Tutorial: adding cups and lining to the Pneuma Tank

I made Papercut patterns' Pneuma tank (bra version) as part of my outfit for my first trail race in October.

I really liked the strap design and the options between bra and loose tank, but I also wanted to add cups, you know, just to pretend that I had some kind of curves under my shirt...

Anyways, it wasn't that complicated, the tricky part was figuring out how to attach the lining to enclose all the seams. I'm going to try my best here to describe what I did step by step. Apologies for the dark-ish photos, I was sewing all of it at night, hopefully they do make sense.

First, I looked at RTW bra of mine to see how the cups where built in. Turns out they'ré where sandwiched between the lining and another mid-layer of mesh between the lining and the outer layer. This was so that the mesh and lining can be sewn together, creating two seperate "pockets" for the cups to stay in.

So first, I cut three layers of the front: outer layer in main fabric, mid layer in mesh mesh and lining in moisture-wicking polyesther fabric, and two layers of the back (main fabric and polyesther lining)

Note: I used a zigzag stitch for all the seams, and wooly nylon on the bobbin.

These are the cups that I used in the end. I just placed them on top to make sure they would fit. After that you can put them away until it's time to put them in.

Sewing the cups "pockets": Baste the lining and the mesh together along the top, and stitch a line right down the middle. This will prevent the cups from moving around and will keep them each on one side.

I wanted the cups to be removable for washing, so in order to keep an opening, the side seam on the lining layer need to remain open. Trim the seam allowance off on the lining layer, and coverstitch or zig-zag the edge. You'll have to make sure to always keep that edge free, especially when seing the side seams together.

Next, baste the straps to the outer layer.

Then stitch together the outer front and the mesh/lining layers, right sides together (in the case of the mesh/lining layer, the lining side is now considered the right side) with the straps sandwitched in between. Stitch along the neckline and accross the straps. Don't stitch across the armscye just yet.

Adding the elastic to the neckline: With the bra still turned inside out, lay the elastic on the mesh layer along the neckline (on the seam allowance), and stitched as per the patterns instruction. Turn your bra back the right away, and you can topstitch the neckline now with a zigzig stitch, or do it later after the rest of the armscye and back are sewn.

Next, moving the inner layer out of the way, attach the outer layer of the back to the front at the side seam, right sides together.

 

Then attach the lining of the back to the inner layers of the front. The lining layer of the front should be facing the right side of the back lining, but you're only attaching the back to the mesh layer. as mentionned above, the lining layer of the front should remain open at the side seam so that you can put the cups in at the end.

Next, attach the straps to the outer layer of the back. At that point, you should be able to pin them to the back and try the top on to check the length. The pattern calls for 2m of straps so 50cm per strap, but I ended up chopping off about 15cm to get the right length for me. This is the time to figure that out. Once you've determined the right strap length length, you can baste the straps in place on the outer back.

After that, stitch the top of the outer back to the top of the back lining. Your bra should be all inside out at this point, with the straps on the inside and just the excess length poking out. Stitch all around the top of the bra, from one armscye to the other and accross the back. Trim the excess strap.

Keeping your bra inside out, pin the elastic from one armscye to the other accross the back (It looks like this time I laid it on the outer layer instead of the lining, but really the result is the same).

Stitch your elastic as per the patterns instructions. Then turn your bra back the right way and top stitch all along the back and neckline.

Finally, baste all layers together at the bottom and attach the bottom elastic as per the pattern instructions, treating all layers as one. 

 

I tried to figure out a way to have the bottom elastic also hidden between the outer layer and the lining but I couldn't figure it out...It probably would have required some hand stitching somewhere, but since the main fabric gets turned to the inside, the elastic still gets encased in fabric so it's not that big of a deal. I didn't finish the edge of the bottom as the final topstitching of the elastic kind of did the job for me. for a neater finish, you good legnthen the main fabric by 1cm and have that extra length folded over so there's no raw edge showing...

And there you have it! A fully lined sports bra with cup "pockets". Slip your cups in and you're good to go!

Bias Tape Finish for Sleeve Hem

I was looking for a neat way to finish the hem of the sleeves on my tunic, and because I like to experiment a bit, I decided not to follow Burda's instructions. So instead of simply turning the seam allowance in and sewing in place, I tought I would use Amanda's technique of bias tape finishing.

I also wanted to have the side seam nicely finished as well, and because I didn't do french seams to start with (don't ask me why), I figured I would also do a bias tape finish on the seam allowances, rather than my usual zigzag stitch.

Because it's actually more of a shoulder drop than an actual sleeve, the sleeves hem line is basically aligned with the side seam. So I decided to finish the sleeve hem line and the side seam allowance with one long piece of double folded bias tape made out of the same wooven (cotton) fabric.

This method is probably not the best way to go, but again, I thought I would try something different, and see if the end result was ok.

So this is how I did it (hopefully the photos are clear enough):

First I used a basting stitch on the hem line to make it visible on both side.

I measured a piece of bias tape that would be long enough to run from the bottom hemline along the side seam, all the way around the sleeve's hemline then back along the side seam to the bottom.
I unfolded one side of the bias tape and pinned it's fold mark to the hem line, right sides together. I started at the top of the sleeve (the shoulder) and worked my way around the armhole. I left the rest of the bias tape kind of dangling on each side for now. Then I sewed in place and pressed.

I removed the basting thread, and trimmed the seam allowance on the sleeve and the side seams.
Next I folded the bias tape over the seam on the right side, then turned the garment to the wrong side (inside out) and folded the tape again over the seam allowance. I pressed to hold in place.

Next I turned the tape to the inside and pinned in place on the right side.
At this point I also brought the dangling pieces of tape to the inside, and pinned about 2 inches of it to the seam allowance below the armhole to make sure it would align correctly. Then I topstitched the tape in place, about 3/8 of an inch from the hem line.

After that I pinned the rest of the tape to the side seam allowances and sewed in place.

Finally, I topstiched across the base of the armhole, joigning the start and end points of the sleeve's topstich for a neat finish.

And voila ! I am pretty happy with the result, as on the inside it creates one clean line from top to bottom. On the outside you can't see the difference from a simple folded hem.

It does make the seam allowances a bit thicker, obvisouly, but not so much that it would bother me. I used 1" double folded bias tape but maybe that's too wide and 1/2" would have been better.
On white fabric it doesn't show so much but I am thinking it could be a nice way to finish a garment with contrasting color on the inside (that only you know about !).

Anyway, feel free to let me know what you think of this method. Do you think it's a waste of time or that there are better ways to finish, or do you think in this case it works ?