choli?

[dragonlady7]

I'm thinking of making this choli pattern I found online, but I'm thinking of lining it, and what's more, interlining the front to add some cording at the sides of the "cups". I like the look of it, though I think I'll add on a skirt part because I am not wild about showing off my belly (I could make the skirt part pretty easily detachable, if anyone is heartbroken about that), but in the sample photos, the larger-breasted models' breasts are sort of... in their armpits. I'm not wild about that look, either. My boobs are a large proportion of my torso but have relatively small attachment points so they're... highly mobile. Maybe cording the sides of the cups and then making the top back strap a little more haltery would help with that? I don't know. ... I should probably try making one unaltered first, just with my measurements and maybe a dart or two, then do alterations on my next attempts, huh?

It's something I'm eager to try, because at the moment I'm wearing an underwire bra that is so inadequate that the too-short underwires are actually leaving black and blue marks on my biceps because they're sticking almost straight out from my body. This is seriously what I wear every day, shit like this. '


Ah shit, Chita just got a bird. Well, I'm not feeding her breakfast until she eats it. Crapola, I really did not need to watch that. At least she killed it relatively quickly. But she really wants to eat it inside, which is a problem.
Well, she doesn't really want to eat it, but she's not sure what she's suppsed to do with it now. This is the cat that comes to me and asks what to do with raw chicken scraps in her food bowl, so maybe I have to go tell her it's OK to eat the bird.
Damn it, I really wasn't planning on making cat education my pastime this morning. I was more interested in working out whether to make this choli in blue faux-suede or black cotton. (I'm leaning towards the black cotton, at least for the first attempt.)

Comments

[greenworldgirl.livejournal.com]

Sweet crap, that reminds me that about a million billion years ago, I used to belly-dance! I'd actually forgotten about that entirely. How bizarre! I guess I don't miss it that much, as I obviously hadn't thought about it in quite some time. Probably don't know how to do it anymore, either.

[dragonlady7.livejournal.com]

That's pretty funny. You know, it's funny the things you kind of... not so much forget as totally misplace in your mind.

I've never worn anything like a choli, but I'm just desperate for summer-friendly bust-support options, and I am sick, sick sick sick to death of paying $110 a pop for bras that wind up either fitting me for ten fucking seconds or never fitting me at all but they're the best of a lot of bad options. Fuck that. Also cholis are something of a ubiquitous fashion at Pennsic, I hear, so I might as well have one.

[chargirlgenius.livejournal.com]

Here's another one to try:
http://www.feoragdubh.eastkingdom.org/Patterns/choli203.gif

Rashid works with big bosomed women a lot, so I think it's a good one. I seem to remember friends doing it, but I can do a call out if you want me to be sure.

[chargirlgenius.livejournal.com]

Oh, and remember one thing... Most period patterns lift, but don't separate. It can take some getting used to, but it's correct.

[dragonlady7.livejournal.com]

Ohh thank you. I've just spent about three or four hours putting together the pattern I linked to, and I feel I must be an intermediate sewer because I managed to catch all the things they forgot to include in the instructions (like hemming the sleeves before you put them on...), but I still had to do all kinds of crazy things to make it fit-- like, uh, sewing up the side seam and then up the underside of the sleeves wasn't a straight line and I actually had to put in a gusset because that's not how my body's shaped...
I just finished about five minutes ago and finally got the thing on and... uh... well, I mean, it covers my boobs, which is something.
Doesn't really support them.
When I'm not so tired and frustrated I'll take in the shoulder seams *again*, but that will funk up the tops of the sleeves, and I can't really face it. I had to fudge so much stuff because I'm such a stupid stupid shape.
Adding to the indignity through the whole process was the fact that I was wearing an ill-fitting bra that was hurting me the whole time. Ha!

I will try that pattern when I feel a little more ambitious. It's.... complex, but I seem to need complex.

On the other hand, I did a whole lot of really complicated things that weren't in the instructions for the other one, and did them properly, so at least I'm feeling really good about my sewing skills. I even figured out how to put in darts... and darts... and darts... I think there are eight or ten darts in the damn thing... Obviously rectangles and triangles don't have a whole lot of direct correlation with my shape. :)

[dragonlady7.livejournal.com]

Oh, yes, I'm used to that. I rather like it, actually. :) I'd rather that than my boobs in my armpits, really.

[greenworldgirl.livejournal.com]

Have you tried totally wireless bras like sports bras? They have a *few* for mongo boobs. I don't usually like them because I like the separate and I need a buttload of lift, but I often end up putting them OVER a regular bra on those occasions when I attempt jogging.It kind of keeps the regular bra in line and pinches inthe cups a bit. I sometimes also use tight sports tops with the built in shelf the same way. I know I'm not wearing them they way they are supposed to fit (my boobs eat them) but I find those ok too.

[dragonlady7.livejournal.com]

I have a couple of Enell bras (http://www.enell.com) and for roller derby bouts, I wear one half-fastened over an underwire, so that I still have two breasts. (Then I put a too-large underwire over the top, just so what shows through the cavernous arm-holes of my uniform is a pretty red mesh bra instead of an ugly beige stretch satin one.)

I also have some of those "built in shelf bra" camisoles that I wear over a regular underwire (that doesn't fit)-- two bras that don't fit at once usually hurts less than one.
Last night I was wearing a built-in-underwire camisole over an underwire bra, and it was comfortable for about six hours, but after then it just started digging in and it hurt something awful.

And when it's in the high 80s and 90 percent humidity, I really lose my sense of humor about wearing eight layers up top to keep the boobs in control. I'd just let them out, but that's also uncomfortable. I can regulate my body temperature so much better if my breasts are lifted away from my chest wall, but not if it takes fifteen layers of non-breathable fabric to do it.

I've always coped well with extreme temperatures-- heat or cold-- but at the moment, my wardrobe is actively working against me.