First I made this gorgeous one-piece. My training suit was perishing and I was in quick need of a new one. I woke early one morning, about 4:30 am, and thought, "If I don't waste time, I'll be able to quickly sew up a swimsuit before I go to the pool this morning". I was efficient. I would have got this make in under an hour, only when I went to put it on to determine the strap length, I couldn't get it up over my hips. In my hurry, I had pulled out my daughter's pattern and not mine. To make matters worse, she has grown so much since I last sewed her a swimsuit, that it doesn't even fit her. I am hoping this fits one of my nieces. The fabric is from Funkifabrics.
Next I tried the Megan Nielsen Cotteslow pattern. I chose a size based on my bust, but as I later discovered when I sewed a Jalie top, I need to sew for my upper chest size, not my bust. I know other sewers have said that they swim laps in their Cottesloe, but it does not work for me. It is too high under the arms. I started to chafe just driving to the pool, and was glad I took a back-up swimsuit with me. I have since passed this onto a friend. The fabric is from Tessuti.
Then I was thinking more of a beach bikini, and I made the SwimStyle Celeste Bikini. I first made a size M, based on my bust size, but it was so big that I couldn't wear it. After comparing the patterns to some others I have used, I decided to have another go using size S and shortening the straps. This fit okay, but the style does not really suit me. The fabric is a new ribbed lycra at Funkifabrics. I haven't made bottoms to match this one, because I am not sure what to do with it.
I was getting a bit frustrated by this point, so I decided to return to an old pattern. I don't think I have ever blogged this one. It was a mash-up of a Jalie, my self-drafted, with some style lines from Lily Sage's Coco racer, which at the time had only been published in girl sizes. This fabric is from Funkifabrics and left over from jammers I made my son, but it turns out I really like wearing sharks!
I have since purchased the Lily Sage Spring Racer, but I don't think it has as much bum coverage as my mash-up, so I decided to stick with my mash up. Here is my new swimsuit. It is very comfortable and fits perfectly. Once again, the fabric is from Funkifabrics, this time leftover from sewing for my daughter.
Then I decided to make another version with a tie back, because my daughter tells me she finds it really convenient being able to adjust the tie. To work out how to do the tie-back, I looked at an Amanzi suit that she was given that is too big for her. I tried it on and was surprised how well it fit, so I did a rub-off and now I have another pattern that fits. The legs are a little higher than my other pattern, and the back cut a little lower, but the bum coverage is good. This fabric is from Pitt Trading.
I was getting good mileage from my lycra remnants and scraps and found that I could just squeeze a training bikini from these Funkifabric scraps. The top is Jalie 3886 Julia, following the Jalie tutorial to remove the bust darts and making the straps with rubber elastic and nylon lycra. The bottoms were cutout suing the one-piece above as a guide, with some shaping added to a CB seam because I did not have enough fabric to cut the back in one piece.
I bought a Blu-print subscription for the year and watched Beverley Johnson's class on sewing swimwear. I followed some of the steps in her class to modify the Megan Nielsen Cottesloe pattern to have a keyhole back with a clasp closure and sewed a swimsuit for my Mum as her Christmas present. (I am hoping that she doesn't read my blog whilst she is away from home so this won't spoil the Christmas surprise. I have put it way down in the blog post). I also sewed in a shelf bra in addition to the lining and added pre-formed cups. This is a bit tricky to do when you don't have the person to try on the swimsuit, but I guess if they are in the wrong place, she can cut the shelf bra out and have a regular swimsuit.
So at the end of all that I have 3 new swimsuits for training, 3 suits to give away and an orphan bikini top.
Wow, you are all set for the water now in good looking 'original' bathers.
ReplyDeleteThanks Sam!
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