Bra Extender in 4 Ways for Weight Fluxes

I’m one of those people whose weight is in constant flux. Instead of purchasing new bras which I may or may not like, I wanted to keep using the ones I know I love. All I needed was a way to extend them without constantly losing the extenders to the laundry. Here are three easy, low cost, & quick ways to do it, which I’m surprised I hadn’t done before making a ridiculous number of purchases for extenders to do the same.

Keep in mind all the supplies are suggestions; use what you have. Just make sure you're comfortable in the bra. If you need more bras and are sick of losing your old ones because it's too small, this could work for you.

1. Elastic
2. hair elastics (2mm thick is perfect)
3. harvested from the bands of old boxers or Hanes briefs
4. anything that will catch on the hooks.
5. swatches from diy yarn projects
6. lost socks
7. lost mittens
8. old sweaters
9. Tools to tie it all together
10. yarn, sturdy string, or quilting thread
11. crochet hook (2.5 mm or whatever goes through the bra loops)
12. sewing needles
13. safety pins
14. Optional ingredients
15. thin wire (for jewelry or floral)
16. fabric glue (or crazy glue)
17. flame (lighter or candle)
18. sewing machine

Gauge how much of a gap you think you have to make up for, and find as much of the material you think you need to make it work.

You could also use an old set of boxers or similar Hanes style underwear that have a large and easily seam ripped elastic from its top.

Use safety pins and take note of the amount of material you'll need.

Another way to decide how much room you might need is to find a bra that fits better and compare lengths. It's always best to have more than less in this case.

Attach the material directly to the loops with whatever will work. If you want this to be a removable fix, consider using hooks or a set of parts from a discarded bra.

Here are the three methods as promised:

A) The easiest fix would be a relatively thin hair elastic as pictured above. I simply looped it into itself through one of the bra loops. If you want to make sure it's centered, you could loop it through both if you only have two, use two hair elastics, looped into themselves or not as needed. Pulling it taut is probably enough, but if you're afraid of losing it, you could sew it in.

B) However if you prefer something a little less loosey goosey, you might opt for a piece of knitted or crocheted work. If you're using a bit of a piece of sock, I recommend cutting and sewing it to size. The most important thing you can do for that piece is to sew the edges so they don't run.

If nothing else, try burning or gluing the edges, being sure that the glue is washing machine safe. This might be a bit fussy, but you would probably still want to tuck the edges up and sew them so that you don't feel them after doing that.

The beauty of this method is that most kinds of knitted or crocheted swatches will have the loops built in, so no need to do more than attach it to your looped end of the bra.

C) Any other piece of elastic may work; the difficult part will always be how do I affix it and what will work as per what the hook will fit? In the picture I've shown above, there is an extra large (too thick) elastic, and while this might last longer than the smaller elastic, it won't fit the bra hooks. So my work around in this was to tie knots to one side. This is probably the fastest way.

If you know how to crochet you could also crochet enough loops around it that would catch. Another way to make a loop that will catch is to simply wrap the elastic with the yarn winding it over and over, and assume your hook will catch.

D) The "Goodfellow" elastic is from the top band of an old pair of boxers, which instead of seam ripping, I chose to cut the fabric below as closely as possible. I've used it for multiple projects, and this one felt especially important for me. I used some wire and poked it into the band, curving it to stay into the band like a staple.

Whatever wire you choose, it might help to glue or sew it in place so it doesn't move easily especially with the pressure of holding your girls back.

Whenever I sew, I try to make sure I have just enough to keep the ends in place and knot it securely as possible with the time I have. A sewing machine will also make quick work of this if you happen to have one handy.

Try it on and make adjustments as necessary. Elastic is forgiving. Hopefully you've found the proper fit without much fuss. Enjoy!