Bras by Kristen

 

 I've often thought about how nice it would be to hire employees in our Alterations shop, but it's just so hard to find people that know how to dissect what needs to be done on anything they approach and then alter it.  In Southeastern Minnesota, the older crowd of sewists that do alterations are retiring, which means an influx of phone calls for our business because of mom's 30 year reputation. 

So the wheels have been turning. If I were to take on an employee, what are the things I want them to know and how could I train them while still being able to sew on my own work.  When you're a small business as small as we are, stopping to train someone slows your productivity down so much that there's no profit to be made in the business. After many conversations with other business owners, over the summer it occurred to me that I could record the sewing I'm doing in the shop and turn it into courses, as if they were training videos for someone I'd hire. 

So I bought a camera and started recording. 

I've been recording since the middle of the summer. The thing about economy changes, when people are strapped for cash, they have us mend their clothes and people still get married (pandemic rules or not). So I might have a day where I patch stained pants for a local dairy farmer because he can't afford new and then turn around and hem a $3500 USD wedding gown. I might replace the zipper on a coat for the ambulance crew and then repair a horse blanket for one of the ranches. So I've been recording. Everything.

I found a course platform that I love and I am working behind the scenes on a very beginning class on the basics. I'm not quite finished with it, although I plan to open it soon for pre-order. For those who are interested in checking out my freebies, the website is 

https://sewingbycarolyn.vipmembervault.com/

So... what happened to this year?

Beginning of the year, I started this blog and put a ton of articles up after my highschooler switched from Online Public school to our local district in January. I have 3 kids and 2 of them are school age.

Then March happened. Can I just say it? This pandemic has had some soul sucking qualities. I feel gyped out of digital progress this year!! My 9th grader studying Algebra and my first grader (who read along with the first Harry potter book after kindergarten) both got sent home from school to do their studies at home. So here I am, full time sewing with mom in our alterations shop, juggling which kid gets the homework help between sewing, With an almost 4 year old running around begging for attention.

Then: "Don't make masks." "Everyone stay home." "Wait, some people are essential, so they should keep working." "Wait, make masks cuz we can't buy them." "Cancel all the events, stay home for 2 weeks to flatten the curve, but then life will resume." "Ha, that's a joke, this ain't going away." "Well, maybe we could lift the restrictions some..." "Ok, everyone be mindful and resume activities, but social distance and stay home as much as possible, but if you social distance, you should be fine to have weddings." 

Then, in Minnesota, they decided in JULY that we needed a mask mandate.

July.

Not March.

Not April.

Not May.

Not June.

July.

Come August, there was NO PLAN YET for the school. Our district held a town hall zoom meeting to try to reassure the parents. WHAT A JOKE! I have a kid with an Asthma action plan! She's an age that they wanted to send her to school and they expected the teachers to do an impossible job of implementing several separate plans at once. No thanks.

So we took a long look at our options. Mom and I had been operating at a level of overwhelm that can cause a psychotic break. The burnout was real, folks! We knew the option of an actual online school from having used it before the pandemic. But I can't sew full time (because people got married anyway - they just moved it out to farms), child care the 4 year old, assist the 2nd grader to suddenly do a bunch of computer work, and help the High Schooler move into geometry and 10th grade pursuits.

So I had to hire help. I have a friend that's a rockstar and acting as the second me so we can split the to do list in half. This was a temporary solution to pandemic stress. We're really hopeful for next school year and hoping that we can resume some sense of "Normal."

So, Here's to being hopeful for what the New Year will bring.

One of my mild obsessions is the shape of the Ewa Michalak bras. This video was shared with me to pass along as a great example of the proper way to put on a bra.
Source

One of the important pieces in the wire fitting stage is doing a root trace.  Not everyone needs this if they have wires in stock and their anatomy lines up well with a certain wire.  However, some people may not have a stock of wires, and then it's nice to line this root trace up with wire charts so you have some idea of what to order.  One of the most recommended websites for this tutorial is the Kimtimates website. Slight Nudity in this one.

How To: Breast Root Trace **Slight Nudity**

There's been a lot of discussion online about breast roots. Do you have wide roots, narrow roots, short roots, long roots? It all sounds interesting, but what is a breast root?! The breast root is the inframammary fold. It's basically where your breast attaches to your torso.

Another great resource (there is nipple showing in this one) shows the trace lined up with a wire

Bra Underwires 101: A Basic Guide | The Lingerie Addict

Today's guest post is by Lyzzy Beswick. Hailing from the beautiful Derbyshire Peak District, Lyzzy is a DeMonfort Contour and NTU Fashion Management Graduate. She currently works as a freelance technical lingerie designer for KissMeDeadly, Augustine London and several other independent brands. Her obsessions include pole dancing, antique lingerie, rock music, Smart cars and green tea.

https://brasbykristen.blogspot.com/search/label/Fabrics

[1] How a wire should fit.
This measurement is taken by Bra-makers either with a flexible ruler or with different sizes of underwires until one properly fits the infra mammary crease. If you find underwires uncomfortable or poking you, more than likely they are the wrong size for your anatomy. Warning: Slight nudity in some of these tutorials.
https://brasbykristen.blogspot.com/search/label/Wire%20Fitting


Wires can be altered to fit. Most people can find some sort of wire shape out there that will work, but some absolutely cannot find one that is shaped properly for the shape of their root. https://brasbykristen.blogspot.com/search/label/Wire%20Alterations



[2] How a band should fit
A Band should be fitted independent from cups. We always tell people starting fresh to bra sewing to make a band with no cups and get that to fit correctly, first. Center against sternum with no breast tissue behind. See picture at end of post with the frame on a mannequin.  There are many posts on this subject, including one that I did with extra seam allowances for being able to alter easily. https://brasbykristen.blogspot.com/search/label/Fitting%20Bands

Once you’ve tried on the fitting band, take note of the alterations that need to be done and stitch them into the fitting band.
https://brasbykristen.blogspot.com/search/label/Band%20Alterations




[3] Then make cups
Start by making the cup size that the pattern designer recommends, because each designer will have their own chart in mind about what measurements make up what name in their sizing system. https://brasbykristen.blogspot.com/search/label/Fitting%20Cups

https://brasbykristen.blogspot.com/search/label/Cup%20Alterations



One more thing, I highly recommend the Eve Pattern if you’re interested in doing some designing, or if you’ve not had any successes with patterns in the past.  The Eve Classic Pattern is as close to a custom draft as is possible in Patterns. Also, if you somehow don’t fit in this range of patterns (which has more than 1000 options for custom sizing) Information can be found here for learning to draft bras from scratch here. https://brasbykristen.blogspot.com/p/the-eve-revolutionary-to-bramaking.html