Stashbusting Sewalong: Announcing the May 2015 theme - Lingerie!

Theme for the month

As promised, I'm taking more of an active role in this year's Stashbusting Sewalong. This year a group of us are guest hosting a month each. With May being my birthday month, I volunteered to host this month, and then realised that I was going to take the plunge and join Me Made May for the first time this year. Oh well, I can do that too, can't I?

So welcome to the Stashbusting Sewalong for May. If you're up for the challenge, the theme for this month is to sew lingerie. Whether you're into petticoats, slips, undies / panties, bras or maybe even pyjamas if nothing else interests you, this is the month for you. I'll be sewing up another bra or two, and I'm hoping to get a silk slip done as well.

I'm looking forward to a month bursting with lingerie posts!

I've done some research for you, and next week will be posting a roundup of some free lingerie patterns that are available to download.

The following week I'll give you some insight into why I am part of the Stashbusting Sewalong, and I'll round up the end of the month with my lingerie sewing from the month, and hopefully some sewing from my fellow stashbusters.


My Bra Making

After years of dreaming about it, I only started making my own bras a little over a year ago. If you've been thinking of bra making but didn't know where to start, here's a bit of inspiration to get you started with a summary of my bra making journey from the start.

Making a bra block
Floral print bra
Broderie Anglaise bra
Cream Silk Bra
Pale Blue Lace Covered Bra
Hand Dyed Bra
Black Bra
Long Line Convertible Black Bra
Cream and Blue Lace Bra
White satin print Partial Band Bra
Mint and White Lace Bra from a new bra block
Blue Duchess Satin Bra

I know not everyone has the background or the ambition to do their own pattern making, but it is possible to make your own bra pattern from scratch, and the link to the instructions that I used for my first nine bras is in my first post above. I have also found this same method as a tutorial, but the images weren't coming up for me. Here's the link to that one for you anyway. The last two bras I made from a block I drew up from the book The Bra Maker's Manual (Vol 2) by Beverly Johnson.

If you already have a bra pattern that works for you, how about having a go at changing the style? It can be as simple as trying out a new strap arrangement, adding / removing part of the bridge or changing the style lines on the bra cups. I have not yet used the exact same pattern twice, although that gets a bit confusing when I'm trying to match up pieces that go together.


I'm really looking forward to seeing what everyone comes up with this month, so don't forget, if you're a member of the Facebook or Flickr groups, post those photos so we can all see!