I teach mostly the Classic pattern but also teach the Ingrid.  If more advanced classes, or classes for other Pin-Up patterns,  are desired, I can schedule them.  If the student is near enough geographically, I can have 1:1 classes.  In addition to bras, I teach panties.  (As an aside, one student took both classes so she could make her own costumes for her pole dancing career.) 

I also teach “ Why Don’t My Bras Fit” to talk about what  a “good fit” is and how aspects of a woman’s body, other than her ribcage and breast size, as well as the style and age of the bra can affect how a bra fits a person.  I have spoken at a regional Mensa gathering about the intersection of art and engineering in bra design.  I will also customize a class for a special purpose.  I’ve taught a fund-raising event at a woman’s group meeting of thirty people.  Everyone went home with a new pair of panties that fit them perfectly.

Whenever possible, here’s how I manage a bra class for first-time bra makers.  At least a week before the class, I meet with each person individually to do a private  fitting.  Then I create a unique pattern for each based on the results of their fitting.  I also cut out the pattern to save class time.  The pattern pieces are arranged in the order of their use.

I am located in Berks County, PA, USA, about forty miles from Philadelphia.

My educational background in bra making includes all of The Fairy Bra Mother’s professional classes, except for swimsuits (because of COVID.)  I plan to rectify the deficiency in 2026

I learned to sew in Home Economics and used those skills when I was a young wife and mother whose husband was still going to college.  When he finished, I went back to school.  Funds were tight, and I made almost all my clothing and a large percentage of my son’s clothing.  Time passed and then….

I was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1996, when I was 44 and had a six-year old child (my second child).  I weighed all of 95 pounds and wore a 32B bra, although I now know that it should have been a 30C.  I probably wouldn’t have been able to find that size, however.

                The bra catalog I was provided showed multiple variations of the same basic pattern, and they started at 34B.  I guessed that women whose bra size was smaller than that weren’t supposed to be allowed to get breast cancer.  I found a bra that sort-of fit, but because of the surgery, I couldn’t wear anything that fit close to the body or had a strapless or halter neckline.

I found a course on Craftsy, then two more.  I took all of them and ordered materials.  I could sew the bras, but they still needed some adjusting.

In a fabric store, I saw a poster about a course being held in Utah where a bra sewist could learn to fit bras.  I was living in California, so I signed up, hopped in my car and headed to Utah.  Not only did I learn to make bras to fit me, I learned how to fit anyone.  I also learned about how many women cannot find a bra that fits, and what that can do to a woman’s physical and mental health.  I had just reached retirement age.  I retired, and have been making bras, and teaching others, since then.

Here are some of the unique fitting situations I’ve worked with:

• A mastectomy with no reconstruction and an injured shoulder on same side as the mastectomy, as well as residual pain across the chest and shoulder. Having a shoulder strap would have been painful.
• A woman who had lost more than 100 pounds.  Along with the pounds, she lost almost all skin elasticity and she wouldn’t show herself to her husband in the light.  I used every option in the “Slings and Things” class.  She cried when she tried on her bra.
• A young woman with a large wanted a sports bra.  When she had her final fitting, she didn’t put her shirt back on.  She wore it home as her outer garment.

Linda’s email is : lsepeda@comcast.net