Soma - Bra Insert

Papercut Patterns February 2, 2021

A swimsuit is one of the most gratifying garments you can make ... and surprisingly easy. Best of all, you get a unique custom-made swimsuit!

As part of that perfect fit, you might want some extra bust support and a bra insert is the perfect way to achieve that lift. In this tutorial, we'll show you how to draft your own Soma bra insert pattern and then sew it all together into your swimsuit.

Before starting, you'll also a couple of extra sewing supplies.

You Will Need

Additional to your pattern requirements, you'll also need:

60cm of swimwear elastic
50cm/20" of 2.5cm /1" wide elastic
Swimsuit lining fabric
40cm/16" of bra strapping

Draft Your Bra-Insert Pattern Piece

First up, trace the "one piece top section" of the Soma Swimsuit.

Draw a line straight up from the bottom centre notch. The length doesn't matter too much, as long as it's more than 8cm.

On the side seam, place a mark 8cm up from the bottom corner.

From your marking on the side seam, draw a line parallel to the bottom edge, stopping at your vertical line.

Extend your horizontal line beyond your vertical line by 1cm.

From your extended point, draw a line upwards connecting to the seam line on the shoulder as shown.

The triangular portion which includes the shoulder, arm curve and some of the side seam will be your new pattern piece. Cut along your new lines as shown.

Sew Your Soma Bra-Insert

Using your new pattern piece, cut 2 pairs of lining pieces for double thickness. That's 4 pieces in total with 2 for each side.

With wrong sides together, pin and stitch two layers together and repeat for the other side. Neaten edges.

Measure your pattern piece from the shortest edge (shoulder), down to the longest edge (under bust). This is your centre front. Cut two strips of elastic which are 1cm shorter than that measurement. Pin in place along the edge and stitch in place with a zig zag stitch, gently stretching the elastic to fit.

Fold the elastic over and pin in place. Stitch with a zig zag stitch. When repeating for the other side, be sure to fold the elastic in the opposite direction, so that you end up with two mirroring pieces.

Cut a piece of 2.5cm/1" wide elastic long enough to span the width of both cups.

Place your cup pieces so that the bottom edge sits at the centre of the width of the elastic.

Pin your cup pieces to the elastic, gently stretching elastic to fit, taking care that the centre corners meet in the middle.

Stitch in place with a wide short zig zag stitch for maximum stretch.

Place bra insert over front swimsuit pieces with right sides facing up for both. Pin together at top edge making sure the swimsuit pieces overhang bra insert by 1cm at centre front.

Fold bra insert up out of the way.

Attach fold over elastic to the centre front edges of swimsuit as per your Soma instructions.

Overlap waist edges of swimsuit matching up the centre notch, then stitch in place.

Fold bra insert to the inside of swimsuit and pin together around armhole and side edges. Stitch with a zig zag stitch.

Attach your fold over elastic as per your instructions.

You might want to topstitch the top edges between fold over elastic to keep the seam sitting nice and flat.

Attach the bra strapping down the side, following the usual Soma instructions (step 14).

Fold the side elastic over one time to the wrong side and stitch (step 17). Repeat for other side.

Sew the lower portion according to pattern instructions.

Pin lower half to top, matching side seams (steps 18-20).

Sew the rings onto your straps (steps 21-22).

Cut three strips of equal lengths (step 25). The Soma usually has two straps, but we'll use an extra one with this bra insert.

Try your swimsuit on and get someone to help pin the straps into place, so that you know how long to make them (step 26). Your third strap will go horizontally across the back, starting and finishing at the ends of the 2.5cm/1" wide under-bust elastic.

Stitch in place and voila! I bet you look smokin'. Time to find some water, sun and a good magazine. Enjoy! x

Source: https://www.papercutjournal.com/tutorials/soma-bra-insert

The Nova Coat →

Papercut Patterns April 16, 2020

We are so excited to share our new Nova Coat/Jacket with you - we've updated the construction method, added in a new length as well as a new sleeve option. We have added in two smaller sizes and one larger size. If you have our first edition Nova (Sapporo) and would like to upgrade to the new version PDF, you can find the details here.

Here's a step-by-step tutorial to take you through the construction of your soon-to-be favourite coat. We've used a heavy-weight linen and a cotton-silk lining from The Fabric Store.

Step 1

This is what your lower front pieces should look like once your fusing is in place.

Step 2

Pin upper and lower front pieces together where pocket bags meet with right sides facing and stitch together.

