After I had dyed a massive amount of pink fabric blue and made my blue Nettie, I dyed some of the leftover blue to dark brown as I have had the urge for a Brown Nettie bodysuit for some time.
I don’t think I would wear this Nettie by itself, but it is a marvellous layering piece. I wore it today for Me-Made-May under a hand knitted cardigan.
I also managed to finagle a Cloth Habit Watson bra and bikini from the leftover fabric.
I have been asked a couple of times to show how I hide the internal seams of the bra, so I finally remembered to take some photos. I used a different colour on the inside to help show what I’m doing. Please note that the original Watson pattern doesn’t call for the bra to have lined cups. Simply cut four of each cup pattern piece so that you have an inner and an outer for each cup.
First I sandwich the elastic between the inside and outside of the bra cups.
Then I sewed the outside of the cups to the cradle
I then added the back band to the cradle by putting the band between the outer cradle and the cradle lining, thereby enclosing the seams.
I sewed the cradle lining to the cup lining, right sides together. This is what it will look like on the inside
and this is what it will look like on the outside
Topstitch round the cups and down the band/cradle seam.
The other raw edges at the bottom and armholes will be hidden under the elastic.
Straps and hooks are added and voila! a finished bra with no visible seams.
Once more I cut a flower from some lace scraps for decoration, and to brighten up that brown a bit. When I embarked on the brown undies I did think the colour would be too horrible for public viewing, but I actually really like them. I dyed some white cotton lace brown to go on them, but it was a step too far, so I shall find another purpose for dull brown lace…
In a nutshell: Brown Nettie is from Closet Case Patterns. I used a four way stretch knit which I dyed brown. Fabric from Knitwit. Cardigan is by Jo Sharp, skirt is self-drafted and made from a mystery fabric donated to my stash. Underwear set is from the leftover fabric from the Nettie. Bra lining was some tiny scraps of silk knit. Brown elastic came from Pitt Trading in Sydney when I visited with Velosewer.
You are looking so good in this outfit and thank you for showing your technique!
Talk about resourceful!!
You’ve done such a great job with your fabrics Sue.
I can see how the cups you’ve added will make the watson more bra-ish.
your bra finishing is a masterpiece! love that cardigan.
Hi Sue, is there anything you can’t do? Seriously you are a marvel!
I really like all your Nettie’s but this brown one does appeal a bit more. Thank you for the tips on lining the bra, they will come in handy.
Beautiful Sue! I especially like the brown undies and bra set, looks so cute with the flower embellishment. I was all excited about the brown knicker elastic… until I read you got it in Sydney. Rats!
Nice outfit! The brown and the blue and nice colours together.
Thanks Linda, I had very little brown or blue in my wardrobe and now they seem to be my go to colours. Weird.
Marvelous outfit, Sue! I truly suits you!
I meant to say “it” 😀
All great additions to your wardrobe Sue.I think brown suits you beautifully.
I still haven’t made that trip to Pitt Trading, but if they have coloured elastic, maybe the time has come. I’ve been avoiding making undies because of the lack of appropriate elastic. Do they have different styles of elastic as well as different colours?
Definitely worth a trip Andrea, they have lots of colours and styles of elastic. The other place I bought masses of elastic was the Fabric Cave.