Milan

Another class inspired by the fashion cities of the world, Beverly Johnson, your one and only Fairy Bra Mother, has created another master class designed to lift you up beyond the basics into a whole new world of bra sewing mastery!  With her signature humour and fun teaching style, Beverly will guide you with her decades of knowledge and experience as you advance your own bra construction skills in this project-based modular learning experience. 

With Beverly’s help you will soon be creating bras with a brilliantly designed Designer bra with vertical seams and darts elements usually found in only the finest ready-to-wear.  Your journey continue with Milan, an all new designer bra with multiple views created by Beverly just for her Mastery students.  Using this exclusive new pattern you will learn to create bras that are not only beautiful but that include advanced designer details, such as:

– a vertical seam

– a front curved dart for extra shaping

– a plunge style bra, if you dare!

– a strapping addition that will make you feel oh-so-sexy
– along with Advanced Construction Techniques, and more!

This mastery course includes hours of instructional video covering all 4x included Milan design views with their vertical seam designs and specialty options, all taught by the Fairy Bra Mother herself, as well as printable instructions for you to refer to as you learn.  This master class in vertical seams and curved darts will soon have you tackling curved darts and advanced construction from the band up! 

As part of the Milan class, you will get access to Beverly’s private Facebook group, whose members include students of her classes, her Certified Instructors, and fitting experts from around the world. It’s a great community support group, to share your triumphs and get advice for any challenges you may face.

That’s not all! You also receive, as part of the class, your own personal pattern in a size range that includes your own BCD size with 5 band sizes, but also 1 larger BCD and 1 smaller, so you have 15 bra sizes included with the lesson. Yes, these patterns are now in .pdf format, so you can print them at home – no special printer needed (you can print on either letter size or A4 paper). Most pattern pieces use one sheet of paper with only the largest sizes using more than one. You won’t have to spend hours taping patterns together. Just print and start cutting. Don’t have a printer? Don’t worry – we also include a full-size pattern for each size so you can take it to your local copy shop, or upload the file to a projector to avoid using paper altogether.

The class includes printable instructions for all Milan bras and their options, including a lesson on how to line the Milan cups with foam, plus the videos, all taught by the Fairy Bra Mother herself. Hours of video instruction are not geared only to construction of the support elements; they are a master class in bra design and construction!

How do I determine my BCD size?

BCD sizing is a sizing method developed by Beverly Johnson in the 1990s. It is much more reliable and easier to use than the traditional ABC sizing you find in ready-to-wear. The BCD, is simply the Bottom Cup Depth measurement of the breast. That is the distance, in inches, from the apex in a supported position to the base of the breast along the infra-mammary crease (known as the wire line)

In the BCD system, all cup sizes increase or decrease by ¼”; each size will accept 3 different wire sizes and each BCD size includes 5 band sizes. If you need one size larger (or smaller), just go up (or down) one BCD size. No more confusing “sister sizing” to figure out!

There are several ways to measure your BCD

1. use a flexible tape measure and measure the distance, while standing from the apex to the wire line. If your breast tissue is soft, you can lean over so your back is parallel to the floor and measure again. The average of the two measurements is your BCD.
2. if you have a ready-to-wear bra that fits and it has a seam across the apex, you can measure from the wire up to the seamline.
3. if you have sewn a bra that fits, you can measure from the notch at the base of the breast (if there is one) up to the cross cup seam, on the lower cup pattern piece.
4. Refer to the helpful chart below. Find your ready-to-wear size in the first column, and its BCD equivalent is in the second column. The third column is useful for confirming the wire sizes that fit this particular BCD. Each BCD size includes 5 band sizes, even ones that are usually “in between” and therefore have to rely on sister sizing.