Step 3

Clip into corners on each side of pocket bag. Depending on what fabric you're using, you may also want to clip curved seam. Press seam allowances open either side of the pocket bag. Fold pocket bag down toward lower front and from the right side, press along fused edge.

(Showing pressed pocket bag from right side).

Step 4

Pin side back to back piece with right sides facing, matching notches. Stitch together.

Step 5

Clip around curved part of seams being careful not to clip through your stitch line then press seam allowances open.

Step 6

Pin front and back pieces together at the shoulder and side seams with right sides facing. Stitch. Clip around underarm curve. Press seams open. Repeat for other side.

Step 7

Fold sleeves in half with right sides facing, matching the notches. Stitch. Press seams open.

Step 8

Fold sleeve facings in half with right sides facing. Stitch. Press seams open.

Step 9

Place narrow edge of sleeve facing over the narrow end of sleeve with right sides facing and seams aligned. Stitch together. Trim seam allowance in half. Pull sleeve facing to the right side and under stitch seam allowance toward facing. Fold facing to the inside and press in place. Repeat for other sleeve.

Step 10

Holding facing and sleeve matching seam lines. Pull facing back 2cm down and stitch the seam allowances together.

Step 11

Pin sleeve inside armhole with right sides facing, aligning underarm sleeve seam to coat side seam and matching sleeve notch to shoulder seam. Stitch together. Press seam allowance open. Pull sleeve out to the right side. Repeat on other side.

Step 12

Stitch fused neck facing to front neck edge with right sides together.

Step 13

Pull the facing around the neck line and stitch to the other end of the opposite front neck edge. Press seams open.

Step 14

Fold back the centre front along fused edge with right sides together and wrap facing around neckline. Stitch all the way around the top edge of neckline. Trim the seam allowance in half, clip seam allowance and corners. Under stitch seam allowance toward facing.

Step 15

From the inside, fold all facing edges in at fold-line (fused edge) and press well in place.

Step 16

Fold the top 2cms of hem edge back and pin securely in place about 3cms up from fold-line.

Step 17

Slipstitch folded edge to outer layer between side seams to secure hem in place.

Step 18

Fold lining pleat in place, bringing the top notch down to meet the bottom notch, folding the excess upward. Edge stitch in place. Repeat on other side.

Step 19

Pin back lining to side back lining piece with right sides facing. Stitch. Press. Repeat on other side.

Step 20

Pin front and back lining together with right sides facing at the shoulders and side seams. Stitch together leaving a gap between notches on one side seam only. Press seams open.

Step 21

Fold sleeve lining in half with right sides facing, matching the notches. Stitch. Press seam open. Repeat for other sleeve.

Step 22

Pin lining sleeves inside armholes with right sides facing, aligning underarm sleeve seams to side seams and matching sleeve notches to shoulder seams. Stitch together. Press seam allowances toward sleeves. Pull sleeves out so that the whole lining is inside out.

Step 23

With your coat and lining right sides facing together, pin together along facing edges at centre fronts and around back of neckline. Stitch, starting and stopping your stitch line 1cm from bottom edge of lining. Press seam allowance toward lining.

Step 24

Pull your lining to one side and your shell to the other with wrong sides out.

Step 25

Fold your sleeves in to the centre to meet each other.

Step 26

Overlap your sleeve lining over sleeve facing.

Step 27

Stitch edges of lining and sleeve facing together. Repeat for other sleeve.

Step 28

Cut a small strip of lining about 3cm/1.2” in length and stitch to the underarm/armhole seam allowance of both the coat and lining to stop the lining shifting when turned through to the right side. Repeat on other side.

Step 29

With right sides facing, pin bottom hem of lining to the raw edge of hem facing. Stitch together starting and stopping your stitch line 1cm from each end.

Step 30

Pinch together the remaining 1cm excess of facing and hem. Stitch together.

Step 31

Clip outer corner and press seam open.

Step 32

Carefully pull coat through the opening in side seam until its the right way out. With coat lining side out, hand sew side seam gap closed.

Step 33

Give your Sapporo a final press. Voilà!

The Solar Sweater →

Papercut Patterns April 16, 2020

A ruffle sleeve sweater or tee featuring beautiful drop shoulders, a relax fit, short or long sleeve options and hem/cuff bands for sweater versions.

Step 1

Pin front panel to back panel at shoulder seams with right sides facing. Stitch. Neaten seams then press seam allowance towards back.

