More swimmers, 2019

It took me a while to find my groove sewing swimmers for me this year.

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.

Massive swimwear sewing session

I have had a massive swimwear sewing session, completing 6 sets of swimmers, two rashies and some men's briefs!

First up, the boy swimmers.  This boy always has a lot of fun choosing his fabric from Funkifabrics.   He loves the bright colours and wild designs.  These are pretty bright, which made it easy to pick what lane he was in during a recent carnival.

Last time I made some of these, I promised Sofie a photo of how I make his pattern.  I start with Jalie 2563.  I combine all the pieces, adding the gusset to the back leg.  The I cut off the boy bit at the front and cut it on the fold with a lining.  I add a drawstring, for security when diving into the pool.

Here is a second pair for him, in a shark print.

My teenage daughter is after more fashionable prints than fun prints these days.  Again, this fabric is from Funkifabrics.  I adapted her pattern from Jalie 3673.  I combined all the pieces of the front.  For the back, I combined the pieces, but also reshaped the side bit of the back and the curve more to her liking.  It was a bit of a hack, so I can't give you a good picture of my pattern manipulation.

I made a matching rashie for her second swimsuit, in the hopes that she will wear it when she goes to the beach with her friends.  Fashion is more important to her than sun protection at the moment, so I can only hope.  The rashie was made with Jalie 3668.  She wanted something longer than the cropped version and shorter than the full length version, so I started with the longer version and cut it to length.  (The cropped version is tighter fitting around the midriff.)  I was struggling to fit the sleeves on my fabric, so they are finished with a long cuff.

The matching bikini top is a mash up of Jalie 3672 & Jalie 3247.  When I bought patterns 3672 and 3673 from their latest collection, I was hoping that they had interchangeable top and bottom pieces, for the leotard and unitard, but unfortunately they don't seem to.  They each have a similar shaped seamline separating the top and bottom parts of the pattern, but it appears to be in a different location for each.

Making my niece swimmers for her birthday has become a tradition.  This next pair is based on Jalie 3247, with modifications to the neckline to match the higher necklines that are fashionable at the moment.  The bikini bottoms are based off a RTW pair I traced off several years ago..

This next project was a bit of fun.  My brother-in-law loves doughnuts, so I made him these briefs from the leftovers of last year's swimsuit for my niece.  The pattern is the boxer briefs designed by Joost of Makemypattern.  I haven't actually seen them on, so I can't make comment on the fit, but they have been worn and I haven't heard any complaints!

The next swimsuit is mine.  It is based on the Lily Sage Splash Swimsuit.  I made a couple of changes.  Initially I was only going to change the straps by crossing the neck straps over at the back and looping them through a loop where the side strap would attach and tying it at the CB.  This was so that I wouldn't have a tie at my neck, which always gives me a headache.  

Then I was worried about being so pear shaped.  I could easily choose a different size for the top half and the bottom half, but being high-waisted, I thought the small top on the full bottom might not be to my advantage.  Then I took inspiration from a Mara Hoffman swimsuit, which is very similar to the Splash swimsuit, but has smaller cutouts and a different back tie.

Here is how I changed the pattern.  I lengthened the pattern, possibly a tad too much.  I really need the length in my bottom half, but I added to the top half instead to do some more pear balancing out.  I extended the sides.  I got the angle of this a bit wrong, forgetting that side seams are sloped and not straight up and down.  The fold in the pattern below is what I probably should have done.  The photo below is for the lining.  The gathered outer pattern was a little trickier.  I nearly eliminated the gathered pattern and went to use the lining as outer, but because I was using a plain fabric for the top half, I thought the gathers would add a bit of textural interest.

I also added a shelf bra to the pattern, shown in the photo below.  It is okay, but it would be better if it was 1 cm longer and I pulled the elastic tighter.  For the facing behind the loops, I used a non-stretch lingerie mesh, to give some lightweight support to this area, as well as neatening up all those loop attachments.  The Mara Hoffman suit is reversible, so her loops are neatly hidden inside two layers.

The straps are not the neatest.  

This is what it looks like on.  The top half is not as taut as I would like, but if I shortened the bodice and adjusted the pattern as outlined above, I think I would get a better result.  You would not know how pear shaped my measurements are from the back view.  

All up, this suit was a lot of work and it has not ended upas  my favourite, but it is good to mix things up from year to year.  The flamingos are fun.

