Create a

It’s easy to achieve a comfortable, custom shape

By Norma Loehr

Add a foam layer when you sew

luxurious, custom-made bras for
contouring and support.
Pattern: author’s design, available at Orange-
Lingerie.com in late 2014; fabric: (top) Lycra from
Merckwaerdigh, no longer available, and lace
band from KantjeBoord-Amsterdam.nl; (bottom)
100-percent polyester Duoplex, BraMakersSupply.com.

56 THREADS

B
ras are easy to sew and con-
siderably less expensive than
ready-to-wear alternatives. An
especially versatile type of bra I like
to make is one with thin foam cups.
Not only can a light foam padding
be added to any lovely bra pattern
to create a smooth silhouette, it can
Adjust the pattern
To modify a bra pattern to include foam cups, remove part of the cup’s seam allowances
before cutting the foam pieces. Be sure to keep the original pattern for the fabric and lin-
ing pieces, which will be cut later.
Trace and modify the Remove all tan seam allowances as shown.
1 pieces. Trace the bra-
cup pattern, and remove
Armscye

be covered with almost any fabric

all seam allowances
that is comfortable against the skin,
except for those around Upper cup
including silk, lace, or spandex, the wire line. Remove any Center
without having to refit the bra or sections that extend into front
sacrifice support. This approach to the strap area, as well.
bra-making enables you to custom-
ize bras for the look and fit you
want. (For more on fitting and sew-
ing bras, see “Bra-Making Basics,” The blue sections represent
Threads no. 159.) the finished three-piece,
foam-cup pattern.
The foam material I use for bra-
Lower cup, left Lower cup, right
making is called poly laminate foam
(or tricot-bonded poly filler). Each
sheet is 1/8 inch thick and has a tricot
fabric bonded to either side. Differ-
ent widths are available from the
suggested list of vendors on page 58,
ranging from 28 inches to 60 inches
wide, and sell for between $17 and
$30 per yard. For the largest cup size,
Cut the foam cups. To cut
1/3 yard of foam is recommended and
should provide enough material for 2 the cups accurately, trace
the pattern onto the foam
several bras. For smaller cup sizes, 1/4 material, and use shears to
yard is plenty. cut along the traced line.
Here’s how to cut, cover, line, and
finish a foam-cup bra for expert
results. I use my full-frame bra Traced foam pattern piece
pattern with a three-piece cup and
an underwire to demonstrate this
technique. A “full frame” pattern
Use a tracing wheel and
means the bra cups are sewn into
tracing paper to transfer
a frame that surrounds the cups. the bra-cup pattern
These techniques can be applied to pieces to the foam.
any underwire bra pattern in which
the cup is shaped by seams.

Norma Loehr creates custom-made

bras for clients and encourages others
Tip trace with precision. To make tracing easier,
transfer the pattern to light card stock or a manila folder
to do so on her website, Orange-
before tracing it onto the foam material.
Lingerie.com.

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How to work with foam
• D
 o not fold. Folding foam, as you
would to open a seam allowance,
creates a bulky ridge.
Prepare the pieces
To sew the foam cups together, first assemble the foam cups, then create the cup
covering and lining. As with any garment, press as you go; see “Bra-cup pressing
tips,” on the facing page.

• C
 over the entire foam piece. Foam
Sew the foam
is not the most attractive material,
and it comes in limited colors. I 1 pieces. Set the
machine for a zigzag
recommend covering both sides with
stitch that’s 4.0 mm
fabric as described.
wide and 1.5 mm Underarm
• D
 ouble-check the cup size. Foam has long. Join the foam edge
pieces by butting Foam cup
volume, and you might need a larger
cup size than expected when using the edges. Align the
it to make bra cups. Test the fit with presser foot’s center
marking with the
foam during the muslin process.
seamline. As you sew,
the cup curves into
The foam cup takes shape only after shape behind the
the pieces are sewn together. presser foot. Then,
zigzag-stitch along
the cup’s underarm
edge to flatten this
area in preparation
for applying elastic Zigzag-stitch the foam pieces
or trim. Repeat to together to form the cup.
prepare the other
foam cup.

Foam & findings Create the cup-covering pattern. Retrace the original cup pattern, and add half
Sources
2 the foam’s thickness measurement along the upper cup’s top edge. This allows
the fabric covering the cups to wrap around the foam edge to the cup’s inside. Note:
• BraMakersSupply.com If the cover fabric is stretchy, use the original unchanged cup pattern.
• FabricDepotCo.com
• SewSassy.com
Add half the foam’s thickness along
the top edge, as shown in green.

UPper cup Photos: Sloan Howard.

