It is now September and I’m sad that it’s time the public pools are closed, the summer heat is waning, and the official start of our fall season is not far away. I love the summer season, and hate to see it go, but September is happily National Sewing Month, at least. Thus, I’ll see off the summer of ‘22 here on my blog by sharing one last swimwear set. I squeezed this project in before the end of August for our last visit to the public pool.
THE FACTS:
FABRIC: a modern, very dense, stretch poly print for the fashion exterior and the inside lining material was a 92% poly & 8% spandex content
NOTIONS NEEDED: lots of thread, a waistline’s length of elastic, and a handful of buttons
TIME TO COMPLETE: about 12 hours in total time – this was finished in the end of July 2022
THE INSIDES: all raw edges are cleanly hidden inside the lining, so it looks so perfect inside
TOTAL COST: The printed swim material was something I have had on hand in my stash for far too long to remember its cost anymore, but at half a yard I probably bought it at a very good deal! All the other notions I used were from the stash I inherited from my Grandmother. The two tank tops for the lining as well as the foam bra cups were my only true cost and came to a total of $8.00…how amazing is that!
I know I had said in a previous post I hoped to go all out and make a golden 1950s style Butterick #6067 by Gertie this year. I ended up not having the time or energy for something so involved…and just succumbed to sewing a relatively easy two-piece set even bolder – but from the same era – as my last bathing suit (posted here). With each swimwear piece I make, I am experimenting with techniques to improve the quality of something as inherently tricky as swimwear is to make. Now I can proudly say this set is the best I have done with swimwear yet. This doesn’t feel handmade – it feels deluxe. It is so comfortable and easy to wear. The print is so fun, too (though sadly our pictures aren’t showing how blue the colors are in real life)! It is has such complimentary design lines that are interesting yet subtle and so tasteful – something which melds well into feeling like a very modern interpretation of a vintage style.
I love how the design is just slightly more risqué than my last two piece of 1960. The skimpier top is just enough to ease me into a proper bikini, yet there is still a high waistline and full coverage fit to the bottom half that I am comfortable wearing. My husband actually surprised me with this swimsuit pattern one day about 5 years ago – it was something he picked up when stopping at a local antique store – so I suppose this was obviously a vintage sewing project that equally appeals to both of us! True love is when your better half encourages your passions, in this case my sewing. He knows how ridiculously happy I get over sewing supplies. He was hoping it was from a year that I needed at pattern from, and was so close to being spot-on – this pattern is from 1964 and I was needing something from 1965. I have since found an appealing 1965 pattern to use in the future to fill that blank spot in my decade page, but can we all give my hubby a hand for having a good trained eye? I must be wearing off on him, he he.
You can tell I am getting more at ease with sewing swimwear because I had to re-work some ready-to-wear items just to finish sewing this set. Once something becomes a refashion project, you know there is a good story behind that project. Nothing will stop me when I have a mission on my mind and a project idea I desire to see fulfilled sooner than later! You see, I have specific blocks of free time for sewing, so that free time of mine often happens to be in evenings when the local fabric stores are closed. That often does not stop me because I have a good stash that almost always has what I need in an emergency sewing situation.
This time, I realized halfway through that I did not have plain white lining material for the inside of my swim set pieces. I only had one more free evening to complete my swimsuit before we would have another open evening to go visit the pool. I am getting good at estimating how much time my sewing projects will take and realized I could only finish the suit if I had found what fabric I needed that night. I had this new suit in my craw and needed to see it done! The knowledge that I had everything else on hand ready to be assembled was reason enough to go out of my way to sew what I did not technically need. Why do I sometimes decide what I want to wear from out of my fabric stash instead of my actual wardrobe?!?
We stopped by our local 24-hour Wal-Mart store – I dislike setting foot in this store otherwise, so it proves how crazy and determined I was. Where there is a will, there is a way, as the saying goes. My husband (again) aided my project by finding some athletic wear tank tops which were perfectly suited to be swimsuit lining. Clothes can be regarded as supplies just the same as raw cut material! They were soft brushed in finish, with the right fiber content, and there were only two side seams to the tank tops – simple enough to fit more than one pattern piece. Two tops were enough to do the job.
