I started sewing bras for myself during the early part of 2018. I mainly have preferred to sew with galloon lace, but this pattern is perfectly suited to both lace and jersey. I came across Ohhh LuLu a few months ago when I saw their free Hyacinth bra, which is just a simple sport style bra but can be dressed up to loose the “sporty” look quite easily. There is also an add on pack that you can buy to spice it up.

Moving onto the Jasmine Bra…

Sizing goes from XS 34-35″ full bust up to XXL 44-45″ full bust. If your larger you may need something that requires more support than this bra can give. There are two back options but the front is sewn the same for both. You can use jersey, lace, sew in foam… there are a few options with this one, which I love. This pattern does not use the layers function in Adobe Acrobat, which means you will have to print and cut or trace your chosen size. This can be good for those who need to grade between sizes though.

One of the things I really liked about this bra was it’s simplicity. I liked the rounded edges and the ability to make it from lace as well as jersey and other stretch fabrics. I received some pretty plum galloon lace from Water Tower Textiles Canada. It has a hint of gold sparkle in the leaf like detail along the edges which is super hard to photograph, you really need to see it in person to get how beautiful it is. I also decided to make this bra with cut and sew foam, which I also got from Water Tower Textiles. The foam adds just a bit of padding to the cup area which is fantastic to keep everything hidden, if you know what I mean… burrr 😉 It also gives more form to the bra cups which is nice and gives the bra a bit more of a professional look, I find. Sarah Norwood/Ohhh LuLu has even made a YouTube video which explains, in detail, how to sew a Jasmine using the foam in such a way as to enclose seams and make them lay nice and flat! I followed the video to make mine. You can watch it here.

With the help of the video tutorial I was able to easily sew this bra within a few hours time (I also sew very slowly and take lots of snack breaks haha). If you are new to sewing bras I recommend you sew one without the foam first, it does make a few steps trickier. I sewed this Jasmine completely on my sewing machine. I find when I use my sewing machine I can make things line up much nicer than when I use my serger. Also where I used the foam, I was able to cut it away at the seams (watch the video) to reduce a lot of bulk in those areas. I sewed, following the instructions/video exactly and it fit well my first one, which I was super impressed with. She recommends trying it on before attaching the hook and eye clasps and straps, I cannot express the importance of this step, to getting a good fit, enough! Please do not skip this step.

The only thing that did not work out for me perfectly was the clasps. They did not quite fit over the ends of my bands. I am not really sure what I did wrong, but I will have to review before sewing my next one and adjust it accordingly. All I did was fold over the centre of the band fabric to make it fit which created a bit of fabric bunching right at the end. To me it’s not a big deal, but if you wear a lot of tight shirts it’s something you may want to pay extra attention to and just move your top elastic down as you sew to make sure that the clasps fit correctly.

All in all this is an excellent pattern. I do wish it had the layers function so I could print one or two sizes rather than all of them, I also am not super crazy over them all being in black, which makes it hard to trace and see which size is which. But the fact that the fit was so nice makes up for that beginning inconvenience 10 fold! There is also so much support from the designer, who really takes the time to give detailed explanations for newbies like me. She has a bunch of great tutorials on her website here. So give it a go, I really don’t think you’ll be disappointed once you get the right fit.

Supplies used came from:

Lace, Swim Lining and Cut and Sew Foam – Water Tower Textiles Canada
Strap Elastic, Fold Over Elastic, Picot Elastic, Hook and Eye Clasp, Rings and Sliders – Libelle Sewing

 

 

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