That matching bra

And this is the bra I made to match those experimental panties-with-straps. 

I used my tried-and-tested racerback design but I did make some changes: I used the higher shape for the band, the one which is adjusted to the shape of the underwires. I also cut down the center front of the cup a bit more. On me, this still doesn't look like much of a plunge but it is lower than what I used in my previous two racerback bras (you can see them in older blog posts: the first and second one). 

This may be the first bra I have ever made without lace... Ok, I think I have made a lycra and fold-over elastic bralette once but that doesn't really count. I used the opaque and sheer striped lycra, fold-over elastic and beige-ish foam. The simple look of the materials meant the sewing had to be extra-careful. I had to unpick and re-do the binding on the cups once because the lycra had shifted and bunched a little bit over the foam. It is really rare for me to have to unpick anything because of sloppy sewing work... I'm glad I did it though. The sloppiness of the first try might have put me off wearing this bra and now, I think I will wear it a lot. It is just as comfortable as this design always is. 

lingerie, bras and shapewear

Last weekend, I spent a couple of hours asking the same question on three different Facebook groups of which I am a member (We Sew Retro Sew & Tell, Learn how to make Corsets like a pro and a Dutch group about corset making, to be precise). I got a lot of kind comments and good advice but nothing like a single solution emerged. 

I was looking for advice on how to improve on this thing which I made last year. 

My lingerie corset isn't bad but it is not flawless either. I'm sure I can fix the minor fit issues it has but I really need to find a good fabric for it. The opaque stuff I used here is a bit too stiff and doesn't breathe. And I was also not happy with the way this garment creates more tummy than I actually have. One of the people who commented on my question mentioned something important about that though: Flat stomachs are a modern obsession, a fit like this would have been completely fine in the 1950's (which tends to be the era I look at for this kind of thing).

I also spent some time looking at repro patterns for shapewear (I know Mrs. Depew has a few, if you have other recommendations, please comment). 

I really should try and order some samples of the fabrics which were suggested to me (and some more lingerie supplies besides that) and experiment with the pattern or try a repro one. Instead, I started with supplies from stash and a design which is between normal bra a retro shapewear: A longline bra.

It is strapless for now but I plan on adding straps. I put ribbons in the cup seam to allow for that but I am all out of rings and sliders. 

I made it using non-stretch silk (for the upper cups and the center front), that mesh I also used for my body suits and some beige/pink lingerie foam for the cups. And I used my usual underwires and polyester boing covered in velvet ribbon along the bodice seams. Unfortunately, I only had fairly wide boning in black and proper bone casings would have been better with this sheer fabric... 

And the use of interlocking rigid pieces like the bones and the underwires means the fabric between those pieces has to fit perfectly. The center front is just a tiny bit off in its center, below the underwires. It is nothing that can't be fixed in a new version but it would be much more trouble than it is worth to try and fix it in this finished product. 

In a new version, I would also slightly change the angle of the cups, put a tiny bit more room in the upper edge of the cups and use wider elastic at the bottom edge of the bodice (note to self: Buy such elastic...) and probably lengthen the bodice  by 1 to 1.5 cm to make it reach my waist.

Despite all that, I like this for a first try. 

Much better!

Another attempt at making a soft bra... This time, I used my own pattern. The bra sloper I drafted a couple of years ago is for a full cup, underwired bra with a vertical seam. So far, I have always used it to make underwired bras, usually with a horizontal or diagonal seam. Sometimes, I made strapless versions, occasionally a plunge.
This time, I experimented with integrating the cup shapes into the cradle and wings while keeping that vertical seam. This means there is no place for an underwire anymore but crucially, there still is shaping at the bust.
I also cut it in kind of a plunge style, with center from at the underbust line, much lower than it would be for an underwired bra. I knew that was a bit of a risk but I liked the idea style-wise. 

I cut this test bra from lycra and finished it with strong bra band elastic at the bottom and fold-over elastic at the top. I had my doubts about the material. The front part of a bra is normally not supposed to stretch. However, both in RTW and in sewing patterns, you can find soft bra styles like this made from both stretch and non-stretch materials. It seemed like to only way to find out was to try it.

