You may be wondering how I'm doing on that 9 in 6 sewing challenge. The answer is, er, not so well. I am terrifically behind. I've finished one thing, at least: the Bombshell swimsuit. So I will pay penance by posting a picture of me in my swimsuit on the internet.
Heather Lou from Closet Case Files had a sewalong in June, but despite my having bought the pattern mere minutes after it went live, I didn't get around to buying fabric until late July. At which point it sat for a bit, despite all my planning. I really wanted to take the suit to Lindystock, though, so I finally got off my duff and sewed it up last week. And here we go:
I love this pattern. It's really straightforward to sew, Heather Lou's instructions are really clear, and her cat keeps making cameos in the pictures. Also, the ruching is really flattering and the bottom doesn't rise up. Even when you bend over to apply more bug spray. What's not to like?
I made the less-popular version B. I've seen only two other versions, not including Heather Lou's. It does have a certain Jean Harlow quality to it, what with the deep plunging neckline and all, but I know from past bathing suit experience that this is the most flattering neckline for my dainty chest.
Taping and cutting out the pattern and fabric took me through two and a half movies, with a pause for a bit of dithering about what size hip to cut, since I fall between two sizes. I decided to cut a size 8 and hope for the best. I also did not grade to a size 4 bust, instead just cutting a size 8 everywhere on the main suit and size 4 on the halter cups. It seems to have worked out.
I bought far too much fabric for one suit. It was not entirely my fault; Designer Fabrics didn't have "swimsuit lining," so I was going to self-line it, but that meant I had to buy 3.25 yards because they couldn't leave less than a yard on the bolt. I wound up using less than a metre because of frugal pattern placement and because I managed, barely, to squeeze the correct amount of lining out of half a yard of nude stretch mesh stuff I remembered that I had. So now I have a ridiculous amount of this not-quite-burgundy 4-way stretch not-exactly-swimsuit material left over. The woman not-cutting my fabric said that it would make a nice skirt, and I might just do that. I also have way too much thread because it turns out that I already had two spools of this exact same shade left over from my medieval dress.
Anyway, once I cut it out, I wound up staying up all night to sew most of it -- up to the halter cups -- and it really only took so long because I am a genius and somehow inserted my needle backwards and it kept skipping stitches and it took me a stupidly long time to figure out what the issue was. I tried the suit on before putting any of the elastic in, and it was nicely snug, even at the top of my ribcage. I decided to cut the elastic around my ribs a little short to make it extra-secure.
Speaking of which, the elastic I used was strange. The DC's notions guy assured me it was swimsuit elastic, but it doesn't look like the stuff in the pictures, and it certainly isn't 1/4". It's more like 3/8" with a silicon band down the centre. It seems strong enough, and anyway I don't do much swimming in chlorinated pools, so hopefully it will last a long while.
I spent the next day alternately napping and dithering about getting some foam liner for the halter cups. I don't need support, but I like the way they look in my RTW bikini tops. In the end, I decided I wasn't sure how well they would blend in and decided to go without. So I wound up staying up all night on Thursday to finish the top. Because I am crazy like that.
The inside of the suit is a bit of a mess, finish-wise, but it seems to be holding together. I heard a few stitches popping as I put it on the first few times, but that seems to have stopped now. I used the lightening stretch stitch on the seams (once I'd figured out the needle situation) and I'm fairly confident the thing won't fall apart any time soon.
I debuted the suit at Lindystock to much approval. Yay, swimsuit!
Other stuff I got to do at Lindystock:
Ride a horse! His name was Jerome and he was very cheeky, taking advantage of my inexperience to forage for food whenever he could.
Act as a living easel for the art competition.
Perform Log Driver's Waltz at the talent show
And dance, naturally. We meant to go canoeing, but overslept and missed our time, sadly. But sleep was very, very welcome, because amongst all the other things we did, we stayed up into the wee hours.
P.S. Gillian? Nudge nudge.
Heather Lou from Closet Case Files had a sewalong in June, but despite my having bought the pattern mere minutes after it went live, I didn't get around to buying fabric until late July. At which point it sat for a bit, despite all my planning. I really wanted to take the suit to Lindystock, though, so I finally got off my duff and sewed it up last week. And here we go:
I love this pattern. It's really straightforward to sew, Heather Lou's instructions are really clear, and her cat keeps making cameos in the pictures. Also, the ruching is really flattering and the bottom doesn't rise up. Even when you bend over to apply more bug spray. What's not to like?
