Hugs for Your Jugs

I have spoken before about how there are regions of flatness in a bra cup, but I think the topic needs another visit, as I've found people sometimes underestimate how much flatness caused by the strap can impact the shaping of the cup - especially in large cups. By the end of this post you should know how to manage strange dents and intentional (or unintentional) regions of "flatness" to get the shaping and lift that you desire out of your bras. An extended edition of this post is available on my ko-fi , which you can read with a one-time donation of $3/£2. You can subscribe to continue supporting my work and receive early access to/extended versions of my posts. 1. What is the flat spot in a bra, and what causes it? In broad terms, flatness appears in a bra cup when a region of your fabric is under tension. The fabric wants to take the shortest route from point a to point b along this line of tension, so instead of rounding over your breast, creating a curve, it smoos

Using different sizes for the bottom cup depth and horizontal hemisphere (BCD and HH) of your bra cups has become a popular alteration, with some pattern makers going as far as to suggest making these changes before sewing up a single bra, instead considering it as part of an overall sizing system.  A little while ago, I asked my Instagram followers what these alterations do - but there was no consensus in the response. asked my Instagram followers what they thought these alterations actually did, with no consensus in the response. This surprised me a little - people seem to make these alterations a lot, but it seems that the expected results aren't clear, let alone if the actual results match the expected results. So let's find out what happens when we make alterations to these dimensions in our bras. Hopefully, by the end of this post, you will see why I have come to believe that separate BCD and HH sizing is a bad idea and leads people to more confusion and poorer fits. 

I was hoping to do a play-by-play alterations process for these cups but as it took me a long time to truly understand what was going on with them — and 8 toiles to fit it — it’s better if I summarise what I’ve learned about the fitting of this bra and how to address various fit issues. Mine still isn’t completely perfect but it’s very functional and I’m happy with it. If I were to fit it on someone else I believe I could do it a lot faster and have a more successful result overall. Be sure to check out the cradle and band fitting process in part 1 if you missed it. This post was released early to my lovely supporters on Ko-fi. To get early access to posts, or access to extended editions of posts, you can support me for just £2/$3 a month! Here are the original pattern pieces after reducing the wireline (top), and my final cups after alteration (bottom)— you can see that significant changes have been made. So I will try to talk you through the differences and the rationa

The Galina by Madalynne Intimates has had lots of exposure lately, it's been all over Instagram and TikTok with a bunch of bra influencers promoting it. I've been meaning to tackle patterns lately, hoping it will help others fit bras to themselves - and why not start with this pretty iconic bra? Part 2, where I alter the cups, is out now! This post was made possible by my lovely supporters on Ko-fi. To get early access to posts, or access to extended editions of posts, you can support me for just £2/$3 a month! Left: Screenshot of @fullerbustbestie on Instagram, r etrieved from @madalynne . Right: pattern cover photo for Galina, retrieved from madalynne.com Pre-Impressions and Intentions While I really like the design as shown in smaller cup sizes, I'll be honest in that I'm not really a fan of how it turns from a plunge to almost a half cup in larger ones, nor the very separated shape that seems to come along with it. Here , here , and here are some examples

There are so many different strap configurations in sports bras that it's almost impossible to categorise them all. From standard T and U backs to racerbacks, J hooks, cutout racerbacks, decorative multi straps, what should you choose? Is there a physical reason why these strap styles are so popular, or is it just fashion? In this post, I will be referring to all styles that connect or cross in the back as racerbacks, and standard U or T backed straps as standard straps.  This post was released early to my  lovely supporters on Ko-fi. To get early access to posts, or access to extended editions of posts, you can support me for just £2/$3 a month!   What the studies say Yes, there's research into sports bras! in fact, multiple research teams have pitted sports bras against each other to test which features are most effective, and unfortunately the results vary quite a bit. While some (Zhou et al., 2013) have found that bras with a "cross back panel" (like st