I am actually very pleased with the result. Yes, with a style like this you need slightly tighter shoulder straps than I usually wear, because they actually keep the cup in shape. And on a next version, I would cut away a little bit from the outside edge of the cup because those are ever so slightly cutting in my upper chest muscles (which were probably smaller when I drafted that bra sloper anyway). And a bra like this would probably not be supportive enough if you had a larger cup size. 
However, I only have to deal with my size, I think I can fix the one problem it has and it actually looks very nice. Kind of like a 1970's bikini top. I can already imagine a lot of variations I could make on this design. And it suits the slightly more sporty look I seem to be developing...
I'm calling it a success and making matching panties now. 

My Sierra bra...

Today, I was feeling a bit under the weather which, for some reason meant I got to take some time out of a normal day and sew. Sew something simple.
And because I was thinking about experimenting with new bra styles anyway, I went back to those free downloads I wrote about more than two months ago. The simple option was clearly the Sierra bra, so I made that one using fabric and trimmings from my stash.

The pattern is intended for stretch lace over a lining. A lining which, interestingly, is defined as "stretch mesh, micromesh or powernet". That phrase sounded some alarm bells in my head: Powernet is a really sturdy stretch material commonly used for control-wear, mesh is a very fine, soft and open stretch material. These fabrics can never be treated as one and the same. 
I only had some very sturdy powernet in my stash and I didn't think it would be appropriate for this design. Instead, I used lycra.
Instead of the picot elastic for the top edges, I used fold-over elastic and rather than not putting elastic at the bottom, I applied this beige-ish stretch lace.

The end result doesn't look bad on my dummy. The fabric and notions have a nice effect and the wrap-over feature is quite interesting.

Unfortunately, it doesn't look anywhere near as nice on me. The dummy doesn't have a lot shoulder and its breasts don't get compressed at all. 
On me, the lines at the top of the bra are quite unflattering. I don't really think my chest muscles have grown a lot yet (from the climbing) but in this bra, I end up looking like I have big chest and shoulder muscles, a sportswoman's figure and I just tried to look girly anyway. NOT a good look. 
The bust shape isn't nice either. The design only provides support by compression and it wraps around and down. As a result, it mostly squashes the top part of my breasts and leaves these pulling lines from the apexes down. 
I suppose if I had not applied elastic at the bottom, those lines might have been less and the bottom edge would have flared away from the ribcage (basically providing no support at all).

You may have noticed that I only pinned the halter strap. That's because I was trying it on to determine the right length for it and then decided this thing wasn't worth wasting my good strap elastic on. 

I'm not saying it is a bad pattern. It just really doesn't work for me. If you are a bit more dainty and, like me, have a small bra size, it could work for you. I only knew about this pattern because Carolyn wrote about. She made it both for herself and for her daughter and it works for them. 
I think I will move on and try and draft some unwired styles for myself. 

MY perfect racerback bra

Because I already blogged about working on it, I'm letting this latest lingerie-project jump the blogging queue.

As mentioned before, a couple of years ago, I loved the racerback bra from H&M's 'our perfect' range. But now, I've been getting some practice at making my own bras and their new version has big push-up pillows. 

So, I tried making my own and I'm very happy to announce that it worked! I had expected some issues with having to adjust the shape of the upper edge of the cup because I was cutting it so much lower at center front but no... Apparently such fitting don't occur with things worn so close to the skin.

I had to make one alteration after finishing it: the center front, small bits of ribbon holding the clasp-thing, was just a bit too wide. That is an easy mistake because I had to sew it on based on the measurement of the bridge in the original block. Which is, of course, a piece between the curved lines of the cup so even placing the ribbon a millimeter higher or lower than the spot where I measured had to result in a fairly serious fitting issue. So, early this morning, I painstakingly unpicked part of the underwire-casing to get the ribbon out and put it back in, a bit shorter. Now the fit is spot on.

The bra is made from a black lycra, black foam (the sheet variety, not pre-shaped cups) and black lace. The little clasp came from one of my old RTW bras.
The cups have a diagonal seam.
Unfortunately, this style is particularly hard to photograph because there's so much going on in the center. That's why I used a piece of paper again. And of course, unfilled cups always look a bit odd.

