I prefer wearing underwire bras; I know many bra-wearers don’t. (I don’t care unless you reply to tell me that my bra choices are incorrect.*)

A well-fitting underwire brassiere gives me the support I want and doesn’t poke me.

Eventually the end of the “wire” (a piece of flat metal cut in a curved strip) will wear through the end of its channel, despite its plastic coating. That’s when it starts to stab me in my armpit. Ow!

Bras don’t last forever, but as long as they still fit well enough, I think they’re worth repair.

For this mend:

1. cut a short length of single-fold bias tape, color doesn’t matter. If you don’t have bias tape on hand, a small piece of fabric is fine; it just needs to be big enough to fold under all the edges and press with an iron. (Bias tape comes with two folds already made.)

2. Hold the patch over the hole in the channel. I find that pins get in the way and the patch is small enough to hold without them.

3. Stitch the patch in place by hand using whip stitch. Thread color doesn’t matter either.

By the time the underwire wears through the patch, the bra’s elastic will have given out.

#mending

* People can get bent out of shape about the most unexpected things. This warning is here because of past experience elseweb.