I dyed the Portia/Princess hybrid

Original post can be found here.

I used Rit Dye in the purple color. As the water was boiling, I read the side of the bottle that says not to use it on polyester fabrics. I already had my mind set, so I was going to do it anyway. But I had a feeling that it was going to dye, because I the dyed a white dress with pink Rit Dye, and the back of it that had mesh, didn’t dye. So I crossed my fingers. I probably used more dye than I needed to, but I wanted to make sure that the bra came out dark. I really wanted to dye it brown, but I forgot to go to the dye section when I was there yesterday.

On to the pictures:

In the above picture it looks blackish, but it’s not. It’s very purple.

I believe the polyester warning on the Rit dye bottle was for the stitching, in my dress the stitching stayed the original color. And as you can see the thread is still white, as is the floral design and the lacing. Well it actually got tinted somewhat.

I don’t know if this occurred because I used hot water & dye on the bra, but the lacing is comIng undone form one area on both of the cups. Oddly enough, on both cups it’s on the right side (when looking at it).

Inner part of the cup

Band

The floral design

Underneath the floral design

The fit:

I don’t know if it was the dye, or it was the scorching hot water, but the bra shrunk. From my experience being a denim addict, I know that really hot water (too hot to touch) can shrink jeans.

so yeah, it shrunk, a good amount. Before I needed to alter the bra, now I don’t think there’s enough room to alter it. It shrunk enough that now it fits. The band, however feels really tight. I ordered some new extenders, so I’ll probably wait to wear this until those come in. Enough blabbering.

Right side

Left side

No gapping.

A little space in the upper panel on smaller breast.

Side view

I initially was going to make this a two part post, with the dye being one post, and the actual alteration another post, but I’m not going to alter it now.

What do you think?

Curvy Kate “alterations”

I really tried to make this bra fit. I really did. But nothing worked. 😩😩

This post is mostly going to be pictures, and it’s going to be long. You can see the original thread here.

Attempt #1. I just randomly folded fabric over, and pinned it into place. Looked “okay” from the front, but there was still a lot of space at the top.

Attempt #2

Attempt #3. I tried to take out the top portion, by folding it under, hoping that it would take out some of the top openness… But it was still too open at the top.

Attempt #4. I took out considerably less than in attempt 1 & 2. It was way too open at the top.

Attempt #5. I took in the bottom, but it started from the middle, instead of by the gore. Doing so, oddly made the bra very shallow at the bottom. This wasn’t the smartest idea, because it also left a lot of space between the top of the gore, and the top of the cup closest to the gore, and also at the back of the cup.

Attempt #6. This was just a mess. I gathered some fabric, and pinned it in place.

This probably could have turned out better if the fabric of the bra wasn’t as thick as it was. And f the cup wasn’t so big.

I really don’t think there’s a way that I can successfully alter the cups without getting scissors involved and breaking out the sewing machine. I’m not going to do that. 😔

Curvy Kate Princess 30d Cranberry

• Color: Cranberry

The bra:

The contrasting ribbon is black, not the navy blue that it looks like from these pictures.

There is an excess of ribbon on both cups, that doesn’t lie flat when worn (and annoys the heck out of me)

The cute flowers at the top of the cup

The signature raised fuzzy polka dots thought the front of the bra

The straps with the ribbon & the flowers

The review:

It looks like it’s cutting in on my smaller breast

That little extra ribbon… 😒

With a cami on

With the shirt I decided to wear today (2/20/16)

 

Pics of the marks left by the wires:

The gore is definitely sitting on tissue

I think this side looks okay

Looks like the wire could be a little farther back

I bought this bra, mainly because I thought it would fit me better an the 28dd I have (band too tight), and the 30dd (cups too big). Although the cups seem to be a little small, I consider tiny a bra that fits. When I look at the get in person, it doesn’t look as tight in the cups as if does in the pictures. But I also think after wearing for a few minutes my breasts settled into the cups

From the side view, the bra reminds of the fit of Cleo Marcie. Very rounded, which isn’t something I think I’ve gotten for CK. I like it, which is why I ordered more.

I wore this bra today, just about the whole day. I thought the gore would bother me, but it didn’t. I think if I wore this 2 days in a row, it would bother me. The one  issue I saw with this bra was after a few hours, where the lower side of my breast meets my chest wall, the wire was bothering me. I didn’t mark it on the photos, but a little higher up from where the bottom of the band meets the wire. On both sides. I’m not sure what caused this, but I’ve noticed some of my 30 bands feeling tighter (mainly on both my Natori feathers. Both are small in the cups.) I measured my under bust, and it’s still 26.75 btt, and 28 snug.

Curvy Kate Eden 28e

Color: Rose print

About the Bra: When I firstt saw this, I said to myself, I NEED to have this. The print on it is so beautiful. Pink is my favorite color. I love roses. So therefore this bra was perfection.

The bra consists of magenta flowers, light pink flowers, and green leaves. The bra has a sheen to it.

W/o flash

W/ flash

There is a green and magenta bow at the gore.

There is a cute little scalloped design at the top of the cups.

W/ flash

W/o flash

There is also a cute little green & magenta bow where the cup meets the straps.

The upper portion of the straps has the floral design

The lower half of the straps is just magenta. This bra isn’t fully adjustable.

 

The wings and the band are magenta.

The review:

I got this from brastop thinking that at worse, this bra would be one cup big, which isn’t an issue, because it would be an easy fix. Boy was I wrong. This bra isn’t 1 cup too big, it’s more like 2, and it’s not an easy fix.

Before I get to the review I just want to say something.

