One of the questions I answer on my i am page is what my goal is both professionally and personally. The best way I could answer this question was not to write what my goal is but who I want to be in 5, 10, or 15 years from now. I achieve best through visualization – I keep my focus on the end prize and inch towards it every day. One of a few ladies I want to become (me at the age of 30 is a hybrid of many people) is Megan Nielsen. An independent pattern maker, she has always come across as cozy, humble, and unaffected. She refers to me as “honey” in her emails and I love it. She doesn’t act like she stands above me – she’s on my level and we’re eye to eye.

When she emailed me before the release of her new pattern line, Breakwater, I snatched the chance to promote it. I’m thrilled about the collection, yes, but it shows me that I can do it too.

You’re awesome Megan and you inspire people around the world. Seriously. Thank you for taking the time to answer the following questions about the inspiration behind the collection.

I had quite a few different inspirations for each pattern’s direction but as a whole the collection is inspired by the ocean, the coast, and the breakwater. Lately I love to drive up the West Australian coast and watch the waves and smell the salt air and just let wind pummel me a bit. It’s a pretty special feeling I get on the coast – it’s beautiful and refreshing. All the Breakwater patterns speak to that feeling – lots of flowing rippling lines, and joyful freshness.

I could talk for ages about each pattern but I’ll try and sum it up as best I can! The Crescent Blouse is very lunar inspired – the shapes are intended to mimic the crescent moon. The Tania Culottes are inspired by a dear friend who rides her adorable bike everywhere; I wanted to create a stylish “skirt” that she could ride her bike in comfortably. The Eucalypt Tank is mostly inspired by the Eucalypt leaf – the strong seaming down the centre front and smooth curves of the hem are a nod to that but also gives the pattern a lot of flexibility for sewing variations. The Cascade Skirt is most closely linked to the water – I wanted the hemline to look like cascading ripples or waves. I imagined them blowing in the breeze and catching in wind.

Other than that (from a more technical standpoint), I had a few goals with this collection. I wanted to add more beginner level sewing patterns to my line because I just love newbie sewers! But I also wanted to create really wearable wardrobe staples with some wow factor, which means that the silhouettes had to be very versatile for differing body shapes and also easy to adapt and alter.

Time. These days I have very little. I’m not kidding when I say it took me a year to create those four patterns and it’s because I worked on them during weekends and from the second my kids went to sleep till midnight every night. I cobbled together minutes. I’m a great believer in organization being the key to success so I made myself a very strict schedule and I kept to it. It helped a lot on those days when I was tired and I could have aimlessly not done anything  but instead I had some direction to go in. My husband was my rock, he spent all is free time for months working as my personal assistant – filling orders, managing emails, enquiries and customer service. He was amazing and I really couldn’t have done it without him.

Beyond that, I also had one little hiccup before release that almost killed me. On the day my patterns arrived from production, I discovered that all the covers had been misprinted! It was a nightmare and completely stressful. But the error was rectified and now that my patterns are out I’ve almost forgotten about the stress (kidding hehe).

I am SO thrilled that the patterns are released and I’m so blown away by the response they’ve received! I hate not sharing what I’m working on and it’s been killing me to spend almost a year working on patterns I can’t really tell anyone about. I’m sure my family and close friends got super duper tired of me shoving the new designs in their faces and asking 100 times over “do you love them?!!? Aren’t they amazing!?” hehe.

The other side of that is I’m really quite tired. I’ve spent this last year working pretty constantly, in every second I can squeeze in. It’s been very very hard so I’m treating myself to some “lazy” time. Actually more like I’m kind of forcing myself to relax and recharge. I don’t relax very well – I always feel like I “should” be doing something and then stupidly I feel guilty – so I’m doing my best to fight that! I’ve got a selection of TV shows lined up that I missed while I was working so much and I’m doing my best to watch them in close succession hehehe. I’ve also been putting aside time to make things for myself. When I’m working on new patterns I don’t often get time to make myself little things, so its been really nice to just knock up a few pieces just for my own pleasure.

Celebration wise – we went the route of big family dinner with too much Chinese takeout and a bottle of wine– that’s my style.

