Supplies:
- Bra
- Lace material
- Thread to match
- Pins
- Scissors
Directions:
- Choosing Your Materials
Obviously, the first choice you would be making is the bra you want to us. Is it a full bra, a demi bra, a sports bra, or some other type of bra?
Secondly, you will need to choose the lace you want to use. Does the lace have a raised, corded design on the lace? Does the lace have a scalloped edge or not? If it does not have a scalloped edge on the yardage, it will usually have a tulle like edge that has a scalloped look in the tulle. You can usually cut off the tulle around that scalloped look and end up with an actual scalloped edge. Do you want the color of the lace to match, coordinate or contrast with the bra. Although usually you would use lace that matches the bra, sometimes the dancer might want to use a lace that contrasts or coordinates with the bra. For instance, you might want to use a black bra with nude lace, a nude bra with black lace, a white bra with a colored lace. The choices are numerous and they all depend on the look you are trying to achieve.
- Placing the Lace on the Bra
Make sure that there is enough coverage at the top of the bra. If there is not, then you may want to have the lace extend above the top for a little extra coverage. There are a couple of ways to do that. One is when you tuck the lace over the top of and inside the bra, do not pull it tightly over the top of the bra. Instead, you can allow the lace to be a little looser which will give you a little more fabric at the top. You can then fold the fabric over a half inch or so above the bra and then bring the lace back down inside the bra. The other way is to place the scallop edge of the lace above the bra instead of the bottom of the bra. If you want to have the scalloped edge on the bottom of the bra and the top of the bra, you can place the scalloped edge on the bottom and then cut a strip with the scalloped edge on top of the lace covered bra so that it extends above the top edge of the bra. Once you have found the perfect bra, decide if you need, or want, that extra coverage.
Cut a strip of lace that is longer and wider than you need to cover the bra. If the lace has tulle at the bottom rather than having a scalloped edge, you can trim around the bottom of the lace pattern. It is a little more work but well worth it. For one thing, you do not have to fold the material over to finish it. It creates a perfect scalloped edge.
First, lay the bra down. I have cut a piece of lace that is larger than I will need. I prefer to have extra material so that there is room to tuck it in. Make sure that the strip is longer and wider than you think your bra will need so that you will have room to play with the lace and twist and turn it. Fold the lace strip in half to determine the center of the strip and place that center on top of the center of the bra. In this case, I know that I want the scalloped edge to show past the bottom of the bra. You could have the scalloped edge at the bottom of the bra, the top of the bra or you could have the scalloped edge at both the top and the bottom of the bra by using the method described above.
Next, pin the lace in place. Remember, the bra curves and moves so you want to use stretchy lace to accommodate those curves and movement. It is best to have the girl put the bra on and pin the lace on the bra while she is wearing it taking care not to stick her with the tip of the pin as you do it. Because I want to keep the pretty scalloped edge on the bottom, I am going to pin the scalloped end across the bottom of the bra. Be careful if the bra has wire in the bottom of the bra because that will make a big difference when you decide where you are going to put that needle. It is actually very easy to do but you have to go slow and not rush it. You need to pay attention to what you are doing.
When you get to the center top part of the bra where it dips down to a “V,” cut the lace down about an inch from the top of the bra. You are going to need to room to play when you get closer to the bra because you do not want it to rip through. Next, fold the lace over the top of the cup and pin the lace to the top of the bra. Then do the same with the other cup. If your dancer has a very large bust, you will most likely need to take some tucks or pleats in the lace to fit the lace around the cup. In this particular case, I am dealing with a larger cup. So, I am going to take that lace and mold it over the edge taking little tucks as I do. Something to watch out for is if you pull that lace down too much along the side of the cup, you will make the cup distorted and a little smaller. You want to keep the lace taut but with plenty of room in it so that you are not pulling it so tight that it changes the shape and/or size of the cup. Just play with the lace and move it around until you get the smooth shape that you want. Take little pleats or tucks in the lace as you go around the shape of the bra as needed to keep the integrity of the shape of the cup. Just play with the lace until you get it exactly where you want it to be so that it covers the bra without pulling or tugging it too tight or without gaps in the lace. Whatever edge that you feel is the most important you will want to start with that edge first. That way you still have room to manipulate the lace around the rest of the cup. With this bra, the lace is pulling up a little. That tells me that I have to remove the pins in that area and loosen the lace to give it a little bit more room.
