Need to reinforce bra cups for your belly dance costume?
If you’ve got a soft bra, you need to first reinforce the bra cups before you cover it with pretty fabric and decoration. Otherwise the bra cups won’t be able to hold up the weight and pressure of the fabric and decoration, and you’ll end up with deformed/shrunk cups!
But how do you go about reinforcing bra cups?
Luckily, in this tutorial, our alteration expert, Chani, will show you how to reinforce a bra top that will be a great base for your beautiful handmade belly dance bra. Enjoy!
Why You Need to Reinforce Bra Cups
I suspect there are many ways to reinforce bra cups. Why would one want to even do this? Most of us build homemade costumes using daily-wear, commercially produced bras that we cut apart, modify, cover with costume fabric and then embellish. Most of those bras are fairly soft thin foam; the bigger the cup, the more room there is for the foam to bend or sag once any weight is added.
While my bra size (34D) is probably on the lower end of sizes requiring reinforcement, I first did so when I made a tribal-style bra that is covered with actual Middle Eastern coins. They are very heavy, and I sewed them on as densely as I could . . . . producing a very heavy garment. This bra has held up fabulously well under the weight of those coins.
Essentially, I added fusible interfacing to the outside of each cup. I do not apply it to the inside because if you add much, it will reduce the cup size. By adding to the outside, that is a non-issue.
Interfacing
If you are not a stitcher, you may be unfamiliar with interfacing. It is the stiffening material added to the collars, cuffs, and front bands of dress shirts and blouses, among other things. Nearly always it is sandwiched between two pieces of fabric, so you don’t even see it. There are many different weights (stiffness/thickness), and types.
In the early days, it had to be sewn in. Now there is a myriad of ‘fusible’ types, which have glue on one side that melts and affixes it to something else when heated with an iron. Generally, interfacing is white, although there are some black styles available.
Good bras are expensive; I suggest you get a couple of cheap ones at a thrift store or pull out yours that are on their way out anyhow, and practice with different weights and types of interfacing. That way when you get to the actual costume bra you have figured out what works best for you.
While there are drawbacks to it, I prefer a fairly lightweight fusible woven interfacing made of cotton. By far the most common interfacings are made of synthetic fabric that is formed. While I have not used any of these for reinforcing a bra, I suspect there are perfectly good ones out there.
The reasons I choose the woven are (1) I can dye it; and (2) I can cut it on the bias and therefore take advantage of that slight bit of stretch when I conform it to the rounded shape of the cup. The drawbacks are that the cotton can shrink (as cotton always does) and it can be harder to find. If you are in the US, it usually is available at a JoAnn Fabrics store.
Why would I dye the interfacing? Suppose my costume is a medium blue. The fabric is not particularly thin. However, when I place it over white, or over black, the blue does change slightly – it gets brighter (over the white) or darker (over the black) than the rest of the costume will be. If you can tell a difference just by draping the fabric over the interfacing, then it will be even more apparent from a distance.
If your fabric is thick enough and you do not get a color change, you don’t need to worry about the color of your interfacing. If the costume color is impacted, I recommend finding woven cotton and using a basic fabric dye to get it at least in the color family of your costume fabric. Be careful not to heat the dye bath too much; remember your interfacing has glue applied to one side.
These are all the same type of woven cotton interfacing; the red piece is one I dyed.
When you buy interfacing, check for any instructions regarding pre-treating it. I suggest following those manufacturers’ instructions, particularly with cotton. Sometimes it may be as simple as steaming it by holding your steam iron above (not on) the interfacing, fusible side up to pre-shrink.
Tools & Supplies List
- Interfacing
- Scissors
- Iron
- Bra
- Ironing Board, Sleeve Board, or Ham and Ham Holder
Before we go any further, you will notice that three pressing surfaces are listed above. This project can be done over the rounded end of a conventional ironing board, but that is by far the most challenging surface to work on. You want to be very diligent about preserving the curve of your cups as you reinforce them, and the rounder the working surface, the easier that is to do.
The second best option is a sleeve board (see photo), which pressers use to (literally) press the sleeves on garments. The best option, by far, is a tailor’s ham and holder. If you think you will be reinforcing bras for your costumes moving forward, I would suggest investing in a ham and a ham holder. They are not expensive.
The most common home sewers ham, however, is quite soft. It will work but is not as handy as one filled with sawdust, which makes for a very hard surface. There are patterns and tutorials out there for making your own, including tips for using sawdust for your filler. However, if you can locate a professional tailor’s supply, you should be able to find a kidney-shaped, sawdust-filled ham. You will also want the holder, believe me.
Prep the Bra
If you are making new back bands, straps, and a center band, cut those items off the cups, getting as close to the boning as you can. If you cannot tell the right cup from the left, be certain to mark clearly inside the cup which is which. There is a difference in shape, but it can be hard to see.