Next up is a rashie for me.  It is not the most flattering photo, as you can see that the waist elastic in my swimsuit is too tight, but I wanted to talk about it all the same, and this is the photo I have.  The pattern is Jalie 3668 again, with a square shoulder adjustment.  The most interesting bit is that the fabric is a thermo lycra from funkifabrics, with a fluffy underside for insulation.  I have always been a wuss for cold water, and my years living up north haven't helped.  The September holidays are always too cold for me to swim but we often end up at a beach anyway.  This thermo fabric really worked.  It kept me warmer in the water, and even better, it kept me warm when I was already wet and standing only knee deep in the water to watch the kids swim.

I got a lot done in my swimwear sewing marathon, but I didn't get everything made that I wanted.  The boy and the girl each have fabric for one more suit and I wanted to sew the girl a new leotard at the same time.  I love the funkifabrics, but they don't last especially long, so it might be better to sew their third suits mid-swim season anyway.  My oldest child has swimming for PE this term and doesn't own a swimsuit at all, but he doesn't like to wear my sewing, so I will just buy RTW for him.

Swimwear 2016

It is only 2 weeks off swimming sign-up, and I have ordered a heap of funkifabrics ready to make the kids new swimmers...and I haven't even blogged last year's makes.  Here we go...

I made this first pair to go on a beach holiday.  I love the fabric, which I got from Tessuti, and originally wanted to make a more elaborate design that I was trying to design / muslin.  But it was the day before the holiday, I was trying to get the kids to pack and help sort out the house, and there may have been shouting.   I decided to cut my losses and go with this simple halter design, that I originally got from Stuart's patternschool site. 

I left the fabric of the neckband raw, as halter necks tend to give me headaches, and this seems to reduce that.  A bit softer on the neck.  I used a picot elastic for the neck edge.

This next pair looks great, at 6 in the morning, but as the day goes on and my tummy swells up, the little diamonds do some sort of distortion thing and it doesn't look so good.  I should have put a ruched panel on the front.  The fabric is from my stash, but was originally marked Anna & Boy from the Fabric Store.  The pattern is Jalie 3350 .  I like the twisty bit and will make this again.

I made this next pair to swim laps in.  The idea is to do laps once a week, but in reality, it is the first thing I drop when I get tired or busy.  The fabric is from Funki fabrics.  The pattern could be my own, or adapted from a Jalie, I can't remember.  The kids took a photo of me wearing these at a rockpool one day, and it was less than flattering.  Probably should not wear bikinis in public.  There weren't many people there and usually there are only 2 or 3 people at the pool when I do my laps.

The next two pairs were for my son.  The fabric is from Funkifabrics and the pattern is my man-i-fied version of Jalie 2563.

This next pair was for my daughter.   It was adapted from OOP Jalie 2564 to have a higher neckline, which seems to be the current fashion.  I made another pair in donut fabric for her cousin, which she wore out, so then I made a second donut pair, but I don't seem to have any photos.  A daughter of a friend in the swim squad liked these city scape ones, so I made her a pair in the left over fabric.

We love the new prints from Funkifabrics and are all set to make the next round!!

Tropical Print Running Outfit

 

I was sent to my sewing room for a mental health day, and decided to make a running outfit for the Ecofest Trail run.  My family thought it was a great joke...I could blend in amongst the trees and  miss a few kilometers and no-one would be any the wiser!

The tropical print is from funkifabrics.  My daughter and I squabbled over who would get to use it. In the end, I bought some in the Titan weight for me and some in the regular weight to make swimmers for her.

The top pattern is Jalie 3679.  I used a dark grey supplex for the yoke, the tropical print for the bra, a wicking cotton for the bra lining and a slubby cotton for the outer tank bit.  I left off the hem band, because a hem band would make it harder to use the top as a sweat rag for my face whilst running :).  The top was actually a lot easier to sew than I expected.  The only time I struggled with the instructions was step 22 when it said to sew fabric and lining together.  It took me a few moments to realise that they meant the seam allowances of the yoke and yoke lining.  Here is a close up of the back.

The leggings were made using my favourite leggings pattern, first made here.  I made a few changes to the pattern, which meant that every piece had to be adjusted and re-traced, but I am really happy with how they fit, so it was worth the effort.  The best feature is the huge side pocket.  I prefer side pockets because I don't like the waist elastic too tight and waistband pockets tend to drag the pants down when I fill them.  You can just make out the pocket in the photo below, if you know where to look.  It is in the side panel that curves down into the mesh insert.

I love a bit of matchy-matchy, (and bright colours, and wild prints) and it is fun that I get to do this in my exercise wear when I try to show a little more restraint for my "normal" clothes.

