Boy oh boy have I been needing some new sports bras! I thought about searching for the perfect pattern but in the end I decided that the stretched out one I had was exactly what I wanted so I traced it off!
Silly me, I neglected to take a photo of the old RTW bra I used to create the pattern for these two. I really should have done a video to show you what I did but I think I was too excited to get going with the project to stop and video. It was a basic black sports bra that I’ve had so long I don’t even remember where I got it. The elastic was worn out and starting to crack and it was one of two in my drawer! Needless to say I needed to get going on some new ones.
The thing about ordering swimsuit fabric for a specific project is you almost always have fabric leftover because swimsuit pieces are so small! I broke out all the activewear fabrics I had in my stash to piece together these fun color blocked sports bras. The original bra already had these fun style lines, and I knew they would be perfect for color blocking (which was awesome because I was working with scraps).
All of this fabric came from my stash, though I did have to order the bust band elastic. The red is leftover from a swimsuit I made for a client a few years back. The navy hash print you may recognize from my Celeste Bikini last year, and the fuchsia is from my Beverly Bikini two years ago. I’m so glad I found a use for these extra bits of fabric. I don’t really love using this type of fabric for underwear, so color blocking it into activewear seemed like a great solution. The power mesh and 1/4” elastic were both from my stash as well. Made me super glad I ordered power mesh in bulk when I needed it. There have been several projects that have come up where I’ve been so glad to have some on hand.
As I mentioned, for the pattern I just did a rub-off of an old RTW bra that had seen better days. I was a little worried that the new bras wouldn’t fit right since my old one was so stretched out. But it all came out pretty great! I did measure the length for the under bust elastic around my body rather than measuring the original bra’s elastic since that part was super stretched out. I made sure to copy the pattern onto paper so I will be able to make lots of these in the future!
I’ve found in my experience that this style of sports bra with full fabric straps not only provides more support but lasts longer than bras with elastic or spaghetti straps. I like the look of the more modern, strappy ones but for practicality this style just seemed like a better way to go. And so far so good because I’ve been wearing them like crazy and everything is snug and comfortable!
See it in action here:
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Pattern: Self Drafted
Fabric: Activewear scraps from stash
Notions: Elastic
Difficulty: Easy
Finishes: Serged and turned with elastic
Time: Less than 2 hrs
Sew it again? Yes! Will definitely be returning to this pattern.
Have you made your own sports bra before? Is there a pattern you love? Let me know in the comments below!
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