Pattern Review: Barrett Bralette by Madalynne Intimates

Hello, my lovely sewing friends! Today I have continued my bra making exploration; this time with Madalynne Intimates "Barrett Bralette". I have been following Madalynne Intimates instagram account for a couple of years and I love seeing the champagne bubble worthy intimates that she creates. They are fun and interesting, but I have not dared to try until now. I fell head over heels for this whimsical star patterned lace. I ordered right away.

Cute Packaging

The adorableness actually continues when I received the materials. The whole kit, save the .pdf pattern, comes in a pink little box with a sliding drawer. In the drawer the fabric, trims and findings are all safely stored. The initial impact of this was fantastic, and my daughter loved the little box so much, she made a home out of it for her dolls. The packaging is sturdy, so I believe it forever lives with us now.

Supplies Before Starting

I am new to the bra/barlette making, this being only my second go round. The inspiration for bra making was a shortage of my size on the ready to wear market. With that being said, this pattern does not come in my size. The Barrett adheres to a alpha (XS, S, M, L, XL) system of sizing as opposed to a alpha/numeric combo (32FF). Given that the Barrett does not have any "cups" per se, this does make some sense, however for me, it did make the whole fitting issue a little harder. I decide on making the Large in what would be the cup area and S in the circumference. This turned out alright actually. I do wish that I had trusted my first instinct and combined the XL with the S. The cup is just a touch snug on fuller breasted days, but "OH MY COMFORT" for lounge wear weekend days.

When reading the instructions for this piece, you can tell that Madalynne gives classes. The instructions read more like a monologue than a step by step instructional. While friendly, there were times that I thought, "okay cool, but just tell me what's next". Due to the instructions having so many words and few pictures, there were times that I just did it the way I thought it should be done.
I absolutely LOVED how clean the finish is on this garment. When I make any other bra pattern, I am going to adopt these techniques everywhere.

I also loved the fabrics in this kit. They are soft and comfortable.  Given how soft they were, I was surprised how easy they were to work with. I would recommend cutting with a rotary cutter. The fabrics are slippery and the pieces are small, so cutting too much or too little any of the pieces could drastically change your over all outcome.

Overall, I was pleased with the experience and with what I received as a customer. While the inital creation process was a little frustrating, the completed garment more than makes up for it. This garment will be in regular lounge wear rotation and I am already look for another one of Madalynne's kits to call my own.

Until next time, my friends, Happy Sewing!