DIY Lace Bra

I'm sure any of you out there who have a Pinterest account (or if you follow Geneva over at A Pair and a Spare) know lots about the emotion that I have dubbed 'DIY Envy' . I finally got sick of staring at all the amazing creations on my computer screen and got up, walked to my car and made a spontaneous trip to spotlight. Now when I arrived I had a number of projects in mind that I had seen on various different websites but as soon as I saw the red lace I changed my mind and decided to create my own DIY project (an ambitious direction to take as I am certainly not very handing with a needle and thread) but surprisingly it all turned out alright. And thus was born my first DIY tutorial.

You will need

Half a meter of desired material  (you will not use it all but it's good to have extra in case you muck up)

2 adjustable bra straps

1 metre of elastic bra straps

1 bra latch

1 meter of desired elastic waist band

Scissors 

Needle

Thread (preferably the same colour as you chosen material) 

1. Buy your materials. I chose red lace and then a found this amazing red satin and lace elastic for the waist in the ribbon section of spotlight. Also make sure you pick up a bra latch, adjustable straps and elastic bra straps (Mine are 16mm in width). Mine are all by Birch. I chose black to go with the red lace but obviously you can choose any colour you want (or buy white ones and dye them yourself).

2. Cut out your 'cups'. I chose to do a triangle bra but of course you can cut it to whatever shape you prefer. Now this may seem like the hardest step but I actually just used another lace bra I had as a stencil.

Tip: If you don't own a lace bra a triangle bikini is a perfect substitute

I then sewed the edging of my material around the edges of the triangles to prevent raying (this isn't particularly necessary if you prefer a cleaner look).

3. Cut the elastic you chose for the waist to size. Again, I used another bra as a guide but mine was 55cm. Then sew your latch onto the ends. 

Tip: Make sure they're both facing the correct direction before sewing them on. I learnt this the hard way.

4. Then sew your triangles onto your elastic. Make sure (if you're using a thicker elastic like me) not to sew them from the bottom line of the elastic but from the top, otherwise your triangles will not be big enough when you go to put the bra on. Also make sure to reinforce your stitches as lace is delicate and will have a lot of strain on it when worn.

5. The final step! Sew your adjustable straps to the elastic waist band (make sure not to sew on the loop end). I used another bra as a guide, but they should sit around 8 cm from the latch. 

Then measure out your elastic straps (I cut mine to 30cm) and feed one end through the loop and sew the ends together. Then sew them onto the tip of each triangle. 

Et voilà! You have yourself a bra!