Step 2

Fold neck binding in half lengthwise, pin together edges and stitch. Press seam open then fold binding in half the other way.

Step 3

Pin the centre back seam of neck binding to the centre back of neckline and match the clipped edge of binding at centre front.
You should have three layers of fabric, the neckline of the top and the two open edges of binding. Stretch binding onto neckline, pinning it in place. Stitch together then neaten seam edge.

Step 4

Give neck binding a good press, pressing seam allowance of binding toward tee to make it nice and flat. Topstitch seam allowance down.

Step 5

Neaten the straight edge of the frill and fold up by 0.5cm. Press and topstitch. Repeat on other piece.

Step 6

Create a gather by using a long stitch length to sew across the top edge, but don’t backstitch one end.

Step 7

With right sides up, place raw edge of frill along top edge of sleeve. Pin evenly in four places and pull gathering threads until frill fits sleeve with gathers evenly distributed. Line up the edges of frill to side edges of sleeve. Edge-stitch in place.

Step 8

Lay shoulder seam of tee over sleeve piece with right sides together. Pin in place starting from bottom of armhole upwards on both front and back. Stitch in place. Neaten edge. Repeat for opposite sleeve.

Step 9

With right sides together, place a pin where front and back underarm seams meet up. Pin down to hemline and out to sleeve hem.
Stitch together catching the edges of ruffle between layers, then neaten seam. Repeat for opposite side.

Step 10

Take sleeve cuff piece and fold it in half width ways. Stitch edges together then open out seam allowance so that it sits flat. Pull the bottom of the seam allowance up to meet the top of the seam allowance and thread the rest of the tube over itself so that all the seams are in the inside.
Now that your cuff is complete, you need to attach it to the bottom of your sleeve.
With right sides together put the cuff around the circumference of the sleeve opening with the raw edges together. Pin then stitch together. Neaten edges.

Step 11

Fold hem cuff piece in half with right sides facing, stitch edges together then press seam open. Fold it in half the other way so that the seams are on the inside.

Step 12

Place hem cuff over hem edge. Line up the seam of cuff with one of the side seams of tee. Evenly pin remaining hem band around the edge then stitch on. Neaten edges.

Kochi Jacket Tutorial →

Papercut Patterns September 22, 2017

The Kochi Jacket is the ideal layering piece for whatever season you're in. The three variations mean you can use any woven fabric from wool to chiffon!

Today we're showing you how to add lining to variation three of our Kochi Jacket. This version features the neckband and let's you play with contrasting fabric.

So, let's get to it.

How to Line Your Kochi Jacket

This tutorial is just showing you how to line variation 3, which has the band along the neckline and centre front, but doesn't include lining. Until now.

You will need 1.8m/2 yards of both outer fabric and lining fabric. If you are sewing a contrast band, you'll also need 25cm/10" of that fabric (if it's cut from a bolt at the fabric store) or if you've been lucky enough to source Kimono fabric, you'll want 1m of that for the band.

For this particular version, I've chosen rayon fabric throughout.

Select pattern pieces numbered 1, 2, 3 and 5.

Cut identical front and back pieces in both your lining and outer fabrics (ignoring the red line for 'lining').

Cut your band piece as per the instructions.

For the sleeves, cut your outer fabric as usual and the lining along the red line as marked on the pattern.

You can choose whether or not to finish the edges as explained in step 1. The fusing is optional too, depending on the weight of your fabric and whether or not you think it needs strengthening.

Stitch your front and back pieces together at the shoulders as per step 6. Neaten/serge the edges. Repeat for the lining.

Attach the sleeves as explained in step 7. Repeat for the lining.

Sew sleeves and side seams together as in step 8 (all the way to hem). Repeat for the lining.

So far, you should have identical lining and outer pieces.

Take your lining piece only and trim the bottom hem by 6cm/2.5".

Stitch your band pieces together as per step 11.

Finish the short ends of the band by stitching the end with right sides together. Turn this new corner the right side out and press.

Place your outer and lining kimono pieces together with right sides together. Pin together the bottom hem edge of the outer and lining pieces. Stitch. Remember that we trimmed the lining piece, so don't worry if the rest doesn't line up. Just focus on that bottom edge. Press the seam allowance towards outer fabric.

With right sides of your kimono together, carefully pin your band piece around the neckline (between lining and outer layers) with raw edges matching.

The bottom of your band should match the notch on your front outer pieces (as marked in this photo by the horizontal red pin). The band notches near the centre back seam should also match the shoulder seams.

