This is one of the prettiest sets I have sewn up for a long time; I just love the pastel colours and lace details. Both of these items were all sewn from the one underwire kit with no extra materials required!
The Harriet pattern (Cloth Habit) is perfectly suited to showcase this fabric and lace combo. I used View B but since the scuba fabric has a slight stretch, I followed some of View C's instructions for lining.
This lace seemed destined to become a pair of lace back briefs and the Esme pattern (Evie la Luve) was my 'go to' choice. If you are making a Harriet bra in a non-stretch or low movement fabric then I can recommend pairing it with the Esme briefs. The front pattern piece can be cut from a low movement fabric (on the bias) and then all the movement and stretch required for briefs comes from the lace in the back piece.
If you are planning to use the same fabric and lace for a bra and brief set then I recommend cutting all the pieces out in unison. That way you know all your pattern pieces will fit, especially the larger brief pieces and you can also play around with pattern placement if you have a printed fabric like this scuba.
I cut out size 28DD in the bra and size M in the briefs both from the kit fabrics - a Fat 1/4 of the scuba and 70cm of the lace. I love how an underwire bra kit had enough spare to make a matching set. Two for One!
TIP TIME: I like to stitch the end of the underarm side of the underwire channelling closed and then enclose that end under the underarm elastic by making sure that it's tucked between elastic and fabric during the second pass of sewing the elastic down.
Do I always remember to do this? NO! I quite often forget as I'm sewing along.
So now to ensure I remember, before I start sewing the second pass, I use a little quilters clip to hold the channeling and elastic where I would like it to be. I remove it before I get near to sewing that area but it is a great little visual reminder to double check everything is where I want it to be before I sew it down.
I was getting so excited at how pretty these two were looking together that I couldn't resist laying them out and snapping a photo to send to a bra making friend.
Making both at the same time is also handy since you can swap back and forth between bra and briefs depending on what stitch your machine is set to and what colour thread (if you are changing thread colours) is loaded up.
So here we are! The Harriet and Esme - a perfect match. If you'd like to make a set just like this then there are two 'O'Keeffe' kits left in the shop - be quick!
When I first started out sewing lingerie on of my biggest hurdles was how to make briefs that can go with a bra made from non-stretch fabric. Underwear needs to move, right?! Well, here is one option and be sure to follow along with my regular 'match-up's' blog posts to discover more.
Happy Sewing,
Helen