Mending An Old Bra

I'm going to get a little personal with you and talk about my bra troubles. I have a few every-day bras and they no longer fit. As you wear a bra, the band stretches out a bit as the elasticity breaks down. That combined with the fact that I've lost 20lbs recently means I have some really ill-fitting bras on my hands.

They don't look quite as nice as they did when I bought them three (yes, three) years ago, but they still get the job done. I am on the bustier side, so I need quality bras. Despite the fact that I like to think of myself as a thrifty nickle, I buy mine from Victoria's Secret. They make some very excellent and well constructed bras and they last. In fact, there's nothing wrong with the ones I have other than the fit

I have absolutely no desire to throw out perfectly good but too-big bras and shell out $60 or more on a couple new ones. So, instead, I devised a plan to make the old bras fit again. Queue the seam ripper.

The first step is determining where you bra doesn't fit anymore. For me, it was riding up in the back, which is a sign that the band size is too large. If you've recently lost some weight like me, this is likely your problem. For other issues, check out this excellent bra trouble-shooting resource. As the page suggests, you should clasp the bra tighter but even with my bra clipped at its tightest, it's still too big. The not-so-secret solution I decided on was to make the band a little smaller.

Grab your bra, and look at the closure. Most likely, it uses a hook and eye closure, like this:

It's much easier to remove the eye tape section, so take your seam ripper and carefully undo the stitching that holds it in place. You may have to rip some stitches across the top and bottom, as well.

Once they're separated, you need to trim the band a little. I decided to cut 3/4" off, based on my measurement and the measurement of the band. Use a tailor's tape to measure around yourself and compare to the band. If you need to take it in more than an inch, you really should go buy a new bra for the best fit. Cut the band where you need to.

With the band next to the eye tape, you'll see they don't quite match because my band was tapered (yours likely will be as well). No matter, you just want to make a small fold so you can slide the band back into the opening of the eye tape. Pin them together.

Stitch the eye tape back in place. You may want to run a few stitches across the top and bottom as well, if you needed to undo some stitches along there. Next step, try it on! Mine fit much more snugly than before, although I still need it hooked on the tightest clasps.

And that's it! It doesn't take too long to do this, either. For three bras, the whole process took me about 40 minutes to do, ignoring the unscheduled break I took when the power went out. That sure beats spending money on new bras in my book.

Happy sewing!