It was an interesting conversation! Judy was describing the “Cup Warmers” that she makes and then we tossed around ideas on how we could make something that would raise money for Breast Cancer research, treatment, prevention and cure.
That’s how the idea of Busty Cups was born.
We had a lot of fun chatting about them and when we finally got together to make some, we learned that we both had vastly different ideas on how to create them, and yet we both ended up with similar results, while having a lot of fun and laughs.
There is no right way or wrong way to make them. We invite you to explore our methods or create your own! We hope that you will make one or a few, with your sewing and quilting friends, and donate them, as we did, to our local fundraiser for Breast Cancer Treatment.
Wishing you fun and good health,
Busty Cups is our creative fundraising effort for Breast Cancer Support.
Pretty in Pink
We respect the seriousness of this devastating diagnosis and in no way do we wish to give personal or cultural offense with our creativity.
“Busty Cups” is released under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported License.
We invite you to make one using your own design ideas and donate it to a Breast Cancer Fundraiser in your town. If you blog about it or send us your info in an email (with a photo) to MMquilts @ gmail.com and we will post it here or link to your post.
Take a look at Margaret Bucklew’s Method of making her Fashion Cup
Materials
Disposable Coffee Cup
Fabric Stiffener – 6” x 12”
Fabric glue – liquid and fusible web (optional)
Fiberfill stuffing
Nylons or similar stretchy material
Fabrics, trims, embellishments
Sewing Basics: sewing machine is nice but not required, needle, threads, scissors.
Optional: Old bras, rick rack trim, feathers, marabou, beads, decorative threads, ribbons, lace, glittery fabrics, sequins, anything you like!
Download the Pattern (445)
When you print the pattern, be sure it fills an 8 1/2″ x 11″ paper from end to end on the long side. Don’t print from your browser window because it may re-size the pattern. It is a bit over sized, but it helps to have excess stiffener to work with and then trim away the excess. As you build your Busty Cup you will need to measure your creation to an actual cup constantly, to adjust and trim as you go. Lots of overlap in the back is built in so that you have enough material to be able to secure it if you chose the glue or hand sewing methods. Trim the excess overlap away for a ribbons or bra hooks closure.
Judy’s Method for an Artsy Busty Cup
Start with an artistic background, then add a bra
My vision was an “Art Card with a Bra” and I used a process that I’ve played with before, in my art quilting.
I cut my stiffener larger than the pattern by 1/4″ and drew the pattern outline on the “inside” of the stiffener.
Then I ironed a layer of fusible web (Steam-a-Seam II or Heat and Bond) to all three of my stiffener background pieces (right side), then alternately layered my decorative bits (feathers on one and loose threads and heart shaped fabric bits on another) using MistyFuse™ and then topping both off with netting before fusing everything again. I used two sheets of parchment paper to protect the ironing surface and the iron while fusing each time. Once these two cooled I added decorative free motion stitching to really secure everything, using rayon threads to add even more color and design.
Mambo Mama
On my third background I layered strips of a shimmery fabrics and I embellished them with decorative stitches.
Once the right sides were decorated, using the pattern line drawn on the inside of the background wrapper, I trimmed each piece to size and then zig zag stitched the edges using a complementary thread.
I built my busts as show below and decorated them with fabrics, lace and trims, using the sewing machine and fabric glue and then added them to the backgrounds, making a “bra” for each cup warmer.
My closures in the back were either hand stitched or glued with fabric glue.
Marguerita’s Method for a Brassiere Busty Cup
Pink Busty Cup
I had envisioned a total bra or bustier look for my Busty Cups, so the first thing I did was cut up some bras that I had purchased at my second hand store.
I made my bust and stitched it to the plain stiffener-wrapper.
For a Busty Cup with a bra hooks closure I started in the back of the cup, securing the cut-off hooks from the old bras by stitching down the bra parts to the stiffener using my sewing machine. On this one I had first fused some fabric to the stiffener because the bra hooks were so narrow. On one with 4 hooks I didn’t use any backing material, just the bra.
I trimmed away any excess stiffener from the back and pulled the fabrics forward to cover the bust and decorated it.
Marguerita’s Method for a Quick and Basic Busty Cup
Marguerita's first Busty Cup
I made my bust and stitched it to the plain stiffener-wrapper, then I cut up any pretty material and overlaid it onto the bust & wrapper, and either stitched it down (most of the time) or used Steam-a-Seam II® to fuse the fabric to the stiffener. On this one I used the lace overlay from a bra because I liked the pretty bow in front.
With this method I worked from the front (bust), working toward the back and trimming the excess stiffener as I went.
Most of the time I folded the fabric over the edges of the stiffener and sewed with a straight stitch to secure it, but a few times I sewed a tight zig zag stitch inside the edge of the stiffener and then trimmed off the excess fabric and stiffener, cutting very closely to the edge of the zig zag.
Like Judy, I used glue, hand stitching or ribbons to secure the overlap in the back with this method.
Making the Bust
3 x 4 piece of fabric stiffener, some fiberfill, old nylons
Sew the bust onto a 3” x 4” piece of stiffener, using fiberfill and old nylon stockings to secure the fiberfill.
Sew down the center of the nylons & stiffener
Stitch the nylon piece to the stiffener down the center of the stiffener.
Put the fiberfill under the sewn nylon and stitch in a circle
Insert the fiberfill bits, and then stitch around them in a circle, securing the nylon material to the stiffener.
Trim, leaving a small seam allowance
Trim excess stiffener, leaving at least 1/8” stiffener outside the stitching as you trim.
You can use this as a foundation for your Busty Cup by stitching the bust to the wrapper stiffener along the 1/8” seam allowance, as in Marguerita’s Method.
Or you can decorate it as a bra and add it to an already decorated Cup Wrapper, as in Judy’s Method for an Artsy Busty Cup. Be sure to check out Margaret’s Cup – she really went off in her own unique direction!
Busty Cups by McManus & Wedemeyer is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported License.
Based on a work at www.loosefibers.com.