58 THREADS
 Construct the cup lining and covering. Cut and assemble the cup Bra-cup Pressing tips
3 lining as specified in the pattern. Then, repeat for the cup covering
using the unchanged pattern and include topstitching. Bra-making requires constant pressing,
especially when making the cups. When
working with foam, pressing helps shape the
Cup covering
Cup lining cup and integrates the stitches into the material.
For professional results, follow these tips.

• T
 est heat and steam settings on fabric scraps
before ironing your project.

• U
 se a press cloth when ironing to avoid
damaging or melting bra-making materials.

• D
 o not press elastic, as the fibers will be
damaged by heat, and a bra is only as good
as its elastic.

Assemble the cup lining and covering according to the pattern instructions. • U
 se a tailor’s ham to press curves. A ham
stand is also helpful for hands-free pressing.

Cover with lace

You can easily embellish the basic foam-covered bra cups with lace. Just make a few pattern adjustments.

1. To incorporate a lace upper cup, make sure the 2. Remove the seam allowance at the upper cup’s top Straighten the upper
edge and remove the
original pattern’s upper cup top edge is a straight edge to create the lace pattern. Place the pattern
seam allowance.
line. If it isn’t, alter the upper-cup pattern pieces so the new upper edge is aligned with
for all layers. Then cut the upper-cup pieces from the lowest level of the lace’s
the cup-covering fabric. scalloped edge. Cut a right
and left upper cup from Upper cup
3. W
 ith right sides up, lay the lace lace.
over the upper cup-covering
pieces, aligning the
bottom edges. Baste
if desired. Then 4. Join the covering and lining at
join the upper the top edge (as described on
and lower cups. page 60), leaving the lace
Leave the unattached at this edge.
remainder Do not understitch.
of the lace Be sure the thread
unattached matches the color of
at the cup’s your lace. Then, zigzag-
top edge. stitch around the cup
to join the layers together.
Stitch the lace upper- Stitch as close as possible to the
cup section to the cup cup’s top edge and the base of the Sew a zigzag stitch
covering. lace scallops. along the cup edge.

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Complete each cup
Sew together a foam cup, covering, and lining to form a finished cup. Repeat for the second cup.
Each finished cup can be treated as a single unit during the remainder of the construction process.

With right sides together, sew the cup covering to the cup lining along the top
1 edge. Clip any curves, and keep the seam allowances pressed together toward
the lining where they will remain in the final cup. If your bra includes a fabric strap, Cup lining (RS)
attach it between the two layers. Be sure to leave enough underarm space to turn Fabric strap
the elastic (see the tip below).

Fold the cup covering back, over the cup Stitch the cup covering
2 lining so the covering is wrong side up. With
the foam right side up, place the cup’s seam
and lining together with
an optional strap in
between.
allowances beneath the foam cup’s top edge as
shown at lower left. This enables you to see the
seamline and the foam cup’s top edge so you can Top-edge
align them easily as you sew. seam

Use a zigzag stitch to attach only the seam

3 allowance to the foam cup’s wrong side, as
close to the seamline as possible. Begin sewing
Cup covering (RS)

at the inside edge of the cup, since all the pieces

align at this point. Complete sewing the top
edge.

Place the cup covering and lining beneath

the foam cup’s top edge. Zigzag-stitch, Cup lining (RS)
using the seamline as a guide.

Tip
Bind with fold-over elastic.
For an alternative edge-finishing treatment,
use fold-over elastic to bind the edges.
Remove the seam allowances from the
upper cup’s top and underarm edges
on the bra cup, cup covering, and lining
patterns. Once the cup covering and lining
are assembled, zigzag-stitch around the
foam cup (rs) cup’s edges to secure the fabric to the foam.
cup covering (WS)
Depending on the bra style, you can
Upper cup’s attach the fold-over elastic
top edge to the upper cups
Underarm edge and underarm
Seamline
before or after
inserting the
cups into
Open the fabric around the foam cup, and
4 understitch the lining (only) to the cup’s
inside top edge. This prevents the lining from
the frame.

slipping into visibility in the finished garment.

60 THREADS
 Zigzag-stitch all the material layers together around the
5 cup’s wire line. Be sure the lining and covering edges match
at the underarm. Now, one bra cup is complete.

Repeat steps 1 through 5 for the second bra cup. Both

6 cups are ready for insertion into the frame. Note:
Finish the bridge (or center panel) before sewing the cups
Zigzag-stitch around
the wire line.

into the frame. Cup (RS)

Finally, follow the rest of your pattern instructions to
complete the bra construction.

Prepare to sew the

foam-filled cups
into the frame.

Bridge

FRAME (RS)

A foam-cup bra, beautifully finished

inside and out, is a comfortable
figure enhancer.

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