Determine the Wire Size
On our website at www.bramakers.com, we have a complete set of all our wires, drawn out to their actual size, complete with measurements around the perimeter from tip to tip. But how do you determine the wire size you need? It’s not difficult with a few tips from the Fairy Bra Mother.
The wire charts are there to help
If you print off these wire charts, you can match up a wire from your collection to see what size it is. If you don’t have a wire that fits and you aren’t sure what wire size you would use, you can print off the wire page and paste the page on stiff cardboard or pattern paper. You will have a circular template of the actual wire size and shape. Place the template around the naked breast. The wire should fit against the chest wall with no gaps under or around the naked breast, when the arm is raised. Sometimes the breast looks different when the arm is raised, so raise it to determine the wire size. This wire is too big as you can see by the marks where it should sit. In addition you can see a bit of a gap underneath the breast. Yest, when the arm was down, it looked the right size!
The Pattern back can help too
If you know your bra pattern size, you can use the chart below to find the wire size associated with that bra size. The wires listed in the cells below represent the wire sizes that the Pin-up Girls Patterns use. The patterns will usually accept one wire size lower or higher than the chart suggests. Please note that AAA, AA and A take the same size underwire.
The wire SIZE actually represents the diameter of the breast.
|
BAND
|
AAA
|
A
|
A
|
B
|
C
|
D
|
E
|
F
|
G
|
H
|
|
32
|
30
|
30
|
30
|
32
|
34
|
36
|
38
|
40
|
42
|
44
|
|
34
|
32
|
32
|
32
|
34
|
36
|
38
|
40
|
42
|
44
|
46
|
|
36
|
34
|
34
|
34
|
36
|
38
|
40
|
42
|
44
|
46
|
48
|
|
38
|
36
|
36
|
36
|
38
|
40
|
42
|
44
|
46
|
48
|
50
|
|
40
|
38
|
38
|
38
|
40
|
42
|
44
|
46
|
48
|
50
|
52
|
|
42
|
40
|
40
|
40
|
42
|
44
|
46
|
48
|
50
|
52
|
54
|
|
44
|
42
|
42
|
42
|
44
|
46
|
48
|
50
|
52
|
54
|
56
|
|
46
|
44
|
44
|
44
|
46
|
48
|
50
|
52
|
54
|
56
|
58
|
|
48
|
46
|
46
|
46
|
48
|
50
|
52
|
54
|
56
|
58
|
60
|
Once you determine the wire size, you will need to know what length in the font you would like to have. Wires are available in a variety of front arm heights, either high or low or anything in between and can be shaped differently in order to encourage the breast forward or back according to its final use.
The most common wire is the LONG wire, so that is the one I’ve used in most of the bra patterns from Pin-up Girls. That is not to say that you can’t use a Short wire or a Super Long wire but alterations need to be made to the pattern in order to accommodate the changed length.
Now you know how to determine the wire size, what are you waiting for? Let’s get sewing!
where can i download the underwire size chart? I’m from PH but bought an underwire but the store does not know what size it is. Please help
Is the underwire pdf A4 or letter size?
Hi there! It is letter size!
I wear a 38DD and confused as to which replacement wire size I should purchase. Can anyone help? Thanks. Cam.
You best bet is to print off the underwire charts from the left side of the website. Then you can cut our the shape from a piece of cardboard and test the size, with your arm raised. That way the best is in the proper postion for testing.
Here’s the link to a blog post I wrote about it https://braandcorsetsupplies.com/2013/02/17/determine-the-wire-size/
Hi, I am having a little trouble working out the sizing. Do any of these Bra patterns go up to a size 16 F (australian) or 18 G/H?
Thank you.
To convert Australian sizing to American sizing add 22 to the band number. This would make your size 38F or 40G/H. We size our bras by the BCD method which is far more accurate than either Australian or American sizing. For more info on my BCD sizing, please see the blog post here The BCD Method of Measuring Explained
Thank you very much! I will look at the link. Do you have a reccomendation over which styles of your bra would or best with those two sizes?
For a wired bra, try the Classic or the Shelley. For a non-wired bra, customers love the Ingrid!
I, too, have low contour breasts with wide roots, as a result of a breast reduction. I’m struggling to find the correct size to make. It seems that my wire size is 44, but my rib cage measurement is 38″, my high bust measurement is 40″ and my full bust measurement is 42″. I made a frankenbra tester, with a 40 B band, a 44 B frame to fit the wires, and 44 B cups. My breasts were swimming in the cups. I have both Bra Manuals, and all of your Craftsy classes. I read up, and watched about how to trim the apex down, but I don’t understand how to trim it down enough where the cups fit. I don’t know where to go from here. Please help.
You sound like a low contour shape breast. (wide root, not much projection) The best way to get a bra cup to fit is to measure your BCD first and alter the cup to that BCD. (see the post on BCD here) Once you have that, you can alter the lower cup to fit your own BCD. Did the wire and frame fit well? How about the band? If the wire, frame and band all fit, then it is only the cups to alter. i can help you with that.
The size 44 wire and the frame fit well. How can I figure out the BCD for the Classic pattern? My right BCD is 4.5 and my left BCD is 4.25. Should I use the cups from my Ruby pattern to start drafting new cups? Thank you so much. You’re my current idol.
And also, after I had my BR surgery, I haven’t had a bra that fit well. All the bras I have are padded. I’m struggling trying to find my actual BCD. I’m determined to figure this out.
I have noticed that your chart does not include 30 bands or 28 bands… what sizes are recommended for someone like me who wears a 28DD?
My patterns do include a 30 band size. As for the 28, that would indicate a 24″ rib cage measurement in North American sizing. That, I have found, is not practical for us to make
You may be able to shorten the band. fit the cup and wire size redraw the frame to match wire with a quarter inch seam and shorten the back to fit . I have made bras that fit better that way. The first thing the bra wearer says is how comfortable it is. Happy sewing
Actually the patterns are designed to be able to use one size wire up or down as needed. You have what we call the "low contour" breast, and it is normal for this type of breast to have a larger diameter wire than what the "standards" allow. So to answer the question, just make your own size and use the larger wire!
So…I have the Linda pattern. I've made a couple of bras, but discovered that if the cups fit volume-wise, the recommended wire is too small in diameter–as the day wears on there's breast tissue escaping sideways both in the armpits and the front, and a saggy-in-the-middle cup, yuck. My breasts are just wide and flat! 🙂
So if I size the wire only up, do I need to also use the cradle from the next size up, and size the cups down (like, make a 34A and alter to reduce the cup volume?), or do I make my size (a 32A) and just put the wider wire in, or???
try the wire that fits you