One unexpected consequence of surviving my bilateral pulmonary embolisms is that I now have absolutely zero tolerance for uncomfortable bras. For the first three months, while I was also dealing with pleurisy, I didn’t wear bras at all. Since then, for the past year, the only thing I’ve been able to wear comfortably are my Caramiya Tate crop tops. I’ve been playing around with different patterns and ideas, trying to make something else work, but nothing has really stuck. Recently, I decided to give the LilypaDesign Mysa Lounge Bralette a shot. It’s a free pattern, so why not?
Style and Fit
The Mysa Lounge Bralette is pretty straightforward. The pattern includes a single cup piece with a large dart for shaping, a front cradle, wings, a hook-and-eye closure at the back, and adjustable straps that are 5/8 inch wide. There’s a 5/8 inch elastic band running under the bust for support and 3/8 inch elastic finishing the arms and neckline. It’s suppose to be a simple, beginner-friendly design.
Materials and Notions
For materials, I used Tech Sheen fabric from Bra Builders. It’s a nylon-spandex blend, 220 gsm, and has just the right amount of stretch. The pattern recommends using fabric with 50–60% stretch.
For notions, I was able to get everything I needed at Bra Builders as well: 3/8 inch and 5/8 inch band elastic with picot edge, 5/8 inch strap elastic, 5/8 inch rings and slides, and 3 hook-and-eye closures. I also finished some of my raw edges with elastic ribbon for a clean finish.
Sizing
Body Measurements
If you’ve struggled with this pattern company, trust me, you’re not alone. One of the biggest issues with this pattern is the sizing information — there are just too many tables. There’s a size table included with the pattern pieces, but it’s different depending on whether you’re using the core, plus, or curvy plus size range. On top of that, there’s a completely separate size chart available online for each range: core (A-DD), plus (DD-GG), curvy plus (GG-KK). The measurements and values between the pattern and the online charts don’t match up — and honestly, they don’t always make sense. So before diving into anything else, let’s first take a look at the measurements you actually need. There are three main measurements you’ll need: bottom cup depth, horizontal hemisphere, and your under bust (band) measurement. You do not need to know your UK bra size, which is good because I haven’t purchased a store-bought bra in over 10 years!
Bottom Cup Depth (BCD)
This is the distance from the bottom crease of your breast up to your nipple. The bottom crease is where the underwire would sit if you were wearing a wired bra. The pattern suggests two ways to measure: one is to cup your breast from underneath like you’re wearing a supportive bra, and the other is to lean forward and let your breast hang naturally. Either way, it might take a few tries to get a measurement that feels consistent.
Horizontal Hemisphere (HH)
For this one, you measure from your sternum (the center of your chest) across the fullest part of your bust to where your breast tissue ends under your armpit. It can be a little tricky figuring out exactly where the breast tissue stops. What helped me was leaning over to the side — it made it easier to see where the breast tissue naturally ends.
Band / Under Bust
This one’s the easiest. Just measure around your ribcage right under your bust. Keep the tape measure parallel to the floor and make sure it’s snug but not tight.
My Current Measurements
| Bottom Cup Depth | 4.25 |
| Horizontal Hemisphere | 10 |
| Under Bust | 33 |
Here are my current measurements. My bottom cup depth (BCD) is 4.25 inches, horizontal hemisphere (HH) is 10 inches, and my under bust is 33 inches.
Picking Your Size
This is where things got really confusing for me. The pattern comes in three different size ranges: core, plus, and curvy plus. The goal is to pick a size where both your bottom cup depth (BCD) and horizontal hemisphere (HH) measurements land in the same size or as close as possible. The instructions say, “If your Bottom Cup Depth (BCD) and Horizontal Hemisphere (HH) indicate different sizes, use the HH size and grade the BCD up or down to match your measurements.”
Another thing that threw me off was figuring out how to match the band size with the cup size. In the PDF pattern, there’s no indication which band sizes are available for each cup size. You can only find that information by looking at all the pattern pieces. However, the online table does sort of show what band sizes are supposed to be avaliable, but there’s a lot of errors. Once I figured out that I needed to look at the pattern pieces, I noticed that each cup size only has a limited selection of band sizes drafted for it, and — surprise — the pattern didn’t offer a band/cup combo that worked for me. We’ll get more into that later.
I was really befuddled with this whole size selection process! For now, just know this: don’t stress about your band size when picking your cup size. Focus on getting the cup size right first. If your band size happens to match up with your cup size, awesome, you’re good to go. If not, you’ll need to draft your own band, which is what I ended up doing.
Band Size
| Under Bust | Band Size |
|---|---|
| 26-28 | 28 |
| 28-30 | 30 |
| 30-32 | 32 |
| 32-34 | 34 |
| 34-36 | 36 |
| 36-38 | 38 |
| 38-40 | 40 |
| 40-42 | 42 |
| 42-44 | 44 |
| 44-46 | 46 |
| 46-48 | 48 |
| 48-50 | 50 |
| 50-52 | 52 |
My under bust is 33 inches, so my band size is 34.
