French Terry Swimsuit Cover

I have been living in Perth for nearly a year now.  This year I'm going to be a bit more prepared for the weather and dress accordingly.  I have learnt that Perth can be cold, even in summer.    I swim early in the morning, and not only can summer mornings be cool, but the wind is often blasting across the ocean. 

This week I dug into my winter clothing to pull out a long sleeved knit dress to throw on to get to the pool.  This gave me the idea to use some French Terry from my stash, previously earmarked for a winter sweater, for a swimsuit cover up. 

I used Simplicity 8790, which is a Sew House Seven pattern.  I modified the pattern to use ribbing on the neckline, cuffs and pocket openings  I cut a size M, grading out to an L.  I ended up taking the side seams in a little, which reduced the pocket opening, but because of the stretchy ribbing, I can still easily get my hand in.  I didn't have enough fabric to make the kangaroo style pocket, so made my own pattern piece for individual pockets on each side.  They are just one layer, top-stitched to the dress, which both reduces bulk and drying time for the terry.  The rib on the neckline has a cross-over detail, similar to the original hood, but this detail doesn't show up well in the photo.

Side photo to show pocket openings.

See below photo for stripe matching.  I didn't get too obsessive about stripe matching; just enough so that it doesn't jar the eyes.  This requires fudging the raglan seams on the front and back, easing in as required and then stretching as required, which is okay in a stretchy knit.  I bought this See You At Six fabric from Maaidesign (still available).  It has stretch in both directions, which is good because I cut this dress across the fabric to get the stripes horizontal.

These photos were taken at the beach, but I actually swim in a heated pool next to the beach...I haven't acclimatised enough to swim regularly in the ocean yet!

Simplicity 8634

I went a bit crazy when I saw all the beautiful printed lycras online at Pitt Trading.  Now I have to sew all the swimwear and leggings!

I recently purchased Simplicity 8634 for $6 in a Spotlight sale.  It seems a terribly good bargain, with leggings, sports bra with cup sizes and t-shirt included. 

My measurements were between M and L, and I sewed up the M.  I had to take in all the vertical seams.  My lycra is very stretchy, but even so, I would recommend sizing down in this pattern.

The leggings pattern includes large side pockets, which I love.  The pattern uses wide elastic for the waistband.  I cut a strip of lycra and encased elastic for my waistband.

I love a bit of matchy-matchy, so I made the sports bra out of the same fabric.

I normally wear a 34B bra, and after reading other reviews of this pattern, I decided to cut out a 32B, and I'm pretty happy with that choice.  I made a few modifications to the pattern.  I eliminated the V piece in the front.  I didn't use the binding on the armholes, instead I changed the order of construction and sewed the lining and outer together with a seam.  For this reason, my straps are narrower by a seam allowance than the original pattern.  I made the bra using 3 layers of fabric; the outer lycra, and inner soft nylon lycra lining and power mesh between the two.

Another happy fabric project :)

Floral Bomber

Once again, I'm late to jump on board a trend, but never mind.  Here is my take on the floral bomber.

The fabric is a printed tricot athleisure knit fabric from EmmaOneSock.  The navy / silver ribbing is from Craftymamas.  

The pattern is Simplicity 8418, which I picked up for a couple of dollars in a Spotlight sale.  I was choosing between this pattern, Burda 6478 (which I got at the same sale) and the Jalie Charlie Bomber. This one and the Burda had raglan sleeves, which I wanted. When I compared the Simplicity and the Burda pattern, this one was more fitted than the Burda. I liked the pockets on the Jalie, but shipping of Jalie patterns is so expensive that I usually buy a bundle all at once and I wasn't ready to order a whole heap of Jalies just at the moment.

I have hardly ever sewn a Simplicity pattern. My bust measurement put me at a sz 14. Sz 12 was the largest in my pattern envelope, so I started with that.  I should have made a muslin, but being a simple design, I thought I would get away without one. There were lots of changes on the run.

- I didn't line the jacket

- Square shoulder adjustment

- Prominent shoulder joint adjustment

- I changed the pockets to welt pockets. I used the Burda pocket piece and Jalie instructions to draft my own pattern piece. I used 1 cm welts, but I wish I had chosen 2 cm welts.

- I shortened the jacket by 2 cm. I would have liked it shorter, but the pockets were already in place, which was a bit limiting.

- I shortened the sleeves by 2 cm.

- My rib bands were a little narrower due to fabric shortage. I made the rib bands a little longer than the pattern because I thought my rib was not overly stretchy.

- I took the sleeve seam in by 2.5 cm (total width reduction of 5 cm), all the way up to the under arm, which raised the underarm by 2.5 cm, tapering back down to 0 as I sewed from underarm to waist.

Attaching all that ribbing was a very familiar process...I must have made a lot of sweatshirts as a child in the 80's...the Knitwit era!

It was pretty hot putting this jacket on for photos today, but it will be snuggly if the weather ever cools down.

Simplicity Skort

I thought that I would never sew for teenage children, but it turns out that clothes shopping with / for teenage daughters is not so fun either.  Sizing is a big part of the problem when you are moving on from the style of children's clothing and too short for adult clothing.  This is one outfit I have sewn that has been regarded as a success.

The skort pattern is Simplicity 1370.  When I measured her hips, it put her between a Sz 4 and 6.  I decided to cut the 6.  My mistake.  I am pear shaped, so I always measure the hips.  She is more rectangular, with little waist definition, so she could hardly zip it up to the waist.  I had to let out the seam allowances as far as they could go.  Based on waist measurement, I should have cut a Sz 12.

She loves the pockets!

The top pattern is one that I evolved from a dress I made her a couple of years ago and is basically a princess seamed strapless bodice.  Lots of pin-fitting as we go.  At the last moment, I decided to let the seams out a bit at the hem level, and now she finds it too loose.  I guess I could unpick the hem and take the seams in again.

I put in press studs at the back.

This cotton fabric is still available from EmmaOneSock.

Cynthia Rowley tank...

Isn't it a bummer when your favourite shot of a garment shows you with your eyes shut...

Or with some weirdo look on your face....

Or a person sleeping in the background....

Never mind.  Crap photos but I still like the top.

Pattern:  Simplicity 2593

Fabric: lightweight knit from EmmaOneSock.  Possibly it shrunk quite a lot in the wash, as the fabric width seemed unusually narrow, and I could only just get a tank top out of it.  EmmaOneSock has a minimum yardage of 1 yd and I have very little in the way of scraps, so thinking more about it, it really must have shrunk!.

This pattern was designed for wovens.  I cut a Sz 6 in the width, using the Sz 12 line for the neckline and length of straps.  I haven't sewn with Simplicity patterns much before, but usually I start with a 12 in the Vogues.  My neckband is a little narrower than the pattern suggested, only because I had a shortage of fabric.  Neckband and bindings were cut on the cross instead of the bias.  Instead of using the guidelines for the gathering, I just put the top on and adjusted the gathers to where I wanted them, overcoming my usual fitting problems in this area.

What more can I say?  Love the neckline.  Will probably use this pattern again.