Bra Month | Jet Set Sew Along Week D: Topstitching & Attaching the Front Straps

At Sew Busty, June 2021 is bra month! Catch up on all the bra month posts here!

As part of bra month, we’ll be doing a sew along of the Firebrand Jet Set Natural bra. This bra, and all Firebrand patterns, are 20% off throughout July 2021 with code SEWBUSTY. See the full sew along here.

Per last week’s post, you should have:

• Finished the keyhole edges and attached the front band elastic
• Made your straps
• Prepared your closure
• Stitched the main fabric to the lining, then determined your wing length and closure length

WOW! That was a lot in one week. But, the nice thing about having done so much last week is that this week will be quick!

This week, we’re going to close up that keyhole, do some topstitching, and attach the straps to the front of the bra. Easy-peasy!

Give It a Good Press

I don’t have any pictures of this, but just pop this baby over to your ironing board and give it a good press, trying to keep the lining from peeking out from the main side.

Closing the Keyhole

Go ahead and pin the keyhole together, lining up seams and catching the elastic between the lining and main.

Stitch this 3 mm from the folded edge, trying your best to follow the stitching on the main fabric that you did in an earlier step. (I didn’t do amazingly at following this stitching, but do what I say, not what I do 😂)

Topstitching

Now, we’re going to continue stitching at 3 mm from the edge all the way around the bra. This will help keep everything in place. Again, try to make sure the lining isn’t peeking out as you stitch around.

It should end up looking like this:

Attaching the Straps to Front

To attach the straps to the front, you first need to install a ring to the front strap attachment.

This is the only place where you will have an unfinished seam. As I was telling those who attended our live chat yesterday, I’m sure you could come up with a creative way to not have an unfinished spot here. But, before you to that trouble, look at your RTW bras and note how they often also have unfinished spots at the strap attachment!

You are first going to fold your strap attachment over your ring, like this:

You can pin this in place or just hold it. I tend to hold it in place, but for the sake of this picture, I pinned it. Stitch as close to the ring as you can without hitting the ring with your needle. (Your needle will likely break; ask me how I know 😂)

I like to give a slight pull to the ring to keep it out of the way. Normally, my other hand would be giving a slight pull to the fabric to counteract the pull on the ring, but, in the picture below, my other hand was taking the picture 🙂

Repeat this on the other side. Your finished strap attachment will look like this:

Now, we need to attach the raw end of our strap to this ring. I like to close the bra in the back and use my fingers to trace the length of the strap, ensuring it doesn’t get twisted. I do this because I have one too many times sewn a strap on only to realize it was twisted. NO FUN.

You’re going to feed the strap through the front of the ring, with the strap shiny side up, then sew this with the same narrow zigzag we used in the previous steps. Once again, I like a zigzag that is 3 mm wide and 2 mm long.

And that’s it folks! You have a finished bra! Trim those loose threads, remove the basting on the elastic and lining, and assess for fit.

Something not quite right on fit? Check out Firebrand’s pattern hacks to see if your solution is there. If you’re not sure, feel free to feel free to drop a comment below, or ask on the Sew Busty Facebook group or subreddit. You can also contact the Jet Set designer, Kerry, at hello@firebrandlingerie.com for any fit questions.

Your Homework

This week, you should:

• Close up your keyhole and topstitch around the edge of your whole bra
• Insert a ring to the strap attachment point on the front of your bra
• Attach your strap to the ring

Questions about these last steps on the Jet Set bra? Drop a comment below, or ask on the Sew Busty Facebook group or subreddit.

Ready for the next sew along? In July, Sew Busty will be teaming up with House of Morozin for her monthly sewing challenge – to make a summer dress! Our sew along, which will be part of the Beginners’ Sewing Series, will be the newly-released Cashmerette Roseclair wrap dress. This sew along will start July 12!