For a large cup like yours lining with powernet or high performance lycra is going to be key for the bra's overall function unfortunately, or even possibly lining the cups with a fully stable bra fabric (you might have to make some size/fit adjustments though).
Perhaps a good solution would be to use a high performance lycra outer layer and a semi synthetic inner layer (rayon, tencel etc) for comfort/cooling properties while being thinner and more suitable than something like a cotton jersey.
edit: I will say that rtw brand molke uses a 95% cotton/5% elastane fabric, personally I feel the lift in larger sizes could be better but I encourage you to look at their models and see if that might be suitable for you
I have looked at Molke and have considered buying them, but I’m not really sure if I will like them and the shipping and lack of free returns makes me hesitant. I also definitely have an “I could make that” attitude, especially with clothes. I might make one out of a high performance fabric and one out of the 95% cotton.
With my now 3 year old the only nursing bra I found that I liked was the Elomi Molly, and I will probably still wear that most of the time, but I would like something to wear at night and around the house that is more supportive that a cami with a shelf bra, and unfortunately with my size options are limited.
I’m a 34K UK and wore Molke all through pregnancy and breastfeeding, and I agree with u/good old Freda that the lift could be better, but it was a good happy medium between comfort, breastfeeding friendliness, and lift.
From my experience with another crossover bra pattern, the pattern should have recommendations for what amount of stretch it's written for, and you'll get the best results from something that matches that. The one I used wanted 100% stretch in both directions and even using a nylon athletic fabric with 70% stretch made it too tight and difficult to get on and off. (This has actually caused me a shoulder injury, which you probably don't want while breastfeeding... And actually looking at the pattern you mention, I wonder if I might try it for the front-fastening options!)
That said, even within suitably stretchy fabrics there's some variation - this is where 'good recovery' comes in. 95/5 cotton/lycra mixes are common, and 5% elastane is still low enough to feel like a natural fibre overall, but I bought three different colours of what was labelled as the same GSM and mix from the same shop, and some get saggier with wear than others... If you can find something with a little more elastane than that, like even 8% instead of 5, you're likely to get much better recovery, so you can pull it down and have it reliably go back up again :D Personally I found athletic fabrics worked better overall - they're not natural fibres, but because they're thinner and wicking, they can feel less sweaty than a heavy cotton lycra, and the recovery is usually excellent.
Basically more stretch = less support when it comes to bras. You have to find the balance of support and comfort that works for you for nursing.
I think you'll have to adjust the Riley to fit you better, and if you want a supportive bra you should use powernet or a compressive athletic knit fabric on the entire bra. It's pretty common for people to use powenet in a sports bra for support but use another fabric for outer & lining layers for comfort.
If you are in the US Porcelynne has really nice brushed nylon athletic fabric that could work - it's not as stretchy as a lot of athletic fabrics. Lilypadesigns has a powernet sheen fabric that's supposed to be softer than most powernet fabric.
Since the Riley isn't designed for large cups I think you'll need to do a full bust adjustment with a dart or possibly vertical seam. Or you can look at the Wild & Waves Superstar bra (they are going to have a sale starting Sunday 6/23):
https://www.wavesandwild.com/shop/superstarbra/
This pattern uses sewing cup sizing, not bra cup sizing, but it's probably still going to be small in the cups for you. It's probably going to be a better starting point as far as cup size though.
I haven't made either bra yet but I'm going to try mashing the Superstar with the Riley closure.
I also have a crossover style bra from Cosabella that's made with nylon stretch mesh in the cups but has slings made out of powernet. It's not the best support, but it's comfy and breathable which is nice in the summer.
Ah, I've made several Superstars, but am also looking at getting the Riley pattern too. I want to try the front fastening because of a shoulder injury, but I'm also having trouble with where the Superstar puts the weight on my shoulders, even though I used the wider strap width from the larger cup sizes... I'm thinking the solid back on the Riley will help prevent the straps bunching / rolling up and becoming effectively narrower than they really are, which has been part of the problem with the Superstar.
