If you watched our latest video, you know that one of my favorite things to do each season is to put together a lingerie capsule wardrobe. While there are several different kinds of lingerie wardrobes, such as date night, loungewear, etc., each season I put together an everyday lingerie capsule to work with my seasonal clothing wardrobe.  Benefits of a Lingerie Capsule The benefits of a lingerie capsule wardrobe are similar to the benefits of a clothing capsule wardrobe. To start, there are less decisions to make when getting dressed each day. When you open your lingerie drawer, you ..read more

Ever since launching our first online video course, "How to Fit a Custom Bra" we have seen the power of videos to show you how to make your own beautiful and professional looking lingerie.  We recently polled our newsletter subscribers (click here to subscribe) and they overwhelmingly said that they wanted to see new tutorials as YouTube videos rather than reading them on the blog or posted on any other video platform. The poll results confirmed our decision to move to a “video first” approach to new tutorials.  Over the last few months we have been steadil ..read more

One of our goals at Orange Lingerie is to make bra making as easy as possible. Our patterns include detailed step-by-step drawings of each bra making step and our blog is full of ten years (!) of blog posts with additional bra making tutorials and information, all in the spirit of helping you make the most beautiful and professional looking lingerie possible. As with buying bras, one perennial challenge is determining bra size. I spent some time discussing why bra sizing can be challenging in our last blog post. The short version: measurements alone do not tell you you ..read more

One of the first steps in bra making is determining your size. Of course, if your ready-to-wear bras fit you well and they are all around the same size, this may be a simple process for you – just go with the size that usually fits. But if you are looking to buy or make new bras because you are uncomfortable in your current size, or you want to check your size, it can quickly become confusing with a multitude of different processes for calculating your size that yield a variety of size recommendations. The only way you can truly know your bra size for sure is to try on the bras you like and fi ..read more

When choosing a hem for bias cut silk garments, such as our Bellevue camisole or Newell slip skirt, I recommend looking for the smallest, lightest weight finish possible. There are, however, other suitable hem treatments that you might find preferable for your silk projects, depending on your vision for the finished garment and the amount of time you want to spend on the hem finish. In this post I will show you some alternative hem techniques. As with any alternative method, I recommend trying them out first on swatches to see which you like best before applying them to your garment.  1 ..read more

In our pattern instructions we detail the construction methods that help you get the most beautiful and professional looking results. That said, as a sewist, you know that there are a variety of ways to sew up any garment and choosing which methods to use can be half the fun! If you have ever discussed sewing with me you know that I believe that the methods you use to sew your garment comes down to the personal decision of how much time you want to spend on the project to get the results you want. So in this post I am going to show you some alternative and generally faster ways to seam the sil ..read more

What a great #BRAugust Instagram photo challenge! I am so grateful to Tailor Made Shop for hosting this summer event so beautifully. This is now the third year of #BRAugust and I was amazed at the growing number and quality of makes. Choosing highlights was difficult, there were so many favorites! Similarly to last year's roundup, we wrote the IG handle of the maker under each photo, so you can discover more of their lingerie sewing work and be inspired! Links to each pattern are also provided if you'd like to make your own. amazing detail shots from left to right: @alice.palazon / @manimar ..read more

One of the most common questions I am asked is “How often should I wash my bra?” and every time I answer, I am greeted with a shocked response. So here it is: If you want your bras to perform at their best and last as long as possible, you need to wash your bra after wearing it once, or maximally twice. If you need to wear your bras twice before washing, you should give the bra a day off in between wearings. The elastic needs time to recover and to go back to a neutral position. It is pretty easy to understand why this is the case. The bra is worn directly against your body, so it collects bo ..read more

Today is all about lace! In this post I am going to guide you through the process of shopping for lace to use with our Silk Collection patterns, in particular the Bellevue camisole which was designed for a lace treatment along the front neckline. Using lace for our new patterns can change the entire look of the garment. From a quiet neutral motif that elevates a basic undergarment, to a colorful or bold lace that demands to be displayed, the choice of lace can change the look dramatically. Let's start by looking at some examples of the power of lace. The following Carine Gilson couture lingeri ..read more

We work with a lot of silk in the Orange Lingerie studio! This was especially true over the last year as we created our Bellevue camisole, Newell slip skirt and Richdale tap shorts sewing patterns (often referred to as the 'Silk Collection') all using silk charmeuse fabric. Since each of our newest sewing patterns recommends using a lightweight silk material, I thought it would be helpful to talk about what to look for when shopping for silk fabric for these garments. Let’s start with why we use and recommend silk charmeuse. Aside from the obvious reason - silk is a beautiful fabric to have ag ..read more