Cup Size – Core Range
Here’s where things get confusing, I need to find a size within either the core, plus, or curvy plus where my BCD (4.25) and HH (10) are the same pattern size or as close to the same size as possible. One important note: the band sizes listed with each pattern size in the tables are my addition. That info isn’t actually provided in the PDF. I pulled the band measurements directly from the pattern pieces themselves.
| BCD | HH | Pattern Size | Band Sizes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2.9 | 7.2 | 7.3/2.9 | 26-32 |
| 3.1 | 7.6 | 7.9/3.1 | 26-34 |
| 3.3 | 8.1 | 8.5/3.3 | 26-36 |
| 3.6 | 8.6 | 9.1/3.6 | 28-38 |
| 3.8 | 9.1 | 9.7/3.8 | 30-40 |
| 4.1 | 9.5 | 10.3/4.1 | 34-42 |
| 4.3 | 10.0 | 10.9/4.3 | 36-44 |
| 4.5 | 10.5 | 11.5/4.5 | 38-46 |
| 4.8 | 10.9 | 12.1/4.8 | 40-48 |
| 5.0 | 11.4 | 12.7/5.0 | 42-50 |
| 5.2 | 11.9 | 13.3/52 | 44-52 |
| 5.5 | 12.4 | 13.9/5.5 | 46-52 |
| 5.7 | 12.8 | 14.5/5.7 | 48-52 |
| 5.9 | 13.3 | 15.1/5.9 | 50-52 |
| 6.2 | 13.8 | 15.7/6.2 | 50-52 |
In the core size range, I definitely fit into the 10.9/4.3 cup size. Remember, I pulled these band sizes from the actual pattern pieces. The band sizes drafted for the 10.9/4.3 cup size are only 36 to 44, and my band size is 34, which falls below that range. I was really disappointed that my size wasn’t included.
On the website, the bottom cup depth (BCD) was listed using store-bought bra sizes (like 30DD), and I had no idea what my size would even be in that system. I wasn’t sure if I needed to take my bottom cup measurement and convert it to a letter size? Another issue is that the band sizes listed online don’t match the band sizes shown in the pattern PDF. For example, in the PDF, size 8.5/3.3 should have a band size range of 26–36 inches, but the online chart says 28–36. Same thing with size 9.1/3.6 — in the PDF, it’s listed as 28–38, but online it shows 30–38. And it keeps going: size 9.7/3.8 is supposed to have a 34–42 band in the PDF, but online it says 32–40. All of this left me super confused and not very confident about which size to actually pick. Let’s look at the plus size range next.
Cup Size – Plus Range
| BCD | HH | Pattern Size | Band Sizes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4.0 | 9.0 | 10.1/4.0 | 26-32 |
| 4.3 | 9.6 | 10.9/4.3 | 26-34 |
| 4.6 | 10.1 | 11.7/4.6 | 26-36 |
| 4.9 | 10.7 | 12.5/4.9 | 28-38 |
| 5.2 | 11.3 | 13.3/5.2 | 30-40 |
| 5.6 | 11.8 | 14.1/5.6 | 32-42 |
| 5.9 | 12.3 | 14.9/5.9 | 34-44 |
| 6.2 | 13.0 | 15.7/6.2 | 36-46 |
| 6.5 | 13.5 | 16.5/6.5 | 38-48 |
| 6.8 | 14.0 | 17.3/6.8 | 40-50 |
| 7.1 | 14.6 | 18.1/7.1 | 42-52 |
| 7.4 | 15.1 | 18.9/7.4 | 44-52 |
| 7.8 | 15.7 | 19.7/7.8 | 46-52 |
| 8.1 | 16.2 | 20.5/8.1 | 48-52 |
| 8.4 | 16.8 | 21.3/8.4 | 48-52 |
In the plus size range, I unfortunately fall across different sizes. The recommended size for my BCD is smaller than the one for my HH. I did consider using this size range though, mainly because — unlike the core range — the bands here go from 26 to 36, which actually includes my 34 band size.
Unfortunately it’s not just the smaller sizes — the table discrepancies show up in the plus sizes too. For example, size 21.3/8.4 has a band range of 48–52 inches in the PDF, but online it’s listed as only 50–52. Let’s check the final size chart.
Cup Size – Curvy Plus Range
| BCD | HH | Pattern Size | Band Sizes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5.6 | 12.4 | 14.1/5.6 | 26-32 |
| 5.8 | 13.0 | 14.7/5.8 | 26-34 |
| 6.0 | 13.5 | 15.3/6.0 | 26-36 |
| 6.3 | 14.1 | 15.9/6.3 | 28-38 |
| 6.5 | 14.6 | 16.5/6.5 | 30-40 |
| 6.7 | 15.2 | 17.1/6.7 | 32-42 |
| 7.0 | 15.7 | 17.7/7.0 | 34-44 |
| 7.2 | 16.3 | 18.3/7.2 | 36-46 |
| 7.4 | 16.9 | 18.9/7.4 | 38-48 |
| 7.7 | 17.4 | 19.5/7.7 | 40-50 |
| 7.9 | 18.0 | 20.1/7.9 | 42-52 |
| 8.1 | 18.5 | 20.7/8.1 | 44-52 |
| 8.4 | 19.1 | 21.3/8.4 | 46-52 |
| 8.6 | 19.6 | 21.9/8.6 | 48-52 |
| 8.9 | 20.2 | 22.5/8.9 | 48-52 |
| 9.1 | 20.7 | 23.1/9.1 | 48-52 |
I don’t fit into the curvy plus size range at all, but do the online and PDF pattern size charts match?
Short answer? Nope. The errors on this chart are by far the worst. Starting at size 15.9/6.3, the discrepancies just keep going. In the PDF, the band range is listed as 28–38 inches, but online it says 26–38. And it continues like that across all the sizes up to 22.5/8.9 — where the PDF says 48–52, but the online chart says 46–52. It’s a mess, honestly, and it makes the whole sizing process way more confusing than it needs to be.
Version
I ended up making the size 10.9/4.3 from the core size range and adjusting the wing pieces so my band was a size 34. Did I pick the right size? Who knows! Should I have gone with the plus size range? Maybe? TL;DR: the fit was terrible. And honestly, I can’t tell if it’s because I chose the wrong size or if some of the error-prone tendencies showed up in the pattern drafting.
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