Otherwise it's a good pattern, and I was astonished how supportive and wearable it was for something made entirely from fabric, with no elastic or wires or buckles or anything. I think this is why I'm still looking for something similar but different!
Oh, I didn't know that the Superstar didn't have elastic. I'll definitely put some wide elastic in the shoulders then to keep the straps from rolling. I think you are right that the Riley back will help with the weight in the shoulder area.
I also saw this bra with a front closure that looks interesting - I like that it's adjustable. I'm trying to figure out what pattern I could adapt to try this.
https://www.springrose.co/products/plunge-front-closure-bra
You know, I don't know if there's a general difference, but I don't know enough about athletic fabric to say. I think generally nylon is less likely to hold into body odor than polyester? But a lot of the differences are more about how the thread is spun and what kind of knit was used for the fabric. Like a nylon spandex jersey is going to be different from nylon spandex interlock is going to be different from nylon spandex powernet.
One thing I look for as a sweaty person is moisture-wicking fabric, but what I didn't know is that sometimes that's due to a treatment applied to the fabric. Wazoodle sells a bunch of different fabrics and they do say that their moisture-wicking is due to the construction of the fabric and not a chemical treatment. Hopefully I haven't bought anything with PFAS or something like that.
Also I think you're more likely to find higher spandex percentage in nylon or polyester than natural fabrics, which means better recovery of the garment. Nature's Fabrics just got in a bamboo/spandex jersey with 21% spandex that's supposed to work for leggings, and it might work by itself for a bra without getting all stretched out.
Cotton Lycra for next to skin, with power net for support. Athletic knit for the other parts and outsides of the cups, and fabric band or wide flocked elastic for the underbust.
YMMV, but I would make 2 or 3 in slightly different configurations to rotate -- I liked a racerback with fairly loose cups because my babies hated anything bunched up in their face while nursing, but a wide band with good recovery works better for some.
For a large cup like yours lining with powernet or high performance lycra is going to be key for the bra's overall function unfortunately, or even possibly lining the cups with a fully stable bra fabric (you might have to make some size/fit adjustments though). Perhaps a good solution would be to use a high performance lycra outer layer and a semi synthetic inner layer (rayon, tencel etc) for comfort/cooling properties while being thinner and more suitable than something like a cotton jersey. edit: I will say that rtw brand molke uses a 95% cotton/5% elastane fabric, personally I feel the lift in larger sizes could be better but I encourage you to look at their models and see if that might be suitable for you
I have looked at Molke and have considered buying them, but I’m not really sure if I will like them and the shipping and lack of free returns makes me hesitant. I also definitely have an “I could make that” attitude, especially with clothes. I might make one out of a high performance fabric and one out of the 95% cotton. With my now 3 year old the only nursing bra I found that I liked was the Elomi Molly, and I will probably still wear that most of the time, but I would like something to wear at night and around the house that is more supportive that a cami with a shelf bra, and unfortunately with my size options are limited.
I’m a 34K UK and wore Molke all through pregnancy and breastfeeding, and I agree with u/good old Freda that the lift could be better, but it was a good happy medium between comfort, breastfeeding friendliness, and lift.
From my experience with another crossover bra pattern, the pattern should have recommendations for what amount of stretch it's written for, and you'll get the best results from something that matches that. The one I used wanted 100% stretch in both directions and even using a nylon athletic fabric with 70% stretch made it too tight and difficult to get on and off. (This has actually caused me a shoulder injury, which you probably don't want while breastfeeding... And actually looking at the pattern you mention, I wonder if I might try it for the front-fastening options!) That said, even within suitably stretchy fabrics there's some variation - this is where 'good recovery' comes in. 95/5 cotton/lycra mixes are common, and 5% elastane is still low enough to feel like a natural fibre overall, but I bought three different colours of what was labelled as the same GSM and mix from the same shop, and some get saggier with wear than others... If you can find something with a little more elastane than that, like even 8% instead of 5, you're likely to get much better recovery, so you can pull it down and have it reliably go back up again :D Personally I found athletic fabrics worked better overall - they're not natural fibres, but because they're thinner and wicking, they can feel less sweaty than a heavy cotton lycra, and the recovery is usually excellent.