I made the less-popular version B. I've seen only two other versions, not including Heather Lou's. It does have a certain Jean Harlow quality to it, what with the deep plunging neckline and all, but I know from past bathing suit experience that this is the most flattering neckline for my dainty chest.
Taping and cutting out the pattern and fabric took me through two and a half movies, with a pause for a bit of dithering about what size hip to cut, since I fall between two sizes. I decided to cut a size 8 and hope for the best. I also did not grade to a size 4 bust, instead just cutting a size 8 everywhere on the main suit and size 4 on the halter cups. It seems to have worked out.
I bought far too much fabric for one suit. It was not entirely my fault; Designer Fabrics didn't have "swimsuit lining," so I was going to self-line it, but that meant I had to buy 3.25 yards because they couldn't leave less than a yard on the bolt. I wound up using less than a metre because of frugal pattern placement and because I managed, barely, to squeeze the correct amount of lining out of half a yard of nude stretch mesh stuff I remembered that I had. So now I have a ridiculous amount of this not-quite-burgundy 4-way stretch not-exactly-swimsuit material left over. The woman not-cutting my fabric said that it would make a nice skirt, and I might just do that. I also have way too much thread because it turns out that I already had two spools of this exact same shade left over from my medieval dress.
Anyway, once I cut it out, I wound up staying up all night to sew most of it -- up to the halter cups -- and it really only took so long because I am a genius and somehow inserted my needle backwards and it kept skipping stitches and it took me a stupidly long time to figure out what the issue was. I tried the suit on before putting any of the elastic in, and it was nicely snug, even at the top of my ribcage. I decided to cut the elastic around my ribs a little short to make it extra-secure.
Speaking of which, the elastic I used was strange. The DC's notions guy assured me it was swimsuit elastic, but it doesn't look like the stuff in the pictures, and it certainly isn't 1/4". It's more like 3/8" with a silicon band down the centre. It seems strong enough, and anyway I don't do much swimming in chlorinated pools, so hopefully it will last a long while.
I spent the next day alternately napping and dithering about getting some foam liner for the halter cups. I don't need support, but I like the way they look in my RTW bikini tops. In the end, I decided I wasn't sure how well they would blend in and decided to go without. So I wound up staying up all night on Thursday to finish the top. Because I am crazy like that.
The inside of the suit is a bit of a mess, finish-wise, but it seems to be holding together. I heard a few stitches popping as I put it on the first few times, but that seems to have stopped now. I used the lightening stretch stitch on the seams (once I'd figured out the needle situation) and I'm fairly confident the thing won't fall apart any time soon.
I debuted the suit at Lindystock to much approval. Yay, swimsuit!
Other stuff I got to do at Lindystock:
Ride a horse! His name was Jerome and he was very cheeky, taking advantage of my inexperience to forage for food whenever he could.
Act as a living easel for the art competition.
Perform Log Driver's Waltz at the talent show
P.S. Gillian? Nudge nudge.
lol - "So I will pay penance by posting a picture of me in my swimsuit on the internet."
ReplyDeleteYour suit looks great on you and I really like the color you used! I'm sure it will last you a good long time because you sewed it carefully and weren't a factory work mindlessly cranking a stack of suits out. =)
That's an amazing colour. Love the suit. :)
ReplyDeleteThanks, Brooke and Andie. I love the colour, too.
ReplyDeleteI guess true penance would be posting rear views of the suit. Maybe I'll take some at the beach this weekend.
It's really well done! I'm no closer to finished on mine, but I'll get there one day!
ReplyDeleteThanks. Get cracking, lady. You will not regret it!
DeleteLovely! Great colour on you (and your elastic choice should be fine). Swimsuit fabric is hard to use on anything but swimsuits though. Ask me about the many, many yards I have sitting in boxes at the moment.
ReplyDeleteThank you, and thank you especially for the pattern. The woman at Designer Fabrics said that it wasn't technically bathing suit fabric, although it could be used for bathing suits. I have a skirt I use for swing dancing made out of something similar, so I might try to copy it.
DeleteOr maybe I'll just make a few more bathing suits. One can never have too many, right?