The Berkeley Kit from Tailor Made
My order from the Tailor Made shop shipped promptly. However, when I opened up the parcel I realised I had been so eager to place my order before they ran out I forgot to change the wire size. I now have four size 30 wires - there must be somebody there that can use them!
Having decided to make the navy first, the other is raspberry/pale pink, my first thought was to check whether there was enough lace to a make a set. Oh yes! My go to pattern for all lace is the Bella from Evie la Luve. The website describes them as a low cut waist and sheer design
I just had to take a picture of everything cut out. I saw a man's face but the other half thought it looked like an owl.
I made the panties first because I had had a long day and didn't want to start the bra. You can just serge all the seams but on curves, as in the back seam, I sew with a stretch stitch first.
Not having any navy fold over elastic (foe) I went for the red. I sometimes have issues with foe as I think I over stretch. A great tip from Norma at Orange Lingerie is to steam the finished garment to relax the elastic from the sewing process. Works every time. Although with this lace this wasn't too much of an issue.
The kits comes with two linings. A 15-denier tricot for more give and a softer shape and a non-stretch tricot for more support. For the first bra I made I used non-stretch except for the upper cups where I used bra tulle. I was a little worried as the non-stretch was black not navy. So for the upper and lower cups I used the 15-denier and the non-stretch for the bridge and power bar although I toyed with the idea using a non-stretch red. However, as the black is placed behind lined lace it is hard to tell it is black.
This bra goes together so well I had it finished within a few hours. I did remember to stabilise the elastic at the ring attachment point. You can use the non-stretch tricot but I used fusible non-stretch stay tape.
I just need to finish off with a red bow to match the foe elastic. Job done.