Carefully stitch around the neckline from one hem to the other.

Turn your kimono to the right side out by pulling the garment through one of your sleeve ends.

Hand stitch your sleeve hems together. There are numerous way to do this, so just do what works for you. I like to match the edges of the hem, fold them inwards and pin them together at the seam allowance.

I then stitch along the seam allowance by doing one long stitch ...

... then turn the needle to do one small stitch backwards.

Repeat that stitch all the way around the hem. Tie off your thread and hide the tail inside the seam allowance.

When you hang your garment, you will see that hems are turned toward the inside for a professional finish. Carefully press your seams and voila!

Congrats on your stunning kimono. Go rock your style!

Make a Long Kochi Jacket →

Papercut Patterns August 28, 2017

A long Kochi is perfect for easy elegance. Think cotton and fringe for a boho look or silk and embroidery for a classic feel ... make it your way. You're the designer!

Here's how you can adapt your Kochi Jacket pattern to be as long as your heart desires.

How to Lengthen the Kochi Jacket

Take the pieces you want to work with, excluding the sleeve. If you're making a lined Kochi, don't forget to include those pieces too!

Starting at the second notch up from the bottom, draw a line against the grain from the side seam to the opposite edge.

Cut along this line.

We're going to add some paper into this new gap, so work out how much length you want to add and grab some spare paper that is a little bigger than that.

Tape the top portion of your pattern to the spare paper.

Place a ruler against a straight edge and draw a line that continues down the new paper as far as you desire.

Trim along that line.

At the point where you want your added length to end, draw another line parallel to your top pattern piece.

Tape the bottom portion of your pattern piece along this line, making sure the straight edges (parallel to the grainline) line up perfectly.

Draw another line along your untrimmed edge.

Cut along that line.

Well done! You've lengthened your first pattern piece. Repeat that process for all pieces including the neckband, lining and front pieces.

Because the front piece is shaped, the lines will be a little different there so let's take a closer look at that.

After adding my length using the same method as above, I've drawn a new centre front by placing a ruler between the notches at the centre front and trimming the pattern piece along that. You'll see that it adds an extra little wedge to the width of the bottom portion. That's fine. It's just creating a more streamlined edge

Now sew your Kochi as usual by following the instructions

Voila!

Kobe Dress/Top Tutorial →

Papercut Patterns July 3, 2017

The Kobe Dress/Top pattern was inspired by a mixture of clean minimalist lines and crisp origami, which could sound contradictory but they are perfect companions! We love this edgy combination of structured and casual and the resulting pattern is going to be in solid rotation here in the studio when summer rolls around.

The Kobe is designed to be used with a light-weight woven fabric like chiffon or rayon, so make sure you choose a fabric that will softly drape from the back pleat.

How To

This is a photographic tutorial designed to help guide you through the Kobe pattern alongside our standard instructions. While we don't do this for every pattern, we thought it might be particularly handy for anyone stuck with the formation of the back pleat, so it quickly became a full walk-through.

While I'm making the top version here, the techniques used will still apply for the dress version.

Alright. Let's start at the very beginning (a very good place to start).

With right sides out (wrong sides together), press the binding pieces in half lengthwise.

Open out the binding pieces again and pin the front binding to the wrong side (the side that will be against your skin) of the front neckline, matching the raw edges. Stitch with a 5mm seam allowance.

With wrong sides together, press 5mm of the opposite raw edge on binding towards the centre crease.

Pin that folded 5mm edge to the right side (the side that is going to be on the outside) of the neckline. Stitch in place along the folded edge, enclosing your raw edges inside and making sure you hide the existing stitching with your new stitches.

Repeat for the back neckline. The finished necklines should look something like this.

Back Pleat

Now we'll work on assembling the back pleat.

There are five notches along the back shoulders, which I've marked out here with pins for you. That centre notch is going to be your first fold point.

Fold at that centre notch with right sides together. Your other notches should line up, but don't worry if they don't. There are a few bias cut edges in here and they can sometimes warp with handling. It's not a problem though. Just work with an average between the two notches or whatever will give you the best finished result. The photos below will help you know what we are working towards.

Stitch from the folded edge and stop at the next notch. Clip into the seam allowance, but stop at the stitching.

Turn your stitched portion right side out, taking care to get a crisp corner. Gently press the seam. If you are using a delicate fabric that can be prone to damage from the iron, place a handkerchief or cloth between your fabric and the iron. This will help protect your garment.