Right now I’m working on four patterns, which is kind of silly! I should narrow it down! Eeek! There isn’t much of a break between patterns, so these will be my winter 2013 release. I’m excited! The next thing on the to-do list is testing. The first of the next patterns is ready to go, I just need to find some quiet time to get myself organized! For me the hardest part is just not going too quickly. I suppose I should actually put “chill the heck out and go slower” on my to-do list! But I suppose then I wouldn’t be me. Accomplishments-wise , I’d really love to release those four before the end of the year so cross your fingers for me and someone put the coffee on!!!

For a chance to win ALL FOUR PATTERNS from Megan’s Breakwater Collection, all you have to do is like both Madalynne and Megan’s Facebook page. After, write a comment saying you did so, how Megan inspires you, and you’re contact information. If you’re already a fan of our Facebook pages, you are still eligible. Contest closes on Sunday, May 26th, and the winner will be notified and announced shortly after. Good luck!

*contest is open internationally*

I received a lot of emails… from you! It’s not rare that I answer a few emails a week from my readers but over the past 7 days, my “to answer” folder has been brimming with questions. I answered one or two and three or four more would pop into my inbox. The questions were unexpected too. They varied from tips for starting a blog to a curriculum for a novice sewer and pitches for future posts. So motley were the questions, like a bag of M&Ms, that it made me think about the posts on this blog for the next couple of months. I am the queen of many things, especially a calendar, and topics for June and July have already been decided. But maybe there is something that you want  to learn about that I can help you with. If that’s the case, here’s your chance to speak up. Is there something you want to me to explain? Pattern making tips? 10 things about me? Construction rules?

I thought this was my best bra but I was wrong – this is my best bra yet.

Not that I have enough projects to finish but when Ohhh Lulu released its new collection of bras and undies, Bambi caught my attention. Up until this point, all of the bras I had sewn were of cups/cradles variety. These types of bras present more of a fitting challenge than a soft bra/bralette and appeal to my masochistic pattern making side. It may sound weird but I love making a bra, it not fitting somewhere, and then going back to my manuals (Beverly Johnson’s or Norma’s) and figuring out why and how to correct the fit issue. That’s how I’ve learned so much over the past year – by trial and error. But in my day-to-day life, soft bras/bralettes make up about 60% of my intimates wardrobe. So to become a more well rounded bra maker, I gave Bambi a try.

The end result was an alarming, astonishing, and awe-inspring undergarment that was simple with a shot of brio. I didn’t expect it to be either. My intention going into this project was, sure, I’ll test it out, right a review, and get on with my other bra making toils and endeavors. But when I finished and took a step back to look at it, I thought, holy crap, I must make more; I need to make more! The fit is spot on too. This will be the perfect pairing for my summer tees and dresses.

 Because the suggested fabric is a woven, I chose a rigid galloon lace for the self and a 15-denier tricot for the lining. Technically, I didn’t need to line the bra (linings are used to stabilize cups and cradles, which are usually made with stretchy fabrics) but I chose to for comfort (tricot is softer than lace), to protect the delicate lace from wear and tear, and for coverage (so that it wouldn’t be as sheer).

 I used a 1/4″ elastic at the top and a 3/8″ elastic at the bottom of the bra. When I first started sewing lingerie, I used a picot edged elastic that’s was labeled as lingerie elastic. But the recovery on it is not good and after a few wearings and hand washings, it’s dead. When I inspected my RTW bras, I saw that the elastic used are much sturdier and have a tighter tension. I realized that in order to make a functional bra that can withstand movement throughout the day, body sweat, and multiple washings, you really need a good quality elastic like these. Since making this switch, my bras have not only performed better but they look less homemade.

I used the fabric’s wide scalloped edge as a design detail at the bottom of the bra. To accommodate the scallops, I extended the pattern and applied the elastic at 2 inches above the lowest point of the scallop. Do you see the side seams and the cup seam? No and because I “matched” the scallops at each seam. Go Maddie!

 The straps were upcycled from an Anthropologie bra I no longer wear. In my opinion, the pop of color makes the bra.