This will be quite a nice bra. I like this kind of shoulder-strap arrangement. No issues with straps sliding off. It has always surprised me how little you see this shape outside the realm of sports-underwear. 

If you want to try and make one, it's not difficult although you would have to find an appropriate closure. 
If you have a bra pattern which is meant for a plunge style underwire (so, one which is quite low at center front, just like all RTW bras which are not balconets), you really only have to adjust the band and replace the bridge with the closure on carefully measured straps (my RTW bra used tubes of lycra with non-stretch material inside. I decided to cut down on bulk and fiddly work by using pieces of velvet ribbon).

Here, you can see the wings of the racerback bra in red, over the black outline of a regular bra. The bottom line is made higher to eliminate the piece under the cup. Some patterns are already like that. 
To find out how much longer it has to be, take a bra made from the original pattern, close the band at the setting you usually wear it and measure the length of the closure. Mine was 5 cm. That is the length you have to add to the total length of the band. So you add 2.5 cm to center back. 
And of course, this pattern piece has to be cut with the center back on the fold. 

For this style, as for any style that doesn't have material from the band under the cup, it is essential that there is space to add the underwire casing to the cup  pieces. If, in your pattern, the underwire casing is sewn over the joining seam of band and cup or sewn to the seam allowance as close as possible to the joining seam and then turned out on to the band, you have to make a change. This one: remove the seam allowance (I use 1 cm there) from the cup edge on the band pattern piece and add it to the cup pattern piece. Now, to put the underwire in place, you sew the casing to seam allowance of the joining seam (of course, with this style, there only is a joining seam at the side, for the rest, just sew along the edge at the same distance) from the outside of the cup and then fold it in to the cup and sew it in place.

Ehm... I hope that makes sense. I've you've made bras before, this shouldn't be difficult. I could show it quite easily, if I were explaining it to someone in person but to write about it in such a way that it can be followed is quite a different matter. I'm no bra-making expert but if several people are interested in how I do the construction of mine, I could try and make a proper tutorial.
Oh, and if you've never made a bra before and don't understand, please try a normal pattern first. Preferably one which is reviewed favorably by others for its instructions and fit. Bra making has both a language and a way of working which takes a bit of getting used to.

And about getting used to things: Wearing a racerback bra if you've never done so before also takes some time. You'll probably be quite aware of the center back piece for a day or two. After that, it's quite comfortable and it won't bother you anymore, even if you alternate between racer backs and other bra styles. Which I heartily recommend. Wearing different bra styles prevents the formation of permanent 'cuts' and dents in your torso and shoulders.

Let me know if you want me to explain more about how I make bras but please don't expect me to produce a full pattern or fool-proof instructions very quickly.

P.S.
Something completely different: I have, a long time after everyone else, joined Pinterest. I never really saw the point until I caught myself using my old blog posts to remember and look at images from magazines in my collection. It is clearly much easier to keep track of a the pictures I like when I put them together on the computer... And isn't that something Pinterest is for? And then, I can easily share those pictures with you as well.
I have started taking pictures of fashion from my vintage ladies' magazines and I'm sorting and pinning them according to the features that caught my eye. I have only done about four years yet, so there is a lot more to follow. And then there are the sewing magazines... I think I'll just let the boards grow slowly. It's here. I'm not at all sure that link works as it should because it goes to my profile when I was logged in. I'm pinning as Lauriana Petitmainsauvage so you should be able to find me that way.

She's back!

Last weekend, I decided I needed a nice little project to get back to sewing after all that knitting. You know, something not too complicated, usable and above all, fun to make.
I was all set to dig out the fabric for the already drafted caraco (the short jacket which was such a craze in 1957, not the late 17th century garment which is better known by that name) when it suddenly dawned on me: "Let's make a bra!"

I used the pattern I drafted for my black lace bra back in May but planned ahead to make this a balconet rather than a strapless number.

The cups are made for (flat, cut and sewn) thin foam in black, covered with cream coloured lace. The rest of the bra is made from black lycra and finished with black lingerie elastics. 

