I sew so many things that sometimes a garment will slip seamlessly into my wardrobe and I’ll forget to tell anyone i ever made it. Which as a sewing blogger is like a life failure right?!
Enter the Sewaholic Dunbar sports bra! It’s been hard to get a chance to blog this make because it’s been used so much. Did anyone else do a happy dance of excitement when Sewaholic released that activewear collection? There are so few cute activewear patterns out there – and these are all super cute. I was dying to try the sportsbra. I have worn my fair share of sports bras, and loved the idea of something a little more “me”.
And by me, i mean sparkly. Because i just can’t resist being a little ridiculous and making a sparkly sports bra. Don’t pretend you didn’t know it was coming.
This is quite possibly the coollest sports bra i have ever owned, and i luuuurve it.
But must admit, I did find construction a little bumpy. For such a small garment there are a lot of pattern pieces. Also i do wish i had googled a few reviews before making it, because after completely finishing i found it to be really baggy, which seems a common problem. I like my sports bras to be snug and supportive. I ended up taking in almost 2 inches on each side, which is a lot. I feel like that resulted in the underband looking a bit messy – sparkly lycra doesn’t like being unpicked.
I’m not sure if you can tell in the photo above, but those side back seams are where i pulled removed the excess. It sticks out like a sore thumb to me, so i hope no-one else can tell.
Also as a personal adjustment (because i think this is just me, i haven’t seen anyone else come across this, so i think it’s my short torso) I also had to shorten the centre back as it was too long for me. It’s pulling on the dress form, but on me it sits just right. It’s just way too darn cold in Perth right now for me to model a sports bra, also i’ve had three babies, not gonna happen.
Another modification i made was to finish the neckline and arms with fold over elastic. I really didn’t like the included method, because it didn’t offer much stability. I really feel like you need elastic in all edges of a sportsbra to really give support.
BUT of course as i was doing this, i didn’t read the instructions properly, and didn’t notice that the binding method included in the instructions results in the edges being turned in by 1/4″. I simply bound my edges, this means that my bra is a little too high cut at the underarm – as there is an extra 1/4″ around the arms and neckline – you can see in the image above how it’s crossing over the metal plate on my dress form. Ooops. So far it hasn’t caused me any discomfort when running, so i’m hoping that continues – but otherwise, i will probably have to remove that section, cut back the armhole and reattach the elastic.
So if you’re looking at my bra and thinking the straps look wider than the ones other people have made – that’s why, nice mistake there Meg hehe.
Overall I really love this sports bra, and i will definitely be making more. I love the design lines, they’re gorgeous – and now that I have the fit worked out for my body, i think the next one will take way less time and be much neater.
Anyone else make this pattern? What was your experience?
Ps. as a side note – anyone else really sad to see Tasia step down from Sewaholic? I’m sure it was a good decision for everyone involved – but i’m really going to miss Tasia’s voice and direction.
