Do you struggle to find a sports bra that fits you well AND that you look good in AND that is supportive? Before sewing my own sports bras, I always struggled to get bras that had a tight enough band, supportive enough cup, and straps that weren’t gaping! When I did find one, it was NOT pretty. It was just a solid color and definitely was not one that I would ever want to show anyone.
If you know your way around a sewing machine at all, I STRONGLY suggest that you venture into making your own! I became in love with the idea after making my first Power Sports bra when it released last year, and I now have another bra sewing pattern to add to my arsenal that I am SO EXCITED to share with you today!
Greenstyle has just released a new sports bra pattern – the Embrace Sports Bra! I was a pattern tester and made two bras in testing to show you.
This first bra is made out of the Midnight Garden print from The Styled Magnolia and is combined with their wide stripes print. I have been wanting to make this one for some time now because I have two pairs of athletic tights (the Inspire tights and Tempo tights) out of this bra! I find I am so excited to wear a pair of leggings when I have a matching bra for it 🙂
Side note – I took these photos at my neighbor’s house because her tree was in FULL bloom, and I just thought it was so pretty! Hopefully she was not home wondering what in the world I was doing! Isn’t this crepe myrtle so pretty, though!
Anyways, back to the bra!
Sizing
This medium-impact sports bra pattern has a size chart that covers full busts measuring 30 to 61 inches.
Selecting your sizing is a little different on this bra than on the Power Sports Bra. You pick your letter size based on your full bust measurement. So, I made a size C. Then, once you determine your letter size, you need to subtract your under bust from your full bust. My difference was about 6-7 inches. This number is called your bust differential.
If your bust differential is less than 4″, you print option A for that size. If your bust differential is 4-7 inches, you do the bust dart option. This is the option I chose! If your bust differential is 7-10 inches, you will use the FBA piece for your size. If your bust differential is greater than 10 inches, you will need to do a further FBA on the FBA pattern piece for your size. Whew!
I highly suggest taking the elastic measurements in the under bust elastic chart as a suggestion as opposed to a hard and fast rule because I find I have to adjust elastic based on the type that I am using. Some elastics are way too firm while others will fit looser. On this bra, my under bust elastic is 3.5 inches less than my under bust measurement.
Options
As far as aesthetics, you have lots of looks you can get from this bra. You can make a solid front or you can use the color blocked front. I chose the color blocked on this one, and my next bra was the solid front. I like that this bra offers support without princess seams showing through my shirt!
For the back, you can do racerback, u back, or a layered back that combines the u and racer. I love the look of the layered back for combining different fabrics!
There also is an optional keyhole that is pretty quick to do since it is a seam between the u and racer. However, if you don’t want the keyhole to go through all layers, the pattern includes a binding piece to finish it.
This is about a 2 hour sewing project for me. If you are doing the solid front option that doesn’t require a dart and doing a non-layered back (just a racerback or u back), then it will be even quicker. It also takes patience and following each step. I think we may need a sew along one day on this bra. Let me know if you want one because I will happily make a few more to show each step!
On my second bra, I wanted to do a laser cut fabric for the racer. I finished the edges of the racer with binding because I didn’t want to line it as shown in the pattern.
To bind the racerback, I removed the 3/8 inch seam allowance and then did single fold binding on the edges (the single fold binding method is shown in the pattern when you finish the neckline). I did this at the step where you would normally sew the racerback main to its lining.
Another thing I did a little different is that I did not use the under bust band included in the pattern. I could not find my regular 1.5 inch elastic but did have some soft waistband elastic on hand to use. The orange is fun and bright! It also was pretty quick and feels really good to wear. I have a lot of this on hand because I stocked up when it was being clearanced out at Joanns.
Isn’t this print so pretty! This one is called Garden of Utopia. This print, Midnight Garden, and several other of my faves will be available again in the re-run round at The Styled Magnolia starting October 1st. The fabric base I used is the Athletic Brushed Poly (ABP).
This is one of my favorite athletic bases I have sewn with! It is a comfortable athletic fabric to wear and doesn’t show every lump and bump. Some fabrics are way too compressive for my taste and the ABP base is just the right amount of compression.
These tights are the Cavallo tights. These (and all the other Greenstyle tights patterns) will be on my leggings comparison video on Youtube at the end of this week! We will be having a leggings sew along next week that I am super excited about. Get the details for it in THIS POST.
Supplies
- Embrace Sports Bra Pattern is on sale through Saturday October 3rd
- Athletic Brushed Poly Fabric
- 1/4 inch clear elastic
- 1.5 inch dritz soft waistband elastic
- bra pads
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*Disclosures
This post may contain affiliate links, which means I receive a small compensation when you purchase via my link. This does not cost you anything, and I genuinely appreciate the support. Any and all opinions expressed are still my own.
4 Comments
Hazel · October 8, 2020 at 7:22 pm
A sew-a-long for the Embrace sports bra would be wonderful!!
Sharon Aguilar · October 9, 2020 at 12:47 pm
I think a sew along is in order then! I will put this pattern on the short list!
Karey · September 29, 2020 at 12:45 am
A sewalong would be great, especially if you “include FBA for people with bust differential greater than 10 inches, [who] will need to do a further FBA on the FBA”. I have 11″ differential, and just looking at the instructions, I’m thinking a reverse FBA will be required as FBA piece already fits full bust width. By reverse FBA, I mean a wedge/dart will need removing from arm, side seam, and maybe neck edge, and rotated to bottom dart to account for measurements above, below, and side of bust being smaller than pattern.
Sharon Aguilar · October 9, 2020 at 12:46 pm
I don’t think you would need a reverse FBA Karey. With an 11 inch difference, I think you would need to do add half an inch of an FBA to your piece (so it would be one inch total since it is cut on the fold). I would definitely do a trial version of the bra and check to make sure!