Like in the strapless bra, I put bits of poly boning covered by velvet ribbon in the lower cups and at the sides. And this time, I also added loops for the straps which I 'anchored' to the sturdier bits of the with pieces of (ordinary, non-stretch) ribbon. This is a detail I've seen in RTW balconet bras and it makes a lot of sense: It prevents the cups and the back of the band from stretching out of shape.

And of course, with a new bra, one needs panties. Preferably more than one pair. This time, neither of those was self-drafted. I made another one using Melissa's Lacey Thong pattern and tried out Sew Fast's Lace Tanga Panties. Those last ones, I altered so they don't have a seam in the crotch. It's a pretty good 'no panty-lines' design and I'm curious to find out how it will stand up to normal wear.

I really enjoyed making this bra and I think all the pieces will be quite comfortable. Yes, it's time I'm back to sewing!

P.S. I started some general posts about bras and bra making last year. I know I haven't posted about that in a while but I still intend to explore and share more about that this year.

More lingerie!

As promised in my Me-Made-May pledge, I made another bra and matching panties.
I am happy with the fit of my sage green bra but now, I wanted to use padding (the material: it's like a thin layer of foam between two pieces of lycra and it can be used to create something like a cut and sewn foam cup)  for the cup and try and draft a different style. Because I have the not very practical goal of making a corselette later this year, I thought it would be good to try making a strapless bra. 
For a strapless bra, you have to make the bridge a bit higher and use either a horizontally or a vertically seamed cup. A diagonally seamed cup, like I used before, doesn't work for this style. 

I cut the cup pieces from the padding adding seam allowance only for the underwire seam. Then, sewed the top and bottom pieces together using what I think is called a hinged seam: just holding the edges together and sewing a stitched zigzag over them. Worked like a charm.

I finished and stabilized the top edge by applying satin biais tape. Than, based on something I've seen in bridal lingerie, I decided to sew a piece of boning on the center line of the lower cup. I covered it with velvet ribbon. 
I cut the bridge and a the other parts of the band directly surrounding the cups from non-stretch net and lace. The edges on the outsides of the cups are sewn in place with another piece of ribbon covered boning. This adds stability to the band.
I had decided to make this bra entirely lacey, with the scallops of the lace forming both the tops of the cups and the entire bottom edge of the bra. Because of that, the elastic at the bottom had to be applied a bit different that usual: I sewed it to the net as normal, then turned it up and stitched it to the lace on the inside, just above the line of the scallops. 

I used another of the underwires from lingeriestoffen.nl and some of their elastic (they also sell that padding material, I bought beige from them), black padding from Kantje Boord, lace from the market and lycra and other notions which have been in my stash for a while.

With the bra finished, I had very little lace left. Not even enough for Melissa's lacey thong pattern. So I adepted my earlier pattern for cheeky shorts/thong with a lace back. Basically, I picked the thong version because it has a narrower 
back pattern piece and then moved the side seams towards to the back, narrowing the back piece until it would fit my remaining lace. 

I've been wearing the set yesterday and it's quite comfortable. The silhouette of the bra is a bit pointy but I'm enough of a retro girl like it (under some of my clothes at least). It's a bit like the sweater girl look ;)
I know that those bits of boning I put in are largely to blame. No boning (or not all the way to the seam) and a tiny tweak to the pattern should give a much rounder shape. Of course, no sewn shape will ever be as round as a molded cup but then again, should we want that? 

I consider this bra a success and good practice for the corselette. It's just a pity I didn't have enough lace for a second pair of panties... 

Bra success!

At last! Victory comes to those who, eh... DON'T GIVE UP ;)

