Quick question about replacing underwires in RTW bras

Hello hello --

I've been scouring the internet for information about replacing broken
underwires in store bought bras, but I haven't found much aside from
the FAQ about underwires and bra manufacture by Babs Woods that brought
me here. I plan on ordering replacement underwires from Sew Sassy, but
I'm having trouble figuring out how to remove the broken underwires. In
theory, it seems as though it would be simple to just yank them out,
but I can't seem to manage it. I know that the wires aren't sewed down
or glued in because they twist and occasionally shove their way out of
the channelling and into my armpit. Should I cut a small slit in the
channeling? Would it be better to cut this slit by the armpit end of
the underwire or by the end of the underwire at the center of my chest?
And lastly, what exactly should I use to cut the channeling? Scissors
definitely do not work and I almost ruined a bra beyond repair by using
them. An exacto knife? Or something else that I haven't thought of? And
even if I do manage to exacto the channeling open, I'm not sure if I
can yank the entire wire out in the cups where it's broken. Are there
some kind of . . . tiny little pliers that I could buy and use? Should
I just cut multiple slits in the channeling? After I insert the new
underwire, I'll probably just superglue the slits shut, since that's
what I do to the channeling when the underwire ends poke through into
my armpit and it seems to work decently, but is there a better method I
could use to close the slits?

Thanks for any help, especially from people who have tried this before.

~elisa~

On 19 Nov 2006 14:02:37 -0800, wrote:

And lastly, what exactly should I use to cut the channeling?

A seam ripper is good for cutting little slits -- that how I usually
open buttonholes.

When I want to repair a slit, I usually use baseball stitch, also
known as "antique seam". But I haven't even *seen* a store-bought bra
in years, so I don't know whether that darn would be suitable for your
boning channel.

Joy Beeson
--
joy beeson at comcast dot net
http://roughsewing.home.comcast.net/ -- needlework
http://n3f.home.comcast.net/ -- Writers' Exchange
The above message is a Usenet post.
I don't recall having given anyone permission to use it on a Web site.

wrote:
Hello hello --

I've been scouring the internet for information about replacing broken
underwires in store bought bras, but I haven't found much aside from
the FAQ about underwires and bra manufacture by Babs Woods that brought
me here. I plan on ordering replacement underwires from Sew Sassy, but
I'm having trouble figuring out how to remove the broken underwires. In
theory, it seems as though it would be simple to just yank them out,
but I can't seem to manage it. I know that the wires aren't sewed down
or glued in because they twist and occasionally shove their way out of
the channelling and into my armpit. Should I cut a small slit in the
channeling? Would it be better to cut this slit by the armpit end of
the underwire or by the end of the underwire at the center of my chest?
And lastly, what exactly should I use to cut the channeling? Scissors
definitely do not work and I almost ruined a bra beyond repair by using
them. An exacto knife? Or something else that I haven't thought of? And
even if I do manage to exacto the channeling open, I'm not sure if I
can yank the entire wire out in the cups where it's broken. Are there
some kind of . . . tiny little pliers that I could buy and use? Should
I just cut multiple slits in the channeling? After I insert the new
underwire, I'll probably just superglue the slits shut, since that's
what I do to the channeling when the underwire ends poke through into
my armpit and it seems to work decently, but is there a better method I
could use to close the slits?

Thanks for any help, especially from people who have tried this before.

~elisa~

If you really think it's worth trying to repair, you could do as you
propose, and sew a small patch of something soft over the ends of the
casing in addition.

If the wire is sticking in the channel, then that usually means that the
dip they put on the ends has gone sticky, and it's time to replace the
whole thing.

I find that bras are not usually worth fixing like this. By the time
the wire is dead, so too is the rest of the bra. Charnos (bra
manufacturer here in the UK) told me once that I could expect a maximum
of six month's wear out of a bra, and less if it was machine washed or a
larger than 36DD size (I took a 38F at that time) because of the
stresses of wearing it. This was especially true if the bra was being
worn two or more days per week... Mine usually last a bit longer than
that (worn one a week and washed on a very cool delicates program in
non-bio washing powder). They expected their Bioform bra, which was
designed to be machine washed, to last longer. Unfortunately they no
longer make it (I think that despite the comfort levels, women found it
to clunky and heavy in use - rather like plate armour!), and the
thickness of the armature was too much for smaller women. I know I
found mine extraordinarily uncomfortable when I started losing weight.

