Hugs for Your Jugs

Why do some power bars fit snugly into lower cups and some don't? If you have ever made a bra with a power bar or attempted to add a power bar to a bra yourself, you may have noticed that not all power bars behave the same way. Some push your breasts forward nicely, while others don't seem to be very "powerful" and instead result in quite a rounded outer cup. But which bras will do which? Is there a way to tell before sewing the bra together? Yes!

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....