As I've shown you before, I changed my bra pattern. Fortunately, I still had enough fabric, lace and assorted elastics and I thought I had found an underwire which would do. I continued sewing the new bra in little bits of time I could find for that purpose last week. In the end, it looked promising but I wasn't happy with that rather deeply curved wire. It seemed to leave and un-filled area below my breasts and fit just a bit too close at the sides...
So, I did something which is very new to me: I turned to the internet for supplies. More specifically, I googled Dutch sewing supply webshops (as awesome as Kantje Boord is, it's isn't really around the corner from where I live. It would take me half a day to get there and back. A great trip with a fellow enthousiast, but not that easy to fit into a busy week). The ones I looked at in detail were Danglez.nl (Melissa recently bought from that site and was happy with both the supplies and the service) and lingeriestoffen.nl. Both offer a wide range of lingerie supplies and, which was quite important to me, both sell underwires not just by circumference and cup size. Oh no, they tell you both the length of the wire and its diameter. Great! 
I ended up ordering from lingeriestoffen.nl because they sold wires closest in size to measurements I took from both my pattern and my existing bras. And because they charge a flat rate for shipment (as long as you don't order items which can't be packed flat, like foam cups), I splurged on some other lingerie stuff as well. 
I ordered on Friday evening and the package was in the mail today.

Look at all my new goodies...
I bought two different sizes of normal underwire, both close to what I thought I needed, to find out which of their sizes works best for me. I also bought a push-up wire, or more specifically, an underwire for a bra which is cut low at the center front. And black picot elastic, black bone casing, 6 spiral steel bones (I should have bought 8 or 9...), 1 meter of solid plastic boning and a piece of skin tone padding. 
The padding is for another bra, the rest of the stuff is for a lingerie corset I plan on making. 

But let's get back to that bra. As soon as I got my hands on the new supplies, I tried the underwires. The smallest normal ones fit just right into the casing and, more importantly, the bra fit really well with those in place (the bigger ones are just 1 cm longer. I think those may serve well in a bra with cups made from that thin padding).
So now, I finally have a me-made, me-drafted bra which fits well. In profile, the bust shape is different to what I'm used to. Definately a bit more pointy. I'm not alarmed by that because I know I'm used to bras with moulded foam cups and those things are positively globular. I think this bra follows the natural shape of the breasts more closely. 
And of course, I've been reading a lot of 50's magazines and in those days, the ideal shape was seriously pointy (not that they talk about such 'unmentionables' in magazines for good honest Dutch housewives...).

I think I should get back to sewing outerwear now but I'm already planning one or two other bras and, of course, that corset.... 

Navigating the minefield

I mentioned before just how problemetic bra sizing and bra shapes can be, didn't I? And guess what? That first bra I made, the one I was kind of happy about? When I was wearing it last week, my suspision that the cups were too small returned again. Although my breasts filled the cups fairly well (a tiny bit of bulging over the front edge), the wires seemed to sit on the sides of my breasts, rather than around them. I showed the bra to M (after all, she got me started at making lingerie and she knows this stuff) who not only confirmed my misgivings but also pointed out that the center front bit, the bridge of the bra, was too wide as well, causing the wires to sit on my breasts at the center too.
According to her, that would put my size as 'BB', the volume of a B cup but with a different width (just for the record, the 75B of my usual brand of RTW bras fit  just fine...) 
Talking about this, we concluded that, as in outerwear, underwear manufacturers all design their product with a specific target audience in mind. Although there is sort of a rule about bra sizing, shapes and sizes and elastics can vary wildly from one brand to the other. Which is why help with fitting can be so important (there is some statistic going around according too which half of all women wear the wrong bra size...) 

The 'rule' from bra-sizing is based only on the difference between one's underbust measurement and bust measurement. This doesn't take into account breast shape, torso shape or the way the breasts are placed on the torso. For all those things, those of us who buy bras have to rely on finding the right brand and those of us who sew them have to make muslins and tweak our patterns.
And the rule isn't set in stone either. The cup size chart from Pattern School is here and that one fits in with my personal experience. However, according to both my lingerie drafting books, a difference of 12-14 cm is for an A cup (and 14-16 cm=B, 16-18=C, 18-20=D, according to the Ann Haggar book).

The right shape bra is as important as the right size. 
If the wire sits on the side of your breast, it will, over time, push that flesh to the side, under your armpit (of course, this is only if you always wear the wrong size and shape bra). If a bra fits well, the wire should fit around the breast. This can be a problem, especially for those who have wider torsos and smaller breasts. In RTW, the only option in that case is usually to stuff the cups... when sewing, go for the needed wire size and alter the cup pattern pieces, making the end result a bit more flat. 

