sports bras with pockets?

imgonnamakeit · July 2008

Hi Ladies,

I've been trying to find good sports bras that have pockets. I used to wear the Champion Shape Scoop sports bra with the molded cups for support but now it's too scooped in the front.

I called Nordstrom to see if they could put pockets in all the Champion sports bras I have - I don't want to waste them. They said yes so I went down there yesterday and they charge $16 for one pocket!! In addition, I have to bring them the material for the modesty panel and then they'll charge a separate amount to do that. Does that sound like a lot of money or am I just being cheap?

How are you all finding seamstresses that do this kind of work? Do you just call around? I have a great tailor that I've known for years but I'm not too comfortable asking him about putting in pockets for me.

Thanks,

Nancy

abinneb · July 2008

Hi Nancy - I'm not in your group but I wanted to ask you something. I sew (LOVE to sew) and I was wondering if this type of thing would be a good thing to donate - maybe leave my name at the Cancer Society and tell them I'd do this for women? I am imagining what the pockets might be like but I suppose I could look at the mastectomy store and see pockets already in bras?

If you have a minute to let me know I'd appreciate it. I'd like to do some volunteer work with my own talents.

I'd love to help you - wish I didn't live so far away.

Amy

RIV54 · July 2008

Nancy, I work for a supplier of mastectomy bras and prosthesis. I'm almost positive you can get a mastectomy sport bra and your insurance should cover 4 a year. That would be little or no cost to you depending on wether or not you have a copay. The retail price for these at our store is around $42.00. I used a foam form inside my sport bra without a pocket. It stayed in OK. I hope this info helps. $16.00 seems a little steep for just a pocket.

caaclark · July 2008

I have not had pockets sewn in my sports bras and instead just bought some mast. sports bras. My favorite is the Naturalwear. I believe it only comes in gray but that happens to be my favorite color for sports bras so it works for me.. Anita also makes a sports bra but I like the Naturalwear much better. That surprised me since I love the other bras that Anita makes but for some reason the sports bra is not my favorite. I use my sports bras mainly for running and I use the swim form in them instead of the regular form.

imgonnamakeit · July 2008

Hi Ladies,

Thank you for your kind replies. Amy - I think it's a great idea if you have the time. Yes, if you go to Nordstrom, they will show you bras that have the pockets for a prosthesis. Sometimes there is an opening on the side, sometimes the opening is just to the right of the strap and sometimes they have both.

Gina - I've seen the mastectomy sports bras but what I really want to do is utilize my previous Champion sports bras. They have an amazing cloth molded cup inside that really supports the breasts. With a pocket sewn into the right side, the prosthesis I use (it's covered in material) won't be noticeable so my need is twofold. I want to be able to use all my sports bras I already have AND - the cloth cups inside will keep the outline of the form from showing. Of course it's too scooped now so I'll also need a 'modesty panel' put in.

I've purchased a few camisoles with pockets as well as two of the lightweight prostheses however everything is pretty expensive and the boutique I go to is not in-network. I've not met my out-of-network deductible so everything is going to run about $250. I guess I'm trying to pennypinch right now.

Thanks again,

Nancy

starzhere · July 2008

Well, that bites! I found five places that sell the pockets, but I guess websites can't be pasted, because I can't leave my post. It says I have disallowed content. Google mastectomy bra pockets and you will come up places they can be ordered. They ranged in price from $8.95 to $11.00. If you bought one, you could probably buy cloth and use it as a pattern. I'm sure it wouldn't be hard to hand stitich one in.

~elaine~

Texgirl · July 2008

My experiencewith Nordstroms was $5.00 for each bathing suit cup..I think the $16 sounds high..it is free if u purchase the clothing item at their store......

I bought stretchy fabric at the fabric store and just sewed a pocket into my old suits and it worked fine ( if u didn't look too close ! )

I worn my prosthesis just tucked inside my athletic bra ..no pocket at all and I had no problems .

mthomp2020 · July 2008

The American Cancer Society has an on-line catalog - TLC - that sells pockets, I think they cost about $13-$16 for 4 of them, that you can sew in yourself.

I actually found some sportsbras at JC Penneys that worked out great. I too like the molded foam cup, and I did buy one of the Champion bras. But they have a brand at Penneys that's their own I believe that has molded foam cups, and the cotton lining is loose rather than bonded to the cup. I just cut a slit in the side and folded it over and hand-stitched it so it wouldn't come apart, and voila - instant pocket! Plus I got the bras on-sale for $12 each. I like them better then the Champion bra, plus didn't have to sew a pocket in it, and they were cheaper as well. The bra actually looks nice enough to wear with regular clothing, since the cup is smooth and shaped. The band is adjustable as well, which is another plus over the Champion bra.

imgonnamakeit · July 2008

Hi Ladies,

I went to my tailor today and he said that he doesn't have the special zig zag stitch (or is it foot) that is needed for sewing the pocket into the sports bra :-( He's such a nice man and he felt so bad - he took out the yellow pages because he said places that make swimsuits will have that zig zag stitch. He also pointed out that this particular stitch allows the material to stretch even though the thread itself is not stretchy. We found a custom bikini shop that I'll call tomorrow and see if they have this but you ladies have given me great ideas.

Mthomp2020 - the Penny's sports bra sounds great. Do you happen to remember the style number or the style name? I'll look online as well. I hope it comes up much higher than the Champion Shape Scoop sports bra but, if not, I can add a panel in myself. I'm more worried about the pocket and making it really last. I don't know that my hand stitching is even all that great.

