what we're doing today: Swimsuit version 1 and 2

Swimsuit #1

I made my muslin and learned a lot. Big take aways were to use my serger to attach the lining to the outer fabric, it keeps it from bunching up tons. I also figured out the whole "how to put it together" thing. Believe it or not following the directions helps. I put my under bust elastic on the wrong side of the seam allowance and while it didn't affect fit, it did affect the aesthetics.

I have no pictures of the first suit. I followed the instructions to make the full bust adjustment and that seemed to work out pretty well. But overall the whole suit was way too big. I took all my measurements and fell in between two sizes so I went with the larger of the two and graded the pattern out a bit towards the bottom. That was silly. It looked ridiculous. I often think, even with the numbers in front of me, that I am much bigger then I am in reality.

I also added an inch to the length but it wasn't as long as I would have liked it and I hadn't even hemmed it yet. It was all ok because I really didn't expect to have the first suit fit at all and I was impressed with how much it actually looked like a swim suit.

Swimsuit #2

I hacked up the first one to make the second one. I kept the bust cups the same size and re-cut them out of the fabric of the belly and back of the first one, hence no pictures.

I traced out the smaller size that I fell between measurement wise and DID NOT add anything to the bottom width. I did add on three inches to the length and that was perfect. But this one was too big too. It felt like the minute I got into the water the belly would float right up.

I am not stretching the fabric out here with any tension, I'm just holding the excess away from my body.

I think the boobs are too big now though and maybe I should do a high bust measurement, instead of a bust measurement and go with that with the full bust adjustment. I tried stretching the elastic at the top of the bust cup more in case that would help the fit, but it doesn't and it looks lumpy so I won't do that next time. I also used 3/8" elastic under the bust instead of 1/4" elastic and that made a huge difference on the fit and support for the girls.

And yeah, that's my poor girls with a little support.

But one of the modifications I did do which I liked was I made the straps much thicker. I just have them tied behind my neck halter style because at this point it was pretty obvious that I wasn't going to do all the finishing of this version since it was still too big. When I make it again I'll crisscross them in the back. They're just basted in place right now, which is why the stitches are showing when you look at the picture.