- Sewing the Lace to the Bra
From the back side, I am going to use a narrow zig zag stitch over the lace and the bra. If the lace or Lycra material is stretchy, the stitch can be long. That way the stitch is less noticeable. Go over the center first. Before you get to the metal wire, backstitch the stitching in order to anchor the thread. Some people like to take the metal out of the bra and then put it back in when they are done. I find that can be a lot of unnecessary work. Once the lace is sewn to the bra all the way across the bottom from the hooks on one side to the eyes on the other, check the lace and tuck or trim the scallops as necessary. Double check the stitching all the way around but remember, it is going to pull. If it is pulled too taut, it is not going to fit like it should.
The next step is to sew lace down across the top of the bra from the strap to the wire in the center of the bra. When you get to the wire, if possible, shove the wire out of the way. There is often a little play in the casing that holds the wire and you can push the wire back a little into its groove and stitch across the top of the bra above wire. If you cannot push the wire out of the way, lift the needle over the wires and start again at the other side. It is best to back stitch before and after the wires. Otherwise, the needle will break. You can go back and hand stitch over the wires where you had lifted the needle. Once we have accomplished that much, we can cut off the excess material. Do not cut too much of the material off. You want to give yourself some room to play in case you need to make adjustments.
Next, when you get to the bra strap, I suggest you clip the lace on both sides of the strap and then cut the lace over the strap a little bit higher creating a little flap. You can then fold this little flap down between the lace and the bra. This will prevent having a raw edge over the strap.
Continue pinning the lace along the curve of the bra. Again, other than where the bra straps are, you will be folding the lace over the edges of the bra. You will probably have to play with the lace a little bit. Sometimes you need to loosely fold the material over the bra in the underarm area to prevent it from being pulled too tight.
When you get to the back of the bra, line the lace up with the top of the bra and fold it over the top and under the bottom of the back of the bra. When you come to the bra strap, make a little cut in the lace on both sides of the strap and turn that little piece under and pin it in place. Continue folding the lace over the back piece of the bra. I find it best to leave excess lace for a while in case I need to play with it and adjust it at some point. When you are done, you can get the excess lace off. Start at the hooks and eyes at the center back of the bra, and zig zag or stretch stitch along the top of the lace and bra towards the strap in the front of the bra. As you did in the back of bra, clip the lace on both sides of the strap creating a little flap. Turn that flap under and continue with folding the lace over the top edge of the bra. Do the same on the other side of the bra. Keep going until you reach the wire. Again, either push the wire down and keep sewing or backstitch and pick up the needle. Then, move the needle to the other side of the wire, backstitch and continue sewing. You can go back later and hand stitch the lace to the bra at that point.
Once you have finished stitching the lace to the bra, check the whole bra making sure that there are no gaps or wrinkles in the lace. You also want to double check to make sure that the cups are not misshapen or made smaller by the lace being pulled too tight. Once you have assured yourself that everything is okay, go around and trim off the excess lace on the inside.
When you get to the ends of the bras (the hooks and eyes), trim the ends of the lace and tuck them under between the bra and the lace. Then you can hand stitch the ends in place. Alternatively, you can turn the top corner of the lace under leaving the scalloped turned under slightly but free on the bottom. Be careful to avoid any metal pieces like the hooks or eyes, when you zig zag stitch or stretch stitch on top of the end of the lace and the end of the bra. If you do that on both ends, the scalloped edge on both sides will come together when you snap the bra together.
It is really that easy to cover a bra in lace.
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