The Forest Mint Swimmers

It's summer, so it's time for new swimmers!

The pattern is a Cynthia Rowley for Simplicity, S8928. I had been looking for a nice one-piece that was simple and practical. I almost flicked past this pattern when looking in the catalogue because it is paired with a poorly styled and underwhelming-looking caftan, but then I noticed the interesting colour blocking. 

The lycras are both from My Hung in Hurstville. The forest green was a remnant piece which made it an easy first pick for half the suit. I then spent probably half an hour carefully looking through all My Hung's lycras to find just the right complementary colour including rich rose pinks and different purples and blues before settling on this slightly shimmery mint. It does have a higher sheen, but because it is in the same family of greens-with-just-a-hint-of-blue the shine is not distracting. I had considered using a third lycra for the leg bands - I have some bits and pieces in my stash - but in the end I felt adding a major contrast would take away from how well the two greens complement each other. 

This time I didn't make a straight size unlike for most patterns. I'm both long-waisted and have particularly small shoulders, so I needed it as small as possible at the top but it needed to reach all the way to and fit properly on my hips. I started from a 4 at the shoulders through to the high waist, then gradually lengthened and widened to reach an 8 at the crotch, while the leg band pieces I cut out in size 6. The result is suitably snug but with enough length to reach and cover properly.

I followed the instructions closely, except for the lining. The pattern as written is self lined, but I thought two layers of centre seams would look and feel far too bulky, so instead the main front and back pieces are lined with swimsuit lining. To make sure I cut them out the right size, I first sewed the two front and two back pieces together so I could use them to trace the lining fabric. This made sure everything lined up correctly and I didn't end up with straps starting or ending in the wrong place. The leg bands I did as the pattern suggested and self lined with lycra, which gave the swimsuit a neater finish both inside and out.

The instructions were straightforward and mostly easy to follow, apart from adding the elastic to the leg bands and sewing the crotch seam. The main fabric and lining pieces are sewn separately before being sewn together at the legs. The elastic is then stitched to the leg lining so it is encased in the garment. To join the crotch seam it is pulled up through the neck between the lining and main fabric and sewn in a circle. It was a bit confusing and I needed to reread the steps a few times, but the actual process was very easy in the end. Because the lining and outer are made as separate pieces I did some additional stitching at the top of the leg bands on the inside to keep them together and stop one sliding out of place.

I sewed this up almost entirely with my overlocker, which worked incredibly well. It made sure all the edges were neat, and the lining was far less likely to slip out of place than doing a zigzag stitch on a normal machine which avoided any unevennes with the fit. The elastic is stitched in with a zigzag stitch, using matching threads for each side and paying attention to make sure I started and finished the stitching at the centre seam. 

While this summer has been wetter meaning there have been fewer days to wear it, I did get to try it out last week on a 38 degree day. It held up well in the water, and the lycra didn't feel too hot to wear. Hopefully there will be some more sunny days and it can get some more use before the end of the season!

Tropical Splash Swimsuit

Yay I made a new swimsuit! This is the Splash Swimsuit by Lily Sage & Co. It comes in both one piece and bikini. She released it last Northern Summer, so I'd been waiting for it to warm up before putting it on my sewing list. Then I needed to make a few work-appropriate clothes (more to come soon), but I finally got around to starting it last weekend.

I bought these fabrics at My Hung in Hurstville which has a huge range of lycras. When I went looking for fabric, this wasn't really what I had in mind. The pattern has the option to do the straps and waist and side bands in a contrast fabric which I'd decided to do, but I'd been thinking of using a fabric that was, well, at least a bit more restrained than this one. I was thinking block colour contrasts and colourful but muted main fabric, but once I saw this fish+flowers+waves+seaweed+gold foil nothing else looked interesting. And with the contrast accent again I did try and look for something that would tone it down, but nothing looked like a good match. So instead I went the whole hog and got some fluoro orange to match the fluoro orange fish. Very grown up.

Making the suit itself was pretty good. The instructions are well written, although I did need to reread how to do the straps a few times just to reassure myself that I was doing the right thing. But it was easy to follow. Sewing lycra, swimsuit lining, and swimwear elastic isn't easy - they do all have stretch, but different amounts which can make it awkward to keep things in place. There's a fair amount of basting in this pattern, which is helpful in address those issues, though.

I made a straight size 6, the smallest size. I'm long waisted, and so one piece swimsuits are often a problem for me as if they're long enough they're far too wide, but if they're fitted enough they're often too short. I'd seen a few others made up and lots of comments that the bottoms are quite high waisted. Because the pattern sat high I decided to not make any adjustments, but if I make the one piece again I will lengthen the bodice a little, maybe half an inch. As it is at the moment, the bodice pulls the bottoms up just a little bit over the waistline. It's not something that's a problem, but it is something that I'd fix in a future version.

I finished it off this past Saturday, finally getting the straps sewn. I won't post any pictures that give you a close view of them because, well my stitching is pretty woeful. I used a three point zigzag like the instructions say, and the stitching is fine. The straps themselves, however, are not so good. Trying to fold the lycra over the swimwear elastic, keep it even, keep it straight, and feed it through the machine takes either a lot more practice, or an extra five hands, or probably both. Either way, mine certainly don't look anywhere near professional. But they are functional, and they're tied up behind my back where I can't see them, so I think I can put up with them.

I made one change to the pattern, adding contrast bands on the legs. The pattern says to put in swimwear elastic and fold over the main fabric of the bottoms and stitch it in. But I tried the suit on and it was definitely already fitted enough and didn't need any elastic to keep it snugly in place. Also I was still a bit frustrated from sewing the straps and didn't want to use any more elastic unless it was necessary. Instead, I decided to cut a couple of extra pieces of fluoro orange lycra to act as contrast bands. Given every other edge has the contrast orange, I thought the legs needed the same. So I cut out the extra pieces, stitched the ends together to make one piece, stitched them right sides facing to the bottoms, then folded them over to the inside and finished off with a three point zigzag.

Although I finished the suit on Saturday I wasn't sure when I'd get to photograph it. Although Sydney's had a very tropical summer this year - constant temperatures up in the mid-high 30s followed by big thunderstorms - by the time I get home the storms are in full blast. And then this weekend was a bit grey and not really the right weather. Luckily not only is today a public holiday but it's also been fairly warm and sunny, so I took the opportunity to get the photos done.

I'm also very lucky that we have a pool so I can get the pictures in the suit's natural environment. With bonus fake rock waterfall and ferns for a 'tropical' feel. I even gave it a quick test swim (our pool's looking a bit dirty because of all the storms) and it did fantastically, no loosening or slipping out of place.

Overall, I am very happy with this suit, even if the straps are badly done. They're on, and they work, which is the important thing. And I love the slightly garish tropical fabric! I have a fair bit of it left - who knows, I might even make the bikini version and give myself a matching set.