The Jasmine bra is a light support bra. Adding pre-formed foam cups can help give your bra a little extra shape and structure. Foam pads come in a variety of styles – balconette, push-up, triangle, etc, and can be found at most sewing supply stores. My local Fabricland (for Canadians) carries foam cups, but you can also find them for sale on Etsy and other sewing supply stores – just search for foam bra cups. This tutorial is excellent to use if you want to sew your Jasmine as a Bikini Top. You can also use this basic concept to add padding to any of my bra patterns.
What you will need:
1. The Jasmine Bra Pattern (available on Ohhh Lulu Sews)
2. Supplies for the Jasmine bra PLUS fabric for lining (Lining is a MUST) – I recommend a plain cotton jersey, or swimsuit lining if you are making the top into a swimsuit.
3. Foam Cups
Style Lines for the Jasmine Bra Pattern |
A bit about cups:
Bra cups come in different shapes and sizes. If you were to browse through any large sewing supply store, you may find Balconette, Swimsuit, Triangle, and Push-Up Pads. I generally use Balconette Cups in the Jasmine Bra – they are the most versatile. Swimsuit cups, which have a less oval shape and generally tend to be lighter weight, work great as well. You can also find specially shaped triangle cups which will fit into my triangle shaped bras.
If you are putting in a cup larger than a DD, you will need to adjust the height of the pattern and I highly recommend sewing a mock-up first.
Instructions:
1. Sew your front exterior and lining according to Pattern Instructions.
3. Once you’ve gotten your cup in place, put in a few pins to keep it secure. With the right side of the lining facing up, so that you can make sure that the lining is curving into the cup, and not getting pulled taught, stitch around the exterior edge of the cup. This part takes a bit of practice. You can use your fingers to feel where the edge of the cup is as you slowly stitch around the perimeter. Do the same to both sides.
Using my fingers to feel the edge of the foam cup as I stitch the cup directly onto the interior of the lining |
Cups stitched onto both sides of the lining. |
Baste Lower Edge First |
Finished Interior – just needs straps! |
Padded Jasmine Exterior |
That’s it! Just a few extra steps and you can make yourself a super-comfortable padded bralette or swimsuit top.
4 Comments
eennieuwejurk
July 5, 2014 at 12:51 pmVery useful tutorial!
Thanks! Beautiful example too!
Zuri Blackmon
July 5, 2014 at 4:24 pmThank you so much for this hack!!! I can't wait to make one!
Anonymous
July 27, 2014 at 9:03 amThank you, Sarah! Best regards from Russia đ
freemotion
July 30, 2014 at 1:36 pmGasp! You are so, so generous with your "secrets!" I only just recently stumbled across your shop, patterns, and now these tutorials. You are amazing! Thank you so much, from the bottom of my now-custom-home-made-bra-covered heart!