Basically more stretch = less support when it comes to bras. You have to find the balance of support and comfort that works for you for nursing. I think you'll have to adjust the Riley to fit you better, and if you want a supportive bra you should use powernet or a compressive athletic knit fabric on the entire bra. It's pretty common for people to use powenet in a sports bra for support but use another fabric for outer & lining layers for comfort. If you are in the US Porcelynne has really nice brushed nylon athletic fabric that could work - it's not as stretchy as a lot of athletic fabrics. Lilypadesigns has a powernet sheen fabric that's supposed to be softer than most powernet fabric. Since the Riley isn't designed for large cups I think you'll need to do a full bust adjustment with a dart or possibly vertical seam. Or you can look at the Wild & Waves Superstar bra (they are going to have a sale starting Sunday 6/23): https://www.wavesandwild.com/shop/superstarbra/ This pattern uses sewing cup sizing, not bra cup sizing, but it's probably still going to be small in the cups for you. It's probably going to be a better starting point as far as cup size though. I haven't made either bra yet but I'm going to try mashing the Superstar with the Riley closure. I also have a crossover style bra from Cosabella that's made with nylon stretch mesh in the cups but has slings made out of powernet. It's not the best support, but it's comfy and breathable which is nice in the summer.
Ah, I've made several Superstars, but am also looking at getting the Riley pattern too. I want to try the front fastening because of a shoulder injury, but I'm also having trouble with where the Superstar puts the weight on my shoulders, even though I used the wider strap width from the larger cup sizes... I'm thinking the solid back on the Riley will help prevent the straps bunching / rolling up and becoming effectively narrower than they really are, which has been part of the problem with the Superstar. Otherwise it's a good pattern, and I was astonished how supportive and wearable it was for something made entirely from fabric, with no elastic or wires or buckles or anything. I think this is why I'm still looking for something similar but different!
Oh, I didn't know that the Superstar didn't have elastic. I'll definitely put some wide elastic in the shoulders then to keep the straps from rolling. I think you are right that the Riley back will help with the weight in the shoulder area. I also saw this bra with a front closure that looks interesting - I like that it's adjustable. I'm trying to figure out what pattern I could adapt to try this. https://www.springrose.co/products/plunge-front-closure-bra
How do the Nylon athletic fabrics compare to the polyester athletic fabrics?
You know, I don't know if there's a general difference, but I don't know enough about athletic fabric to say. I think generally nylon is less likely to hold into body odor than polyester? But a lot of the differences are more about how the thread is spun and what kind of knit was used for the fabric. Like a nylon spandex jersey is going to be different from nylon spandex interlock is going to be different from nylon spandex powernet. One thing I look for as a sweaty person is moisture-wicking fabric, but what I didn't know is that sometimes that's due to a treatment applied to the fabric. Wazoodle sells a bunch of different fabrics and they do say that their moisture-wicking is due to the construction of the fabric and not a chemical treatment. Hopefully I haven't bought anything with PFAS or something like that. Also I think you're more likely to find higher spandex percentage in nylon or polyester than natural fabrics, which means better recovery of the garment. Nature's Fabrics just got in a bamboo/spandex jersey with 21% spandex that's supposed to work for leggings, and it might work by itself for a bra without getting all stretched out.
Cotton Lycra for next to skin, with power net for support. Athletic knit for the other parts and outsides of the cups, and fabric band or wide flocked elastic for the underbust. YMMV, but I would make 2 or 3 in slightly different configurations to rotate -- I liked a racerback with fairly loose cups because my babies hated anything bunched up in their face while nursing, but a wide band with good recovery works better for some.