MATERIALS NEEDED: a cloth or flexible tailors' tape (or seamstress tape. it's the same piece of equipment with different names), a piece of paper (with Base, Cup Depth, Frame and neck already written on it) and a writing implement of some sort, a pile of pre-cut (your own or purchased) 16g 5/16" ID rings (metal is up to you), your favorite pair of mailling pliers. Please note I used the term "a pile". Different sized breasts, obviously will need different amounts of rings to make a bra.
When making a garment as intimate as a Brassierre or Bikini Top (we will simply say bra for simplicity's sake) out of maille, there are two considerations that *must* be met.
1) You must remember that maille does not *stretch*.
2) An improperly measured, and therefore improperly fitted piece of maille, especially a bra will be uncomfortable for the client to wear, and will likely then go into disuse, causing a waste of her money.
For me, a properly measured bra consisted of three parts.
1: The Cups
2: The neckstrap (this can be attached to the Frame Strap if desired), and
3: The frame strap.
I measure these three components thusly:
The cups are *usually* made in what has come to be known as the
"M" pattern, because of the basic shape it takes before the center
seam is closed. In order to make the "M" the correct size, the client's
breasts must be measured, preferably without clothing or a bra, as clothing,
such as a t-shirt, could compress the breast, thereby giving you an incorrect
measurement as well as hamper your ability to see precisely where you on the
breast you are actually measuring.
The bra woven in this tutorial will be made with European 4in1 weave, for clarity
and so beginning maillers will be able to more easily see what we are doing.
So to begin, you must obviously have a pair of breasts in front of you. Maybe they are your own, maybe a loved one, maybe a client...doesn't matter. This particular pair, I haven't even met.
At this point, you would first measure the base of the breast (and take a note of it). This would be the outer-most part of the breast (the arm-pit side) to the inner-most part (cleavage side). Be certain to measure both breasts, as a large portion of women have breasts that are different sizes. not necessarily a different cup-size, although that itself is quite common, but the base measurements tend to differ by anywhere from 1/2" - 1-1/2".
Next, we measure the Cup depth. This is the distance from the center of the base of the breast (underneath the breast, if necessary, you will need to apologize to the client and physically lift the breast to see where you are placing the measuring tape) to the top edge of the Areola, or if the woman has large areolae, the top of the nipple. This measurement and the first (the base measurement) is what will become the bottom of the cup.
What you should have at this point, is a strip of mail that will cover only the bottom portion of the breast to the top of the nipple or areola.
To make the remainder of the cup, simply weave right triangles that meet in the center of the piece of maille. When finished, the triangles should make the piece resemble the rear site on a rifle, or an "M", with the outside edges being twice as high as the point determined by the cup depth measurement.
Please note: The grain of the maille is running at 90° from the "usual" of:
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The cup at this point, laid out flat on the table, clearly shows the "M" shape. To finish the cup itself, you would bring the center edges together and connect them as you would any 45° seam. When this has been done, the piece sitting before you should have the familiar tear-drop shape that we've come to associate with a bra or bikini top.
To help you acertain the correct sizing, you may run a piece of sturdy string or leather thong through the bottom two corner rings on the outside edge of the cup, place the base of the cup along the base of the breast (as if it were worn), then wrap the strap around the torso as you would the frame/torso strap and tie it off while holding the top points together as if the cup were already closed. Remember that, after the seam is closed, there will be a slight difference in the final width of the cup. The "cleavage trap" rings on the outside edge will also add a slight amount to the final width.
To provide a bit of extra support, add 3 rows of 1/4" ID
rings to the bottom row of the cup. then an additional 2 rows of 3/16"
ID rings. Additional decoration (chains, beads, etc) may be added to these rings
if desired, as well as additional maille, which can be directly added, or added
at a 90° seam.
To add what *I* call a cleavage trap, add 3 rows of 1/4" ID rings to the
outside edge of the cup and 1 row to the inside edge. This will cause the cup
itself (when worn) to "trap" or cup the breast tissue (on "B"
cup and larger breasts) and push it towards the middle of the torso (where,
I feel, it belongs ;-) ).
To measure the Frame Strap, which on this bra will connect to the cup on on side and clasp to the outside edge, take you tape measure and place it underneath the woman's breasts, next to the body, and measure from the outside part of the breast's base measurement across her back to the outside edge of the opposite breast's base measurement (parallel to the ground) while she is holding a medium-deep breath (*REMEMBER*, maille does not stretch! If this measurement is too tight, the bra will be uncomfortable, and possibly painful to wear.)
To Measure the Neck Strap, measure from the top of the cup (center
of the base of the breast to double the cup-depth measurement), across the back
of the neck to the same spot on the opposite breast. This measurement might
be a little bit on the tight side on those with larger breasts, as it is this
part of the bra that provides the "lift" of the breast in the finished
piece. The weight of the breasts on the back of the neck can be aleviated by
adding a "T" strap to the back that connects to the Frame Strap, thus
distributing the wieght a bit more evenly.
Also, to make the piece as a whole more comfortable to wear, the neck strap
and frame strap may be constructed out of a different, flatter weave, such as
European 6 or 8in1, half-persian 3in1, flat boxweave, etc.
Many thanks go to "JenMonster" for modeling for this tutorial. Without her selfless bravery this tutorial would be photoless and fairly difficult to understand. My understanding is that she is constructing a top using this method and will be posting photos of her wearing it as soon as it is complete.
Below you will find photos of the front and side of a completed bikini top made using the method outlined in this tutorial. Created by "Aeryk" for his wife (who is modeling it in these pictures) the only thing he changed (because he didn't notice it in time) was the grain is running in the "usual" direction, rather than at 90°. Great job, Aeryk! Many thanks to your lovely wife!
The stats for this piece are thus:
5/16" ID Galvanized steel rings for cups, frame and neck straps.
1/4" and 3/16" ID galvy rings for cleavage traps and "underwire"
Weaves:
Cups: European 4in1
Frame Strap: European 8in1
Neck Strap: half-persian 3in1
T-strap: European 6in1
Hopefully, this small Tutorial will have helped a few figure out how to make a comfortable maille bra/bikini top. If you wish to make the piece a bit more wearable on the street/in public, substituting 1/4" ID rings for 5/16"ID for the cups will make them more opaque. The underwire and cleavage trap rings will obviously need to be reduced in size as well. For 1/4" ID rings, use 3/16" ID and 1/8" ID
David Stous
Chief Maille Smith
Wolf's Den Armoury
St. Albans, VT USA
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