Tutorial - How to Alter the Bottom Cup Depth of the Lamina

Today’s topic is a quick tutorial on how to alter the BCD of the Lamina. The process is fairly similar to the alterations we did for the Labellum - but simpler.

Grab a pen and lets get this alteration done in ONE step.

Draw a curved line connecting the width of the larger size to the BCD of the smaller size. That’s it!

Remember we are ONLY shortening the BCD and NOT the horizontal hemisphere. In essence, if you image the pattern piece to be a square, only the bottom (the large vertical dart) - not the sides. The “sides” of the cup is part of the horizontal measurement therefore, it DOES NOT change.

If your BCD is LARGER than your HH size, then you want to do the reverse. Draw a curved line connecting the width of the SMALLER size to the BCD of the LARGER size.

All that is left is to “walk” the altered seamlines to make sure they all match up and add the seam allowance back on!

What do you think? Is this method easy enough for even beginners on their very first bra?

***If you need to reduce the BCD, below is ONE method of doing so. This happens to be my preferred method - flat drafting - simply because it suits how my brain functions. If this method doesn’t work well for your learning modality, you can try sewing up a size as-is and pinning/clipping the excess wrinkles then transfer to the pattern after.***