Completed: Scuba Watson Bra + Bikini Set

I can pretty practical when it comes to sewing garments – I’ve figured out what I will and won’t wear, and stick with those styles & colors pretty consistently across the board (save for the occasional wild hair because YOLO). However, this goes completely out the window when it comes to making lingerie.

Me: I should really make some neutral bras, almost all my summer clothe are see-through.
Also Me:

ha! I realize there is a trend right now of wearing your underwear as outerwear, and while I did not sew this set with that intention in mind, I will certainly mostly definitely be following it. Because, again, YOLO. btw, sorry about the YOLO.

In all seriousness, though, I actually do need some new bras in my wardrobe. Most of the stuff I sewed in the past has gotten quite ratty and stretched out, and definitely needs to be replaced. I also appear to have gone up a cup size (wah), so they don’t quite fit right, either. It seems really silly to have the ability to make beautiful underwear and yet still be wearing the faded/ratty pieces that give me quadboob, so I’m slowly trying to fix that.

Sooo, this fabric! This is the Italian Red & Orange Floral Scuba Knit from Mood Fabrics. I’ve been creeping on this fabric for a minute now (it’s actually still available if you want to creep, too!) but I honestly don’t like the way Scuba feels and didn’t have any interest in sewing anything out of it. It seems that the thickness and body of Scuba – aka, the two features that people enjoy the most – were everything I did not want in a fabric. Eventually, the creeping got to me and I decided to buy a yard and see what I could figure out.

You know what works splendidly with this fabric? Lingerie. There’s enough stretch for comfort (assuming you are making a pattern that requires stretch), and the additional thickness means you get a little extra coverage. So I decided to make a Watson Bra & Bikini set with this fabric. If you look at the product listing for the fabric, you’ll see that the floral design is fairly large scale, which means it got chopped up to make the cup pieces for the bra. I wasn’t sure how much I’d like that; turns out I LOVE it. It turns this decidedly floral style into something more abstract and a bit painterly. I think it’s very pretty!

I did have to do a bit of testing to figure out the best way to sew this scuba – needle choice is very important, otherwise you’ll get skipped stitches (and there is a lot of topstitching here, so I definitely wanted to avoid that). I actually tried every single needle in my arsenal before determining that the 70/10 Jersey needle (not stretch, not ballpoint) was the way to go. After that – it was pretty smooth sailing! I don’t know how well Scuba does or does not press, but you don’t have to press it for lingerie (hence all the topstitching) so that wasn’t an issue.

I’ve made this pattern numerous times before, so nothing new to report on that end. I did go up a cup size, which means I sewed a 30E for this piece. I lined the entire bra with lightweight power mesh – this isn’t necessary (the scuba is comfortable enough on it’s own), but I like the clean interior finish. The bridge is also lined with sheer cup lining under the power mesh, for added support. All elastics are from my stash; likely mostly from Pacific Trimming or Tailor Made Shop. I kept all the elastic white except under the arms, which is orange (just cos a little to get a little wild sometimes).

Oh, I also made some matching underwear, too!

I am making it a point to sew 1-2 pairs of underwear with each bra that I make – so that I actually have matching sets (and stop complaining internally that my lingerie doesn’t match). I did cut two pairs here, but I wasn’t careful about pattern placement and the other pair looked like there was a flower exploding out of my butt. So. Scrapped that one, will revisit later haha. The underwear is single-layer scuba (no power mesh), except for the crotch lining, which is 100% organic cotton (cos I’m a fancy bitch). Again, all white elastics.

AND A BONUS HERE’S ANOTHER WATSON I MADE:

AKA my attempt at pretending I was going to sew something neutral (this dusty rose is pretty neutral on me, fyi). It all went great until I decided to add black elastics 😛

So I actually bought this fabric from Spandex House back in March – it’s just a basic, I dunno, spandex knit – in order to sew some underwear. I had just bought the Joan bra from Agent Provocateur and was considering the matching underwear, except they were slightly uncomfortable, very unflattering (on me) and also $60 and you know what, let’s not. So I took my bra to Spandex House and found the exact same spandex, figuring I’d sew my own matching underwear for WAY less than $60/pair. Which I did, but I also decided to make this non-neutral Watson bra, too!

So yep, there’s that. Same 30E, but the regular (not longline) version. Lined with matching powermesh (also from Spandex House), with black elastics and topstitching. It’s… neutral-ish. I like it! 🙂

The matching underwear is unlined and finished with black foldover elastic.

Next up – I need to make some underwired bras in my new cup size, and realistically at least one needs to be neutral. I am hoping to combat the beige boredom by finding a pretty lace to compensate, and sewing it up in the Berkeley Bra pattern. Stay tuned!

**Note: The floral scuba knit was provided to me by Mood Fabrics, in exchange for my participation in the Mood Sewing Network. All other patterns, notions, and spandex were purchased by me, though!

Tags: bra, cloth habit, completed, handmade lingerie, lingerie, Mood Fabrics, Mood Sewing Network, scuba, spandex, underwear, watson bra