Thanks again!

mthomp2020 · July 2008

The bra make is Underscore, but I don't know about the style name. Your hand-stitching doesn't have to be all that great. The cup liner is loose, so all I did was cut a slit along where it's sewn to the side of the bra under the arm, and then just folded it under and stitched it. Seems to be holding up just fine.

I have a sewing machine with several elastic stitches on it, but it won't stitch through the thick layers of the bra, so I still end up having to hand-sew. I've hand-sewn pockets into a few bras - a bit of a pain, but doable.

yellowrose · August 2008

I sew but I am not an expert by any means. Since there are no proth. bras made in my size, and I am too cheap to pay extra to have pockets sewn, I decided to try a $6.00 experiment.

I tackled putting in pockets myself with some trial and error. I bought some white cotton spandex material, made a sort of pattern to fit each particular style of bra, turned the bra inside out and used a very close hand whip stitch. The only real problem I encountered was the first one I sewed, I put the stretch part of the fabric the wrong direction. The opening didn't have the "give" that it needed to allow the form to be inserted. I cut out a new pocket allowing for the stretch and it worked great.

I paid 6.00 for one yard of fabric and even with the first couple of miscuts, I had enough material to sew 5 bras with leftovers for several more in the future. If you can sew at all, it's worth the effort and time.

jerseymaria · August 2008

i have the jcpenney mastectomy catalog in front of me. i think the sport bra you're asking about may be the freedom lounge bra. #570-white, #571-beige, #572-black. $29.99 to 31.99

the online phone # is 1-800-932-4115 and the web is www.jcp.jodee.com. they'll be glad to send a catalog ... that way you can see the different bras. they even have bras with built in forms...don't know about those. maria

oh forgot...if you have medicare they take care of the filing...not sure if they file insurance with no medicare.

mthomp2020 · August 2008

I looked at the Penney's website, and they don't have the bra listed that I bought. I found it in the store. So you might need to go to a store to find it. The Underscore brand only had 1 sports bra listed on the website, which is a zip front one. That one wasn't that comfortable for me, I liked the foam molded cup bra better. So you'll probably have to go to a Penney's store to get it.

I think most of the molded foam cup sports bras are all scooped, from what I've seen. So that may be a problem. It didn't bother me, since the tops I wear them with won't show it anyway. I certainly couldn't wear anything low, though.

patm · October 2008

I recently found a sports bra with prosthesis pockets that I love. It's by Moving Comfort, and the name of the style is Grace A/B. I think this is Moving Comfort's only bra with prosthesis pockets. It also has a front zipper closure. Although the style is available in larger cup sizes, only the A/B has the pockets.

The bra provides enough coverage and looks good enough (= unlike standard underwear), the I am comfortable wearing it without a shirt--and that was a very important feature for me, as I bought it primarily to wear as a swimsuit top on a multi-day river rafting trip. I did not want to wear my tankini top* on the trip, as I was afraid the extra, close-fitting fabric around my torso would be either too hot (day hikes) or too cold (when wet from rapids). And I didn't want to wear a regular bra; for the sake of modesty (there were 23 other people on this trip!), I was much happier being able to wear the sports bra while river bathing or changing shirts for different activities.

I haven't tried wearing the bra while running, as I'm quite happy with Amoena #2149 for that. But it seems like the Grace would provide good support.

Pat

*The tankini top is Lands' End, also has prosthesis pockets, very happy with it and primarily wear it for yoga classes.

Sandra56 · October 2008

There is a sports bra in Canada manufactured by the Been-A-Boob lady. I've been curious about the prothesis, whether it really looks that good..., and would you hear those beads clattering? Although, in the movie on their site they look really natural on the ladies who are on the exercise equipment.

Anyway, the mastectomy sports bra with pockets they developed seems to be plenty high enough in front, and under the arms, to be able to exercise without fear of exposure. The prices seem higher than most sport bras.

Has anybody bought one of Janac's sport bras or the Been-A-Boob?

The URL is: janacsportswear.ca/

Erica3681 · October 2008

Sandra56,

If you do a search (using the Discussion Boards "Search" function) with the keyword Janac and limit your search to this forum, you'll find a number of threads than mention the Janac sports bras. Most women who have tried them seem like them enthusiastic.

Sandra56 · October 2008

Thanks, Barbara.

I hadn't even noticed the little Search Function on the discussion Boards and limiting the search to this forum found lots of information on the sports bra and Been-A-Boob. Thanks for the tip!

Sandra

patm · October 2008

Has anyone tried or even looked at the "sportssiere" bra by Handful? I just learned of it from a www.solutions.com catalog. To quote from the catalog,

"For sports and for every day, this sleek bra provides the support of a compression bra with a natural, separated look. Designed by a female athlete, it even features removeable inserts that shape and enhance your figure while preventing nipple show-through."

...and those inserts go into what look like standard prosthesis pockets.

More info is available at www.handfulinc.com (including a list of stores that carry it) and at the solutions.com site (http://tiny.cc/cUoJ4, if you don't want to have to dig through solutions.com to find it). Note that 4 of the 5 "customer reviews" at solutions.com are direct quotes of the testimonials on the handfulinc.com site...

What I'm wondering is whether the pockets can indeed take a regular prosthesis and how good the compression is. It looks basically like a shelf bra; without adequate compression that would not be adequate for my remaining, 58-yo breast!

Assuming no one reading this has already purchased one of these, I'm hoping it will be convenient for someone to go to one of the stores to check the sportssiere out and report back.

Pat

sports bras with pockets?

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