My bra cups went to a point where the straps were attached. I cut the edge of the cup itself into the shape I want the bra to have when it is done. I like the shape of the middle band, however, so I did not remove it.
Cut your Interfacing
In the past, I always used my cotton woven interfacing which I cut into strips following the weave of the fabric. This time, however, I decided to cut my strips on the bias – and will never go back! The more flexible nature of the bias cut made the strips lie even flatter and neater. (Bias strips are cut across the grain at a 45-degree angle from the selvage.)
Cut strips ¾ to 1 inch wide. Save even those short bits; they come in handy for filling odd spaces. Don’t worry about how long the strips are as you will cut them to size as you go.
This is a great way to use interfacing remnants from sewing projects. I save all my bits to use when I need to reinforce a bra (which is why my pieces have some odd shapes in the photos).
Start Fusing & Reinforcing Bra Cups
I generally start in the middle of the cup, working from the top edge to the bottom. I leave about ¾ to an inch loose off the top; this will be folded to the inside at the end to create a smooth top edge. It also adds additional strength to the top – handy if you are adding fringe or other heavy adornments along the edge.
Be sure you do not pull the interfacing strips as you work; simply lay them flat on the bra surface, and press the iron down to fuse. If you pull the strips, they will distort and ‘shrink’ the size of the cup.
As I move along the convex shape of the cup, I re-place the bra on the ham to get as close a fit of the ham to the bra as I can to preserve the shape of the cup. Working on a sleeve board or conventional ironing board, you will do the same thing but may need to fuse in smaller increments and move the bra more frequently.
Get creative! Look for things to press against that are curved or round (just make certain they will not be damaged by the heat of the iron!). For example, you may have a decorative pillow that is round. You may have an exercise ball or a tennis ball; if you cover it with a thick layer of a folded-up towel, that might work quite well and the towel layers may be sufficient to prevent damage to the ball from the heat. Even a large can covered with a towel may help.
You will notice that the curve of the cup varies (less curve at the outer edge, more curve at the base of the cup), so you need different amounts/sizes of a curve to work with (which is why the kidney-shaped ham works so well – there are lots of different sizes and shapes to the curves depending on which way the ham sits).
To add the second strip, line up the edge that overhangs at the top of the first strip, and set the second strip so that it is halfway over the first strip. The third strip will go halfway over the second, etc., etc. You are creating a double layer of reinforcement. As you move from the center to one side of the cup, keeping your strips parallel, they will get shorter and shorter. Trim the bottom of each strip so that it butts up against the boning.
Once done with one side, return to the center and finish adding strips to the other side. You may have to adjust your angles a little bit; it doesn’t really matter as your costume fabric will cover the reinforcing anyhow. You do, however, want to maintain a certain consistency of reinforcement; for instance, I would not want to have one spot where there are six layers of interfacing, where the rest of the bra has two. If you find your strips start to build up in one area, simply cut the new strips to the end before that junction.
There are obviously no hard and fast rules to this. By simply doing it you will start to figure out the best method for you, based on your cup shape, your pressing tools, and the nature of your interfacing.
Once I have all my strips from the top edge in place, I turn to the outside of the cup, at the ‘underarm.’ I will now place my strips so that the extra ¾-1 inch is parallel to that edge, more or less perpendicular to the original strips. Proceed in the same manner, until the entire cup is covered with an even number of layers of interfacing.
To finish, start at the halfway point with the first strip you fused into place, turn it to the inside of the cup, and fuse to the inside. Do not pull tight as that may distort your top edge. Work your way from the center in one direction, then the other. Do the same at the ‘armhole’. Voila! You have a neatly reinforced bra cup.
Obviously, you can add many more layers of interfacing to build more stiffness to your cups. However, I would make one small change in the process: instead of leaving the overlap on your first layer, cut the interfacing strips to exactly match the top edge of the bra. On your last layer, leave the ¾-1” overhang to turn to the inside.
As a last idea, I have also coated the layers of interfacing with flexible fabric glue to add additional strength. I used Aileen’s fabric glue, available at most craft stores. I am certain there are many types of fabric glues out there; you need to make sure it stays pliable when dry, particularly if you plan to sew through the cup. I poured some out into a bowl and used a ½” painter’s brush to apply the glue. Be certain it is fully dry before starting to add your costume fabric!
I have a new material on an order that may completely change how I reinforce bra cups – or it may be a total bust. Regardless of how it works out, stay tuned! I will write a post about my experiment and the outcome (useable or not).
Hope you enjoyed another comprehensive tutorial on how to reinforce a bra by Chani! If you did, please share this post with your dance sisters!
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Thanks for reading, and keep sparkling!
P.S. Pin this image for your future reference 😉
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