Then, I found a discounted sports bra that I could cannibalize the removable foam liner cups from to use for my swimsuit project as well. This swim top was going to have soft, minimal structure and the little foam cups – stitched directly onto the lining during construction – were there just to keep a level of decency. My swim set ended up better for cobbling my supplies from ready-to-wear than if I would have shopped at the fabric store.
I love how challenging circumstances can squeeze out a whole new level of creativity that creates a pride in my sewing more than if I had gone about things in a conventional way. Once I begin to see swimwear as not all that alien to garment sewing after all, and only that it merely needs certain materials that are not my everyday supplies, I was able to turn my bikini into a refashion project. Seeing it this way not only saved the project but also saved lots of money (at $3 per tank top) and I was able to enjoy my new suit for our last pool visit after all. Sewing saves my sanity and this newest suit gave me my necessary creative passion for that week, but getting to a good final place was really challenging. Hubby was a very helpful project assistant this time, without which I would have had a different week!
I didn’t use the old instructions and instead did some modifications to level up many aspects to this old pattern using what I have learned from the last two swim suits I have made. Firstly, this bathing set is my first to have no visible stitching showing. Leaving off the top stitching is contrary to what I feel like doing (I still want to think I need to stabilize every seam to the max for swimwear) but is one small step which really creates a smooth fitting suit with a professional finish. This is something not just to be appreciated at a close distance (thank goodness)!
Then, I adapted the bodice to the bathing suit to be a true front wrap closure for ease of dressing. The pattern calls for a mock wrap front with a button closing back, but I did that closure for my last suit and was not completely thrilled with the results. Doing the suit my way makes it truly unique, too. I tried to do an internet search for a wrap-on swimsuit and couldn’t find anything. Now, that idea may sound like an invitation to a wardrobe malfunction in the water, but I made sure the closures would be secure yet also versatile in fit. There is a line of buttons along each wrap end so I can vary the sizing depending on how I feel like wearing the top, and I made a sturdy chain loop. Flat buttons, sewn down very tightly, also make the loop closure more secure as well. There is enough stretched tension in the wrapped swim top that I am confident when I wear it. The success with which it stays in place on me in the water was really tested out when I went for a trip down the big water slide!
Before any cutting out or sewing could happen, though, I had to dramatically resize the original 1964 pattern, figuring how to make it work for a stretchy modern swim material. First, I traced out all the pattern pieces I needed onto sheer medical paper. Next, I added in 4 inches to grade the size up for a proper fit. Then, I subtracted the “wearing ease” so my pattern would be compatible to working with a stretch rather than a woven. I kind of knew how to figure this out after doing my 1960 two-piece set (posted here). It’s a good thing the pieces were so small to work with because otherwise this step would have been a pain. Even with grading up, I was surprised that everything fit onto my small ½ yard cut of swimwear material…just like all the rest of the swimwear I have made!
I portioned out the making of my suit in easy increments. First, the pattern tracing, re-sizing, and cutting out took two hours altogether. The assembly of the top and bottom in the printed swimwear took 2 hours, then doing the same thing to the white lining was another two hours. Tweaking the final fit of the pieces took an hour, while bagging the lining and the printed swimwear together took 3 hours to stitch, clip, and turn inside out and adjust. Finally, another two hours went into all the finishing touches.
My husband took a good amount of time to avoid me having a meltdown when my water soluble ink pens were not washing out of my finished suit. I recently tried out some LEONIS brand marking pens and it seems that between the fact they were new and I was working with polyester, the blue ink is mostly gone but still a bit of a permanent shadow. The time I spent in the pool was the only way that most of the markings came out. I do not recommend the pens at all. Nevertheless, I do highly recommend sewing your own swimwear – I have only had good experiences doing so, and what I make always turns out fantastic and wonderful to wear. Sewing in small increments – yet getting something significant done at each step – makes creating swimwear capable for anyone, even the most time crunched person!
Swimwear is something so particularly suited to the personal tastes of each individual, yet buying just what you may want to wear for some fun in the sun may be non-existent or just something that could easily burn through a budget. I hate to be repetitive, but seriously – creating swimwear is everything that sewing is all about, and definitely not as hard as it looks once you know what materials to use for success. I know summer may be past for where I live but it is yet to come for the hemisphere opposite of me, so hopefully this post will inspire someone to find their own dream swim suit to sew. What (if any) are your plans for the rest of National Sewing Month?
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