cut edge is flush with the zig zag sewing !” Perfection is overrated. stitches. See photo on left below. By no means am I a perfectionist, Once you sew the first pass of zig zag but when sewing the elastic at the stitches on the neckline, center front strap points, the space between the cut out and armholes/top back band, elastics should be as close to 3/8” as flip the elastics to the wrong side of possible. See photo above. This will the bralette and sew along the edge

BARRETT BRALETTE BARRETT Should I stretch elastic when sewing? In most cases, I set elastic flat, meaning I don’t stretch it when sewing. Why? In normal garments, there is what’s called “ease”, so the pattern measures more than your body measurements. In lingerie however, there is “negative ease”, so the pattern measures less than your body measurements. Why would you want to make it any smaller? The exception to this is when you want the bra to “hug” the body in certain areas, like around the armpit. For this bralette, I set all elastics flat except in the armpit area and at the top of the back band. I didn’t use any calculation, and have developed a “feel” for how much to stretch, which you will too with practice ;) BARRETT BRALETTE SEWING on rightabove.Thenpinalltheway and XL, itshouldbe21/4”. Seephoto cut outshouldbe2”.ForsizesM,L For sizesXSandS, thewidthof center frontcutoutsothatitliesflat. should befacingup. First, pinat towards thebraletteandplushside above. Picotedgeshouldbefacing of bralette1/4”. Seephotoonleft the 3/4”picotelasticandbottom With brafacingrightsideup,overlap That’s it! bralette andtoattachthestraps. picot elasticatthebottomof The laststepsaretosewthe3/4” Woo! We’re gettingclosetofinishing! We’re gettingclosetofinishingand to cutyourelasticbasedonsize? Why didn’tIprovide alengthforyou below. a straightstitch.Seephotoonright then sewtogetheratthispointusing you’re goingtounpintheelasticand but onceyou’ve markedthispoint, This mayseemlikeanextrastep, middle below. elastics meetwithapin. Seephotoin you’re goingtomarkwherethe Once youpinallthewayaround, around. Seephotoonleftbelow. to attachthetwotogether. way around-anduseazigzagstitch center frontcutoutfirst, thenallthe before -1/4”overlapping, pinningat the braletteexactlywayyoudid now repintheelastictobottomof it shouldnowbeacircle.Youcan Once you’ve sewntheelastictogether, get therightmeasurement. elastic tothebottomofbralette by now.So, it’s bettertopinthe longer thanthebottomofbralette cut theelastic, itmightbeshorteror and ifIprovided anexactlengthto sewing andcutting. Nobodyisperfect at thispoint, therehasbeenlotsof PAGE 14 BARRETT BRALETTE SEWING Put ringsthroughstrappointsand possible. Trimclosetostitching. sew abartackasclosetotheslider above. Foldtheshortsidedownand and onelongend.Seeimageonleft like abeltbucklewithoneshortend through theotherside. Itshouldlook over thecenterbar, andthendown and throughthebottomofsliders, Feed endsofthestrapelasticsup 16-18” long. your ownstrapelastic, cut2lengths strap elasticinhalf. Ifyou’reusing kit tomakeyourbralette, cutthe If you’re usingaMadalynnelingerie Now ontothestraps! straps sothattheyareapproximately bralette facingrightsideup, pin to thetopofbackband. With The laststepistoattachthestraps 2”. Seeimageonleftbelow. from slidertoringisapproximately previous step. The“standard”length and overcenterbaragainjustlikein photo onrightabove. Thenweaveup through ringsfrombacktofront.See Weave longsidesofthestrapelastics from fraying/wearing. to endofstrapelasticpreventit above. to stitching. Seephotoinmiddle close toringaspossible. Trimclose turn back1/2”. Sewabartackas Tip: apply clearnailpolish on rightbelow. below forextrasecurity. Seephoto You cansewanotherbartackjust below thetopedgeofbackband. Sew abartackapproximately1/8” elastic). back bandoninside(thewidthofthe approximately 3/8”belowtopof up. Also, strapelasticshouldextend shiny sideofstrapelasticisfacing for sizeM, L andXL. Makesurethe 5” apartforsizeXSandS51/4” PAGE 15

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