Lycra 2015

This is a round-up post of my unblogged lycra makes in 2015.

1.  Swimsuit for me

Pattern:  top - self-drafted, based on my sports bra pattern, which I originally traced off from a RTW bra.  I wanted the high neck and cut in shoulders which are very fashionable in swimwear at the moment.  bottoms - modified from a Patrones pattern, to give more bum coverage.

Fabric:  nylon lycra from stash (I forget the original source)

I was really happy with these, as I managed to achieve the look I was after.

2.  Jalie leggings

Pattern:  Jalie 3462, Cora running shorts
Fabric:  Titan lycra from funkifabrics

My sister made up this pattern and loved it.   For me, this project was a disaster from woe to go.  I was making these from leftovers, and struggling to cut all the pieces.  In the mean-time, I made up the sports bra listed below and discovered that it was way too small and that the titan lycra does not have the amount of stretch required for this Jalie pattern. This pattern has a fair amount of negative ease.  I then basted the main panels together and tried them on.  Negative ease may be all very well for people who have muscles to compress, but I have a little bit more than muscle and this amount of negative ease was not comfortable or flattering.  I added a 10 cm strip to the side of each leg and used this opportunity to add side pockets, which I prefer.  The leggings then sat on my sewing room floor for several months waiting for me to work out what size to cut the leg cuffs and waistband and whether or not I could cut them from my scraps.  I added wide elastic to the waistband instead of the narrow elastic specified by the pattern.  I do wear these but they don't feel great and the photos show that they do not fit my butt particularly well.  Not sure if I will try this pattern again in stretchier fabric.

3. Stylearc leggings

Pattern:   Stylearc Monica Pant

Fabric:   Titan lycra from funkifabrics

You would think that I have enough leggings patterns in my stash by now, but I liked the style details on these, so bought the pattern anyway.

These turned out ok.  After basting together the main pieces, I found that I did not have enough butt coverage.  I took out the pink back yoke and replaced it with a deeper yoke, grading back to the pattern at the side seams.  It would have been more flattering to add to the triangle fabric rather than the pink yoke, but I was fitting on the go.  I don't like my leggings to be too tight around the waist (belly ache), so I can't really use the back phone...the weight of my phone is enough to drag the leggings down whilst I run.

4. Boys swim trunks - I made 3 of these


Pattern:  Jalie 2563.  I have shown you this photo of my pattern modifications before.  I combine the main panels, cut off a crotch piece, add some volume to the crotch and cut it on the fold so that there is a triangular front crotch panel, which I line.

Fabric:  polyester lycra from funkifabrics

This is how the first pair started out.

This is how they ended up.  That is a rip in the fabric, not a tear along the seam line.  Lucky I lined them.  I think this happened whilst he was swimming breast-stroke.  For the second pair I tried to add more room at the crotch, but they ended up baggy and chafing.  For the third pair, I went back to the first pattern.

I'm not sure why this happened to the fabric.  My kids swim 3 - 4 times a week and this happened after about 3 months.

I keep on making them though, because he tells me that none of the RTW ones we own fit him properly (he is very slight).

5.  Girls swimsuit - I made 2 of these

Pattern:  Jalie 3134, with several panels combined.
Fabric:  this pair, polyester lycra from funki fabrics.  The previous pair were a combination of lycras from funkifabrics and spotlight.  The spotlight fabric wore out before the funki fabrics fabric.

The first pair were Sz O, which were too tight, and this  one is Sz P, with a lowered leg line, and the back modified to eliminate side back waist gaping.  It is a bit long in the body, so I cut the straps shorted, which pulls up the back a bit too much.  She finds these more comfortable than her speedos.

6. Gymnastics longs

Fabric:  polyester lycra from funkifabrics
Pattern:  Jalie 2914

7.  Sports bra

Pattern:  Jalie 3247
Fabric:  outer is funki fabrics titan lycra, inner is supplex.

Sadly, this bra is way too small for me.  Instant head ache when I put it on.  Jalie 3247 is much more compressive than Jalie 2563, which I have used successfully before.  I did not realise this, nor that my fabric did not have the recommended amount of stretch, when I cut this out.  My daughter is hoping that she fits into this soon.

8.  Girls sporty bikinis - I made 2 sets of these (1 for my niece)

Pattern:  top - Jalie 2564, modified to have cut on straps  , bottoms - copied from RTW.
Fabric:  polyester lycra from funki fabrics.

These have been a hit and have been worn all summer.