The usual first point of failure in a wired bra is exactly the point you
are proposing to slit the casing: at the end of the wire. I frequently
darn a hole that the ends of wires make at this point and get an extra
month or so of wear out of the bra, but I know when it goes here that
the writing is on the wall...

--
Kate XXXXXX R.C.T.Q Madame Chef des Trolls
Lady Catherine, Wardrobe Mistress of the Chocolate Buttons
http://www.katedicey.co.uk
Click on Kate's Pages and explore!

Kate Dicey wrote:

If the wire is sticking in the channel, then that usually means that the
dip they put on the ends has gone sticky, and it's time to replace the
whole thing.

I find that bras are not usually worth fixing like this. By the time
the wire is dead, so too is the rest of the bra.

I don't doubt you at all, but faced with the choice of having to drop
more than 200USD to replace all my bras at one time (since the
underwires all managed to either snap or start sliding out of the
channels within three months of one another) or spending 25USD on
supplies and a weekend of cursing at myself to patch them all up for a
bit while I gradually buy one new bra every few months, there's really
no contest. I don't have the skill to make my own bras, much less the
supplies or tools here at university.

Thanks for your advice
~elisa

wrote:

Kate Dicey wrote:

If the wire is sticking in the channel, then that usually means that the
dip they put on the ends has gone sticky, and it's time to replace the
whole thing.

I find that bras are not usually worth fixing like this. By the time
the wire is dead, so too is the rest of the bra.


I don't doubt you at all, but faced with the choice of having to drop
more than 200USD to replace all my bras at one time (since the
underwires all managed to either snap or start sliding out of the
channels within three months of one another) or spending 25USD on
supplies and a weekend of cursing at myself to patch them all up for a
bit while I gradually buy one new bra every few months, there's really
no contest. I don't have the skill to make my own bras, much less the
supplies or tools here at university.

Thanks for your advice
~elisa

I understand exactly! You buy the buggers all at once, and then they
have the cheek to wear out all together! When I was a 38F, I'd loved to
have paid as little as $25 a bra! Mine were between £25 and £38. Ouch!
Now I'm down to a 32 DD things are a little easier, in that I can find
them a little more easily and they are usually somewhat cheaper! Last
time I went bra shopping I found FOUR in Marks & Spencers for various
prices, for a *total* of £38! Picture three very smug
grins!

Now, for the future, when you have a little spare cash and are closer to
a sewing machine (worth picking up a nice pre-loved one for this - the
one I got as a student is still stitching perfectly 30+ years later!
Here it is: http://tinyurl.com/ybmjul), there's a lady in Australia who
will take a well loved bra that fitted you comfortably and gave good
support when new and make you a pattern from it. The service isn't
cheap, but if you are stable in size, it's worth it. There are LOTS of
on-line places you can get good bra making supplies from, and there are
several ladies here who make their own and can walk you through the
process. If you aren't too unusual a size, there are also several
pattern companies that make bra patterns that are reputed to be quite good.

As a student I didn't have the option of making my own (nothing
available 30 years ago in the north of England), so I spent what money I
had for clothes on good bras and shoes (I'm also an awkward fit in the
shoe department), and made everything else I possibly could, from coats
via posh frocks to spray decks for kayaks.

--
Kate XXXXXX R.C.T.Q Madame Chef des Trolls
Lady Catherine, Wardrobe Mistress of the Chocolate Buttons
http://www.katedicey.co.uk
Click on Kate's Pages and explore!

Should I cut a small slit in the
channeling? Would it be better to cut this slit by the armpit end of
the underwire or by the end of the underwire at the center of my chest?

It's best to cut the channeling at the center front. It's less likely to
poke it's way out again. Every RTW bra is different, but look at the top
edge of the channeling at the center front. You might see stitches that
close up the end. The channeling is just a tube with an opening at the
center front and at the arm pit. Unpick the stitches with a seam ripper and
push the underwire out the opening. It might take some wiggling, but you
should be able to get both halves out this way. Slide in the new underwires
and hand stitch the end closed. If you don't see the stitching it might be
under the elastic. You can either unstitch the elastic for a bit at the
center front and restitch it after the underwires are in or just cut a slit
in the channel as close to the elastic as possible. Use a seam ripper to
make the cut. Be sure to only cut the top layer of the channel. Put a
small non-raveling fabric over the slit and stitch around by hand to close
up the opening.

