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I have had a question about how I finished the top of the cup in my Danglez DB4 lycra bra. The following photo shows the finished edge from the right side - no stitching visible.



I learned a very neat little trick from Sandra and Dini on the Dutch lingerie forum to finish the top of the cup without showing stitching on the right side.

The top cup is cut twice in lycra with a seam allowance at the top. This is the first seam I sew. After stitching the two cup pieces together at the top, right sides facing (RSF), using a lightning stitch, do the following:

1. Cut a piece of see-through elastic the exact length of the top cup. (I used a width that is the same as my seam allowance.) See-through elastic is thin and adds no bulk.
2. Then sew it to the seam allowance using a multiple zigzag without stretching the elastic.
3. Now open the two cup pieces and smooth the "lining" piece over the seam allowance.
4. On the "lining" piece, from the right side, stitch the fabric to the seam allowance using a multiple zigzag. (This is like you would edgestitch a facing to the seam allowance in a neckline on normal clothes.)

Then I baste around the piece to keep the raw edges together before making up the cups. Here you see the stitching on the inside of the cups:



And that's it!

The top of the bridge is finished by sewing the lycra and lining together, RSF, then folded with wrong sides facing. So, both cups and bridge are finished at the top edges before I sew them together.

I use a few other tricks to line up the cup edge with the top of the bridge - will take photographs when I make my next bra to show you - it's a bit difficult to explain using words only.