Women's underwear changed a lot at the beginning of the 20th century, as did the fashionable silhouette. Luckily, books for women sewing at home have been preserved and show us what that underwear looked like and how to make it!
In 1925, the Woman's Institute of Domestic Arts and Sciences published a book on "Underwear and Lingerie" (available digitally through archive.org), which includes patterns for chemises, combinations, drawers, and brassieres. I decided to try my hand at the bandeau brassiere on pages 61-62.
I raided my stash for some scrap fabric (a satiny pink polyester) and some half-inch elastic and got to work!
It's a fairly simple pattern to draft (consisting of two triangles whose base is half your bust measure and whose height is 6-7"). Then you overlap them, use darts to shape the triangles, bind the lower edge, and add straps and elastic in the back.
Ok so things are a bit more finicky than that, but it really wasn't difficult. It only took me three days, but it could have been just one or two if I didn't keep stopping and getting distracted.
My biggest problem was the fact that this pattern is recommended for ladies whose "form is slight' and who have the fashionably flat chest already. I'm... not quite that slight.
So, whereas the book calls for two darts, I needed four - two at the bottom of each triangle, like the pattern says, and two more in the underarm area to stop it from gaping. (This fabric doesn't take pressing well, so the darts don't look great when it's not worn.)
I also topstitched around the overlapped area to hold the two sides together better and keep... everything more secure.
Ultimately, though, this does have a slight "flattening" effect, which might be improved if I knew more about how darts work! It's really comfortable, too, which is always nice and makes it good as a modern bralette.
I'd like to try a variation on this pattern where, instead of using one elastic band in the back, the lower binding (with thin elastic inside) wraps around and hooks or buttons in the front, like on this one and some Kestos bras from the 1930s.
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