Lululemon Hack

I got this fabulous tank from lululemon.  It is the sexiest top I've ever owned!   With one problem: spillage.
It's hard to tell from this picture but the tank has a sports bra built into it.

I would say my cup overfloweth but the truth is it underfloweth.  Or rather there was unsightly boob spillage under the bottom elastic.  I needed more room for the girls.  about 2" more in fact.  There was just not enough fabric to cover it all!

Now if anyone says, "if there isn't enough fabric it isn't designed for you!"  I say,  "I wear what I like and I like this!".  Not to mention that we are all unique so most clothing needs altering to fit us perfectly.

Here is how I altered it:

Supplies: 

- 0.2 meters of black spandex (I believe I bought black swimsuit liner because it was on sale), 

- 1 'no limits tank' or other tank with sports bra (you could do this to any sports bra or top with shelf bra).

- matching thread

- ballpoint needle

- stitch ripper

Steps:

1. try on the top.  Adjust so that the top part fits comfortably where you want it.  Allow any excess boob to spill under the bottom elastic.  Measure the distance between the bottom of the bra and where you want the elastic to lay.  For me this was an extra 2".

2. do the math. 

Yup math.  add up your extra fabric, seam allowance for the top and bottom (and extra seam allowance for what you will loose to seam allowance on the bra).  The 'extra' seam allowance is because when you sew the new fabric to the bra part of the bra will be used up as seam allowance.  You need to ass extra fabric to your addition to account for this loss.  For me this ended up being:

 .25 seam allowance x 3, 

2" for added fabric, 

1" for the elastic casing

 = 3.75"  

I also decided to double up the thickness of the fabric since mine was thinner than the original fabric so I doubled that length and cut the fabric at 7.5".  Alright.  I lied to you.  I made an error in the cut so it was actually only 6.5"  but I figured that would be enough of an addition so I didn't recut.

the width will be the same as your top plus .5" seam allowance (for me this was 30.5")

 

3. pick it apart. 

This is always the scariest part for me.  Taking apart a perfectly reasonable (and expensive!) piece of clothing.  But do it!  We are making it better.  Use your stitch ripper and take the bottom elastic off of the bra.  You will have to pick off two rows of stitches off both the top and bottom of the elastic.  You will now have two pieces - the bra and the elastic.

 I used a stretch needle for this project and the stretch stitch setting on my machine.  The stretch stitch goes forward a couple stitches and then back a stitch.  It seems to take FOREVER but it keeps the seam from breaking as soon as you try to put it on.

 

Here is my piece to add (6.5" x 30.5" for this size 8 top) folded in half widthwise.

4.  Sew the new piece down the side, creating a tube.

5. Fold it in half, right side out (hiding the seam).

6. Baste the elastic to the addition on the rough edge (not on the folded edge).  I used the smallest possible seam allowance (about 1/8").

 7. fold the elastic over and zig zag (stretch stitch) the elastic down.
 Then zig zag the top of the elastic down with the same stitch.

 8. baste the addition to the bottom of the bra using a long straight stitch.  You should be sewing on the right side of the bra with the wrong side up on the addition (this photo is wrong, I had to undo this stitch).

9. Fold this seam open and top stitch across this seam with a zig zag stretch stitch.  See next two images (they have the addition inside out, I undid this and turned it the right way out).

 

10. Pick out the thousand threads and try that bad boy on!  This picture shows the addition the right way out.    It is much prettier in person.  This shot makes it look quite frankenstein-ish.

Here's the addition completed.  You can see the seam where the bra used to end.  It was much too short for me!  In this shot I have it pulled flat down along my ribs but I wear it pulled up under the bust.

 With the addition it looses a little of the peakaboo effect of the original but it is so much more comfortable I know I will wear it a lot more!  Previously I was always tugging at the fabric, trying to get it to fit.

I am very happy with the result!

I hope this has been clear and helpful.  Let me know if I can explain anything further :)

Crispi Crunch