In theory, I knew all of this but dealing with it myself proved to be a different matter.
Not to be subdued, I decided to pass by the habedashery store on my way home and pick up a pair of cup B underwires (the ones I used before had come from my stash of wires-from-old-bras. I have had the habit of salvaging the wires from old bras ever since I followed M's lingerie making workshop years ago. And all my old bras were from back when I had cup A). 
And guess what?

These are all the different bra wires I have. In theory, I would expect the normal wire for sale to be the an almost perfect semi-circle, intended for a full cup bra (many of the normal styles in RTW are technically 'half cup' bras) with a set wire length for each cup size. Sigrid just posted about that shape here.
In this picture, you can easily make out the wire I bought because it's the only fully painted one: the white one, third from the top. 
You may notice that it does, indeed have that semi-circular shape. You may also notice that it's the third smallest wire in the row... And this case, I was careful not to let perspective influence the image. 
This Prym brand cup B underwire is smaller than most of the wires from my old cup A bras. Even though a lot of the larger ones came from foam cup bras, I didn't quite expect this. I did learn my lesson. I'll only ever buy wires by exact length from now on. Cup size is just too tricky (oh, and you do know of course that cup sizes only exist in relation to band sizes? The wire size for an 80B is the same as that of a 75C, a 70D, an 85A and a 90AA... I would expect notion brands to use either 75 or 80 as the standard on which to base their sizing).
The long, deeply curved wire on the bottom is one I am using now for new bra. To get it, I bought a the cheapest 75C bra at Zeeman (a Dutch chain of  bargain clothing stores). It cost me half a euro less than the Prym wire and of course, I checked the measurement before buying. I worried a little about the deep curve. My pattern looked more wide than deep to me but I decided to give it a go.

I have some more observations about wire shapes for bra styles, but those will have to wait, this post is getting long enough as it is.
I will show you some of my bra drafting stuff though.

In Een Tweede Huid the basic draft for the cup has vertical seam. I did my alterations to that first and tested it. Both pieces ended up a little wider than before and I tweaked the balance between the front and side (because the front top edge cut into my breast a tiny bit, while the side top edge was a gaping a little). After that, I drafted cups with a horizontal and a diagonal seam based on that well-fitted vertical one.

This is the pattern I made for my new bra. Diagonally seamed cups, small separate center front piece, sides which are shaped at the point where the shoulder straps will be attached. The pattern pieces are including seam allowance.
I've been sewing on it already and I have good hopes for this one. 

P.S. some people mentioned wanting to copy my idea for lace back panties. Of course everyone is welcome to do so. I will post some notes later this week about what kind of pattern to use and how to cut and alter it. 

And a matching bra!

Time seems to fly these past weeks! I didn't manage to do anything for Sew Grateful Week and, in fact I haven't done a lot of sewing at all.
I did, however, take a big hurdle on the 'sewing lingerie' front. 
Maybe it's just me, but I always feel like sewing panties isn't the real thing. Sure, panties are underwear, lingerie, dessous etc. They are just not that complicated. Bras are a different matter entirely. Even buying the right bra is something loads of women don't manage... 
Sizing- and shape-wise, it's a minefield. A minefield which I have (in RTW) so far been able to walk across at no great expense. Which is the benefit of a small cupsize. Recently, I bought some new bras because that small cupsize had become a bit bigger, putting me into an even easier-to-buy size (for some reason, my breasts grew from a 75A to a 75B this winter).
However... Maybe it's all the lingerie sewing going on in the blogosphere or maybe just the realization that I make all my other clothes... I had to try and make my own bra.

A few years ago, I followed M's lingerie sewing workshop, working on drafting and sewing bra and panties. It didn't amount to much because, back then, I was still using my first sewing machine: the knit-eating Toyota. 
The experience put me off sewing lingerie for a while although it did give me the background knowledge to try my hand at making swimwear (see my elaborate bathing suit and last summer's much easier bikinis). And somehow it made me justify buying lingerie supplies if I found nice ones, sold cheaply.

