It's All About the Back Bodysuit

It’s been such a long time since the last post but life has changed so much. The first part of the year was taken up with preparing my International Bra Sewing Bee classes and then I was busy getting ready for the birth of my granddaughter. It meant I didn’t have much time to make much for myself but I did manage to try some new patterns as well as make some lingerie suitable for life on the road in the motorhome, where we spend most of our time walking and cycling once we arrive at a site. No wild camping for me! I did get chance to set myself a challenge of recreating the look of a ready to wear bodysuit that I really loved.

Trying to recreate the look of RTW is what I love doing. It does take a lot of effort but is so worthwhile. With something like this I tend to start with patterns that I know fit and combine these with some hacking and drafting. So, the starting point for this was the Studio Costura Eva panties which are high waisted with a bikini cut on the leg openings.

As you can see from the picture I have hacked this pattern a few times! Rather than have the lace go into the gusset I wanted to create a V as in the RTW. This involves adding the leg bands back to the main pattern and deciding on the shape. For the front I followed the line of the RTW. For the back I tried on a previous make and decided where I wanted the strapping to finish and this would determine the back lace pieces. For the test make I made up a solid front and back in jersey and once I had got the fit right I worked out the strapping.

Then I moved on to the cups. The RTW has a triangular cup. I thought of a couple of options, the Emerald Erin Jordy bralette and the Madalynne Simplicity 8228. I decided to use the 8228 as this already had an all lace front and I thought it would need less adjusting. I extended the frame down to the waist. For the back I started with the Madalynne Lawren Bodysuit. I put it all together so I could try it on and see how it fit.

For a first fit it was actually pretty good. The cups fit well but were too wide at the shoulder for the look I wanted. Also the triangular shape didn’t provide enough support as I wanted this to be wearable. So I needed to create some shaping to the side of the cup. It was hard to assess the fit of the back as I had slashed to to the waist. So I swapped this out for a solid back.

Unlike the RTW, which sits above, I wanted my make to sit on my natural waist. To fit in length I needed to add a wedge all across the front and blend from the side to nothing at the centre back.

So with these adjustments done I was ready to try out the pattern pieces and think about the strapping. I wasn’t ready to use my chosen fabrics so I found a long length of navy stretch lace and lightweight lycra so it would give a better idea of how it would look made up rather than the scraps I had used on the first version. If it all worked I would have something that was wearable.

A lot of RTW have really messy strapping on the inside. I wanted something neat and tidy that wouldn’t irritate my skin. Using a method I have used before I played around with the placement for both the top and bottom back. I then drew this on tear away stabiliser. I stitched down the open fold over elastic on the seam allowance.

Then I added the strapping, stitching down under the fold line. This was then ready to transfer to my back fabric pieces. I then folded the fold over elastic down to encase the strapping. Then, I just had to tear away the stabiliser to reveal an open back.

Top Left RTW, Top Right First Draft, Bottom Second Draft

So although very wearable I still needed to tweak a little. The lace cups were still too wide at the shoulder so I blended down to allow just for the width of the elastic on both neck and armhole edges and reduced the width of the back to match. I had over adjusted the frame so I moved out the seam leaving the cup the same size. The back top strapping was perfect but I needed to narrow the bottom section for a better fit. So now I had all my pieces ready for the actual make..

I had been keeping the eyelash lace and open mesh from Madalynne for something special and I thought this would be the perfect match. Next I had to decide on the lining fabric. The beautifully soft antique rose mesh from Small Bobbins looked perfect. For the strapping I used some narrow matt strap from Bratastic. Photographed on the white dress form doesn’t do it justice. Next to the skin the bodysuit looks amazing.

This is one of my favourite makes. Not only does it recreate the inspirational look but fits perfectly as it is made to my exact measurements. Now to the next challenge, whatever it may be.