I’ve always had a hard time sewing a clean bartack when attaching the straps. So I was delighted to read an alternative method in Norma’s ebook - a box stitch. It’s much cleaner and much, much easier to sew. Plus, it gives a couture touch to the bra, don’t you think?

The back straps extend to the bottom of the elastic to provide better support. It would have been cleaner to insert it into the elastic but the orange would have been noticeable/visible on the exterior.

 Many of my soft bras finish the seams with tricot binding that is folded in the center and then applied. Even though I have a delicate hand when it comes to sewing, I struggled with creating this type of binding. I didn’t get frustrated though – the mass manufacturing world has a machine just for making binding – and I came up with another solution – I applied the binding using this technique.

 I still have not found a solution to skipped stitches when applying the hook and eye closure. I have tried every needle, thread, tension, and presser foot. Nothing works. I’ve been applying hooks and eyes with a straight stitch and to be honest, I don’t think it looks bad, homemade, or lesser quality. The hooks and eyes that I buy are finished at the top and bottom edge so that’s one less step for me.

What do you think? My best bra yet?

I began sewing lingerie about a year ago. Actually, I lied, I began thinking about sewing lingerie about a year ago. Sewing only woven fabrics up until that point, I had limited experience with elastic, hooks & eyes, tricot, ect. Yes, I worked in technical design for the two years prior and for one of those years, I handled intimates, but the information I learned about the product was theoretical – it was knowledge I learned from other tech designers and through the trade – not by actually sewing a bra and learning from mistakes.

Since last summer, I have picked up many tips and tricks through books, sew alongs, articles, and blogs. I have gained the most knowledge though by studying information, which even went as far as making flash cards that I flipped through during breakfast, lunch, or dinner, and then applying it to my projects. Beverly wrote in her manual that a scoop back band provides the most support – so I wrote it wrote it down, recited it over and over, and then did – I drafted a scoop back, sew up a bra, and wear tested it to see if she was correct. Knowledge to practice, knowledge to practice – that was and still is my motto.

My latest piece of knowledge was from Norma’s recently released Ebook, Demystifying Bra Fitting and Construction. I discovered Norma and her brand, Orange Lingerie, a long time before I started following her. I don’t remember where or when that was – what I remember is when Amy interviewed her back in January and I clicked to her site and thought, “I know her!”

Norma, who sewed and designed from age 9 until she graduated from college, put the hobby aside to pursue a career in finance. In 2010, she left her position at a major Wall Street firm to study custom bra making (she attended Beverly Johnson’s Bra Making School!). Today, she owns Orange Lingerie, a custom made bra company that provides individually tailored bras. Through Norma’s precise measuring and fitting a close-to-perfect fitting bra is almost guaranteed.

Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve been reading, rereading, and virtually highlighting (I love this feature of the Kindle) important snippets of her book. So much was covered in Beverly Johnson’s manual and because Norma studied under her, I was looking for overlapping information. But there wasn’t any. Because I have read many bra making books, the beginning was basic – the anatomy of a bra, tools used for sewing bras, and how a bra should fit. But that information is necessary to include because just like an introduction or a conclusion in an essay, it makes the rest of the book understandable to people who haven’t had as much experience as me. I got really deep into the book in the construction chapter. I’m still trying to fine tune my skills and I found a lot of information that I could put to practice (knowledge to practice – remember, that’s my motto). How to apply the elastic on a scoop back, how to draft a facing pattern for the bridge, how to ensure symmetry at the top of the bridge, and the stitch width of both the first and second pass of elastic – she covered all of this and more. One of my favorite tips, and I’m sure all of the OCD seamstresses out there will love this too, was, “…no one but you will examine the bra’s topstitching from under your sewists microscope. The only reason to tear out topsitching is if (a) there is an obvious fold or pucker in the fabric, (b) there is loose seam allowance on the wrong side of the fabric or (c) it looks bad from 3 feet away.” I’ve been reciting “three feet away” a lot because I have an unnecessary urge to make my topstitching perfect. Life and bras are so much easier at three feet away!

Norma’s book made me a more well-rounded bra maker but it is her that inspires me. She worked a 9-5 just as I do and threw it all in to pursue her passion. Not many people have the balls to do that and I commend her for it.