I’ve mentioned being a denimaholic. I have the ability to look at a pair of jeans/pants and KNOW without even trying them on whether or not they will fit me. And 99% of the time I am correct. I actually worked at 2 denim stores, so I was blue to get it down to a T. I also had the ability to look at someone and know what size they would be in a pair of jeans- men and women. After leaving both denim stores, I’ve lost that ability (for other people). But that ability for myself, has stemmed into pretty much all forms of clothing-shirts dresses panties, and now bras. So immediately after taking this bra out of the package, I KNEW it was going to be too big. And not a little big, but very big. Like wearing my orders sister’s bra, big. 😟

When I first put the bra on without swooping and scooping, I knew there was no fixing this.

Swooping and scooping didn’t really change the appearance.

Theres a good amount of space between the top of the cup, and my breast.

A lot of space.

Oddly enough there was more space on my bigger breast.

So much space, in fact, that I could fit my whole fist in the space!

😟

I’d say it looks okay from the side, if my breasts were that big.

But they’re not. I’m pulling the fabric. And it actually looks nice– if only I could alter it to look this way.

Another issue with this bra, aside from the cups running so big, is that the side of the bra cuts into my underarms because it’s so high. It’s not the wire that’s high, it’s just the fabric. If the bra actually fit, and I could wear it, this would irritate my skin.

Before I forget, the band on this is very firm.

Curvy Kate bras are supposed to be really good for FOT women. Obviously I’m not FOT, so I can’t really comment on that. But I do feel as though for this particular bra to fit, a woman would almost have to have really round breasts. Like this:

I found this picture online. It is a woman that has just gotten implants. I’m sure this is what people mean when they say ‘cakes on a plate’.

I really wish this bra fit me because it is so beautiful.

Curvy Kate Portia/Princess 28e

Okay. If you’re confused about the title, it’s because this bra is labeled as ‘Portia’, but it’s actually Princess.

As per the CK website

• Princess: soft raised polka dot & floral embroidery with a ribbon slot. Rounded shape.
• Portia: criss cross detailing, ribbon slot & flirty bows.

Once you start looking at the pictures below, you will see that this is not a Portia, as labeled, but Princess. I don’t know of the cut is different or not.

Color: white

The bra: this was sold to me as a used bra, so it’s not as white as it once was– fine with me because I’m going to dye it.

the gore with the bow.

It has the characteristic fuzzy polka dot pattern, floral embroidery and ribbon slot.

Some discoloration on the polka dots

The straps have the same floral embroidery as the top of the cup.

The review: this is a 28e, and I knew there was a chance this bra would be too big or wouldn’t fit. I have a pink CK Princess bra in a sister size (30dd) and it’s too big.

You can see somewhat from the front that it’s too big.

And from an angle

 

But there is some space at the top on my smaller breast.

There’s a good amount of space so the top of the bra, which is why I’m going to alter it later.

The gore tacks, but it is kind of pressing into my sternum.

But for some reason there’s an area at the bottom of the bra on BOTH cups where the wire doesn’t touch my skin. It is where two seams meet, and around the area where the band connects with the wire. No matter how much scooping I do, it’s there. I got this bra used, so it is possible the previous owner(s) bent the wires.

Another issue I have is that on my smaller side, the cup kind of cuts my underarm. Now I’m one of those people that loves side boob to be completely covered, but this is a little too high for me. (Which is a first)

 

The bra does however, look very nice in the profile.

 

This is going to be a keeper. Mainly because I want to dye it and alter it. Plus I got it very cheaply.

Update: I decided to compare the wires. I’m pretty sure these were bent to give some sort of shape for the previous wearer.

The wires of the bra side by side.

When I push in the wires closest to the band. You can see the gore section doesn’t touch.

When I push the wires closest to the gore together.

I dyed the bra purple.

Curvy Kate Princess/Portia + bra extender

So I finally got my bra extenders in the mail. It took almost a month, which is one of time reasons I hate doing intl orders/shipping. I’m impatient, I want my stuff now.

Anyway, I decided to try it out on my CK Portia/Princess hybrid bra, since that was the one I felt was the tightest.

I don’t know if you can see in the picture, but the extender is actually a little wider than the band, however, the actual hook & eyes are at the same spot, so it closes with no issue. It looks funny, not no one is going to see my bra but me.

I put it on the first/tightest setting. The band feels a lot better. Not as tight as before. The cups however, feel looser. There’s space in the cups now.

**compared to before

The gore was pushing in slightly.

The biggest issue I had was that the sides of the cups were rubbing on my skin and irritating me because they were so high.

Hopefully I won’t have to wear the extender with this bra for long, as I liked the fit without it.

Curvy Kate Emily 28dd

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I bought this bra from Uplift.com. The link was posted on ABTF. The bra was 80% off and I ended up paying about $9 +shipping. I also bought a curvy Kate princess also 28dd and also for $9.

I was hoping it fit, and it does. But not perfectly. Well the cups fit…

Color: teal/white

Style: soft cup

The review: this is a bra that I actually wore. I wore it today at work.

This is how it looked with my top on:

Without top:

The view from the back looks too tight. I may try this on with an extender, but I think that’ll make the cups a little bit bigger.

I do think that the sides come up too high.

I also think the wire is a little too far back.

There is a pinch of space in the lace on the smaller breast.

The gore was very uncomfortable after a few hours. *something I’ve been dealing with lately with these soft bras. I put 2 pieces of tissue to soften the pain, and it kind of helped.

I took this bra of as soon as I got home and you can see the marks it left.

Indentation from the tissue.

The wire does look a little far back

Pushing the tissue back to confirm the wire is too far back.