Last weekend, I decided to try again. I should add that I habitually complicate matters further by trying to draft my own pattern. 
Of course, I could have cut a corner there and bought a commercial pattern. The thing is, I'm so used to drafting my own stuff by now... And commercial patterns don't come with a fit-garantee either. And I really like how drafting something gives you an idea of how such a garment 'works', both in construction and on the body.
I had three different drafting tutorials to choose from: Magreet ten Dam's Een Tweede Huid (which translates as A Second Skin. The book has only ever been published in Dutch and has been out of print for years. It is highly sought-after which is why I only have photocopies of a few pages from M's copy), Ann Haggar's Pattern Cutting for Lingerie, Beachwear and Leisurewear and Pattern School's instructions on the subject.
I mostly looked at the books and found those to be very different in their approach. Ann Haggar has you make a zero-ease sloper and draft all bodywear based on that. This seems like a great way to deal with different body shapes and, according to the drawings in the book, would result in the 'downward hike' in the back strap which is the favorite way of may bloggers to adapt their bra patterns. The handling of cup size, however, seemed a big sketchy. 
Margreet ten Dam, on the other hand, has you draft the bra as a seperate thing and seems to focus completely on supporting to breast. Her method is based on drafting a 'standard size' sloper and grading that up or down to your size. This may sound complicated but it is explained really well. 
In part because I didn't have anyone around to take the kind of super-acurate measurements needed for a zero-ease sloper, I decided to go with the latter method.
I made one major change though: according to both books, a difference of 12 cm between underbust measurement and bust measurement puts me at cup A. But I have never known the sizing in any sewing pattern or drafting instruction to run significantly larger than sizes in stores AND I remembered that my first efforts with bra patterns from this book (the bra at the workshop and my first try at a bikini top last summer) were both clearly too small. So, I drafted a 75B. I made a muslin in non-stretch fabric and it fit. Succes!

Then, it was time to start on a real bra. Of course, I wanted to match the panties I had just made, so it would be in grey/green lycra and lace. Last week, I finally found non-stretch netting (at the market, costing only 1 euro a meter!) in a sort of skintone, so I used that to line the cups and to stabilize the front of the bra. In this I followed, what I found in most of my RTW bras:

Not only is the (in most RTW bras rather narrow) bridge completely rigid, there's a seam a couple of cm past the underwire, that's where the non-stretch interfacing ends (in the picture, you can see there are two layers of net left of the  bound seam). In many bras this is not just a seam, there's a tiny piece of boning there. As far as I know, this is especially useful in strapless bras and for larger sizes as it lends more stability to the whole thing.

I stayed pretty close to the original, full cup draft. I just lowered the center front a tiny bit and planned the placement of the lace. I'll wrestle with a tiny little seperate center front bit later...

The cups are lace over lycra, lined with the netting. I stabilized the front edges (and the top of the bridge, and those extra side seams) by understitching with a narrow ribbon. 

I see a lot of bras on other blogs which use normal picot elastic for the bottom band, but all my RTW bras use a more substantial elastic there. I had lots of nice, heavy black elastic (actually a 1.5 cm wide shoulder strap elastic), so I used that for the bottom of the bra. Because the colour didn't match, I stitched it on so it wouldn't show on the outside. If the bra is flat on the table, this stronger elastic causes ugly ruching at the front but this is pulled out when it is worn. 
At the top of the bra, I used the same satin edge elastic as for the panties. Unfortunately, I had forgotten to buy shoulder strap elastic in this colour when I bought the other bits. The beige straps are only there until I find some in the proper colour. 

It's finished now and it fits (although really not on the dummy, she has the weirdest breasts)! I was nervous about that near the end, fearing the cup shape was wrong after all and/or it was still too small. I guess it just looked small because I'm more used to foam cup bras and it really goes to show you can't really try on a bra until all the bits are attached.
I like the sort of baroque look of the floral lace on the cups and I like the proportion of bra and panties when worn. 
By the way, this picture on the dummy is the only one done with flash and, as a result it shows the colour most acurately.
Now, just one question remains:

Should I sew this little ribbon flower on the front, leave it plain or attach a little mother-of-pearl button, like on the panties?

P.S. I'm really getting into this bra-making thing. If you're interested I could do a post on the many issues of bra-sizing some day soon.