Look closely at the fit of your bras. The underwire should sit flat against
your rib cage all the way around including at the center front. If they
don't, the gap might be causing undue bending and that's why they break.
There used to be a very good site for large cup bras that described how a
bra should fit, but unfortunatly it's gone. I'm sure there is another one
on a retail site somewhere. Definitly make sure your bras fit well, they
will last much longer if the underwires and any boning is bending and
elastic isn't overly stretched.

Joy

Kate Dicey wrote:

There are LOTS of
on-line places you can get good bra making supplies from, and there are
several ladies here who make their own and can walk you through the
process. If you aren't too unusual a size, there are also several
pattern companies that make bra patterns that are reputed to be quite good.


I'd like to make my own bras, but everything I have found on how expects
wires and elastic and not having huge tracts of land. I'm developing a
latex and rubber allergy, on top of all of my other allergies, so I'm
rather keen to learn to make my own. I have never found a comfortable
wired bra, and tend to go for sports bras- so far lycra is still okay.
If I wear them inside out, I don't usually get elastic on my flesh, and
that helps reduce rashes. I'm about a 38 F. I like my Elizabethan corset
(which I did make myself), but that's not conducive to modern silhouettes.

I'll take any advice offered.

-georg

Anne of needlenook fabric offers latex free elastic and bra kits with
everything you need. I can't seem to find her web site at the moment, but
her address is . I don't think she has traditional
online ordering, but will mail order. I just took a bra making class with
her recently.

Joy

"Georg" wrote in message
...
Kate Dicey wrote:

There are LOTS of on-line places you can get good bra making supplies
from, and there are several ladies here who make their own and can walk
you through the process. If you aren't too unusual a size, there are
also several pattern companies that make bra patterns that are reputed to
be quite good.


I'd like to make my own bras, but everything I have found on how expects
wires and elastic and not having huge tracts of land. I'm developing a
latex and rubber allergy, on top of all of my other allergies, so I'm
rather keen to learn to make my own. I have never found a comfortable
wired bra, and tend to go for sports bras- so far lycra is still okay. If
I wear them inside out, I don't usually get elastic on my flesh, and that
helps reduce rashes. I'm about a 38 F. I like my Elizabethan corset (which
I did make myself), but that's not conducive to modern silhouettes.

I'll take any advice offered.

-georg

wrote in message
ups.com...
Hello hello --

I've been scouring the internet for information about replacing broken
underwires in store bought bras,

I just read in the Lee-Ann Burgess book on making bras that if an under wire
breaks at the center, it is too narrow and it is flexing at that point each
time you wear it since the band elastic is pulling it to fit your breast,
which eventually leads to breaking at that point. If your underwires are
breaking at the center front you might want to consider a wider underwire.
That's side to side across your body.

Joy

On Mon, 20 Nov 2006 07:46:31 +0000, Kate Dicey
wrote:

Charnos (bra
manufacturer here in the UK) told me once that I could expect a maximum
of six month's wear out of a bra, and less if it was machine washed or a
larger than 36DD size (I took a 38F at that time) because of the
stresses of wearing it.

This comment sent me to my pattern stash: according to the notes on
my bra pattern, my newest bra was made in August 2005. I recall
wearing my oldest woven-fabric bra in 2004 -- noticed a few days ago
that the edge of the neck is starting to fray, but that's because the
neck hole is too small, so I can cut the edge-finish off and put on a
new bias facing. And I not only machine-wash my bras, I run them
through with all the other light-colored things without any special
attention.

I do have nine bras, and I save the newest one for Sunday, but that
started me marinating a post on how home-made bras are more durable
than factory bras, but Thanksgiving intervened.

Then during the after-thanksgiving shopping trip, my sister happened
to mention that all her bras were several years old. She gets them
from a store, she's built just like me, but even fatter, and I took a
38F the last time I bought one.

So I conclude that a bra that lasts only six months is a pretty poor
bra -- and saying that the larger sizes don't hold up as well
constitutes a confession of poor engineering.

But we already knew that RTW makers give short shrift to large women.

Joy Beeson
--
joy beeson at comcast dot net
http://roughsewing.home.comcast.net/ -- needlework
http://n3f.home.comcast.net/ -- Writers' Exchange
The above message is a Usenet post.
I don't recall having given anyone permission to use it on a Web site.