You have just created your first back 'pleat'. Repeat for the other side.

Fold the pleats toward the centre back. This may seem like a bit of a fiddle, so I've taken a few photos to show you what we mean. Above is the garment from underneath. The pleat is lying to the right and the back binding curves around towards it. At the shoulder, the pin marks the remaining notch where we folded the pleat inwards. I've edgestitched from that notch to the binding to hold everything in place.

This is the back with both pleats folded towards the centre back.

You want to try and have the edge of your binding line up with the upper corner at the neckline of the shoulder. It's not a deal-breaker if you can't, but it does make for a nice finish.

Match your front and back pieces at the shoulder seams. Stitch and neaten the seams.

Now we add the sleeves. You're nearly finished! With right sides together, pin the top edge of the sleeve to the garment, matching the centre of the sleeve to the shoulder seam and using the tips given in step 6 of your instructions.

Before moving on to the next step, don't forget to neaten all remaining edges! It's so easy to miss this step, but it's very important for sewing your side seam splits later.

Match your underarm seams of the front and back pieces and stitch from sleeve hem down to the first side seam notch (marked by the top pin here). The second notch will be where you fold up the front hem (marked by the lower pin here).

Fold your side seam allowances back and press. Fold up your hem edges and press. Top stitch around the slit and hems. You'll see here that I have made the top version of this pattern, but the same applies if you are making the dress. It's just you'll have a square hem on the back rather than this curved one that you see here.

Turn up your sleeve hem and press.

Slightly overlap the two back pleats and handstitch in place using a button over the top.

I've also added a couple of stitches at the back of the shoulder seam to help pull the seam allowance out of the way. It's not in the instructions, but I found it useful and thought you may too.

Voila! You've finished.

I hope you love your new Kobe Dress/Top! We have a tutorial coming soon to help you make a belt for your Kobe Dress, so stay tuned for that.

And don't forget to tag us on #papercutpatterns or #kobedress so that we can celebrate your projects with you!

Soma Underwear Hack →

Papercut Patterns July 20, 2016

Kick your 'back-up undies' to the curb and whip up some fancy new intimates using our Soma Swimsuit pattern.

Today we want to show you how to adapt the Soma Swimsuit into a cute pair of knickers and best of all, these can be made on any home machine that does zig-zag stitch. You don't need an overlocker/serger! But if you do have one, by all means, break it out. Both techniques will work just fine.

Now you just need to find that perfect fabric. Look for something lightweight with a bit of stretch and that feels nice on the skin. Otherwise there are no rules! Lacy, jersey knit or slinky ... the options are endless. You'll also need a bit of jersey knit (like t-shirt fabric) for the gusset.

What You'll Need:

Start by downloading your free Soma pant gusset here to turn your Swimsuit pattern into an intimates pattern. You'll also need:

Stretch Lace
2 metres of knicker elastic
Ballpoint/stretch needle
Stretch cotton (like t-shirt fabric for gusset

How To:

Cut out your fabric, checking that the stretch of the fabric will be widthwise. Use the stretch cotton for your Pant Gusset piece.

Take your gusset piece and overlock the wide straight edge only. That's the one with the pointy corners. If you don't have an overlocker, don't worry. You can either zig-zag this edge or leave it raw. Knit fabric doesn't fray, making it very friendly to work with.

Layer your fabric as follows, lining them up to meet at the crotch: gusset (bevelled straight edge, not the overlocked end), back pant piece with the right side up, front pant piece with the right side down. I've flipped the layers in the photo above to give you a better view, but just make sure the back pant piece is sandwiched in the middle. Overlock or zig-zag all three pieces together along this edge.

Match side seams at hip and zig-zag or serge together.

Now we attach the elastic. On the right side of your fabric, zig-zag or overlock the elastic to the waist edge without stretching it. If you prefer, you can stretch the elastic ever-so-slightly, but don't go overboard or your underwear will be too tight and no-one wants that. Amiright?

When you get back to the end of your elastic, butt the two ends of elastic together and secure them by sewing back and forth with a zig-zag stitch.

Turn your elastic to the inside of your pants and topstitch down using a wide zig-zag. If you have cute elastic, you may want the edge to peek out a little on the edge.

Repeat the last two steps for the legs, attaching the elastic around the opening and being sure to catch the edge of your gusset along with your fabric. Just like with your swimsuit, you'll want to slightly stretch the elastic at the back of the leg opening only.

And you're done! Seriously, your underwear draw may never be the same again. So long, back-up undies!