A custom fit swimsuit

The culmination of July’s Knit Month was sewing my own swimsuit, but due to motivational difficulties in the photoshoot and photo editing post-production, I’m afraid the photos are a few weeks late!

You might remember when I sewed my muslin suit that I used KnipMode 06/2008 #1 and lengthened the bodice pieces by one inch.

I haven’t worn one piece suits for a few years, but I remember RTW suits from high school always being a bit short in the torso, so I’m not surprised this would be the same, despite my never having to do long-torso alterations for anything else.

I do wish, however, that I’d taken some photos of myself in the muslin suit because you see things in photos that just don’t appear in a full length mirror sometimes.

The culmination of July’s Knit Month was sewing my own swimsuit, but due to motivational difficulties in the photoshoot and photo editing post-production, I’m afraid the photos are a few weeks late!

You might remember when I sewed my muslin suit that I used KnipMode 06/2008 #1 and lengthened the bodice pieces by one inch.

I haven’t worn one piece suits for a few years, but I remember RTW suits from high school always being a bit short in the torso, so I’m not surprised this would be the same, despite my never having to do long-torso alterations for anything else.

I do wish, however, that I’d taken some photos of myself in the muslin suit because you see things in photos that just don’t appear in a full length mirror sometimes.

Like the side view – where my boobs completely disappear. Whoa! If I actually wore a swimsuit more than once a year, I’d definitely add a mesh lining and bra cups to this suit for the above reason (as it is, only the crotch portion is lined with some beige swimsuit lining). But overall, I’m pleased with the rest of the fit – the leg openings and straps are comfortable, and it doesn’t pull in any strange ways, and the seams all lined up nicely even with my alteration. As it is, I’m happy to wear it for the very, very occasional times I ever see a pool or beach – this year, I haven’t even the foggiest idea when I’ll first get to wear this since we’re not going on holiday…

I learned a great technique for swimsuit straps in the Pattern Review forums, though! In my muslin I just created a tube of fabric, threaded the elastic in, and topstitched, which was okay but looks a bit wrinkly when slack. For this final version, I instead serged the elastic on while I was creating the tube’s seam (you could also just zigzag stitch this if you’ve only got a sewing machine), making the folded tube the same width as the elastic. Then flip it all right side out, and voila – it’s all neatly attached and without any wrinkles!

I’ve still got enough of the swimsuit lycra from eLingeria to make at least one or maybe two more suits, so I might go for a bikini next summer if I’m not too swamped with wedding sewing. Speaking of which, I’ve got some fabulous detail shots of my grandmother’s vintage gown later in the week…

Leave a Reply