Thank you for the enthusiastic response to the Fenway bra sewing pattern! I love the possibilities of all the different bras you can make with this new style. I thought I would share some of my inspiration to give you ideas for making your own Fenway bra.
Starting on the left hand side above, there are some great ideas in this pair of bras from Lonely Lingerie. In the black bra, a virtual upper cup is created using strap elastic that originates at the underwire casing on either side of the cup. There is also another strap that extends from the lower cup center seam (you can click through to Journelle to see this on a model). It may take a bit of playing around to get the length of that center elastic piece just so, but what a fun project!
Both Lonely Lingerie bras make use of a lace scallop edge for the lower cup. This could be done as an overlay, concealing the lower cup to upper cup seam as pictured in the yellow bra. Given the curves of the Fenway bra lower cup it may involve some lace piecing to get the same effect.
Sticking with the lace theme (because who does not love lace?!), the ID Sarrieri bra, pictured in the bottom right corner, uses a beautiful lace scallop edge for the neckline. This can be done with a simple pattern change. Just straighten out the neckline and then cut the neckline edge of the upper cup aligned with the valley of the lace scallops. I like to see that they stabilized the lace neckline and you should definitely do the same if you make a version like this one!
Finally, in the upper right hand corner is a bra by Lou Lingerie. (This is the same style as the headline image for this post.) I like the use of a print fabric with a fun trim along the neckline. Keep in mind that if you want to use a trim on your Fenway instead of fold over elastic, you will need to alter the pattern by adding a trim allowance to those areas. My bra sewing patterns all have the seam allowances and trim lines clearly marked so you can see where you need to make the adjustment!
Which version are you going to try next? Be sure to tag your Fenway bras with #fenwaybra so everyone can find yours!
