I have actually been ahead of the sewalong for the entire week. I was too impatient. I must say it's really fun to make this swim suit and not so difficult. Before I finish the suit and prepare myself (technically and mentally) to make some photos I thought I'd write down some thoughts on the process and the challanges I faced.
Cutting the pattern and the fabric was quite straight forward so there's not much to say. I made one stupid mistake in the beginning though. I have actually read that others made the same so I will admit it to you. The front lining piece has a dart in it and Heather put this in her pattern in a way that it looks like there is a triangle cut out (see below graphic).
So I cut out my lining fabric exactly like this. Duh!
Consequently, I had to put the two dart legs on top of each other and sewed them together. The "dart" is not visible in the suit afterwards so I don't give a f**.
I am really glad that I bought those stretch needles! I had used Jersey needles before but I was never quite happy with these when sewing knits. With the stretch needles my machine doesn't leave out a single stitch and there's also no other bitching around.
I realized that I had the perfectly coloured thread already at hand. On the roll it looked like a different colour than my fabric but it turned out nicely.
After I had practiced a bit with the fabric and the needles I made a note for myself with the types of stitches that I would need. This helped me remember how to adjust the machine and to guarantuee consistency along the process.
About the ruching part: gathering the sides of the bodice parts actually works like gathering any other fabric. What gave me a hard time was the 1/4" (0.6 cm) seam allowance. To squeeze in two basting lines in this seam allowance really requires me to concentrate a lot. When I had the fabric pieces gathered I pinned them to the lining with a lot of pins to keep everything in place. You really have to be careful here not to stretch or crinkle the lining piece.
When you sew the two back pieces together you have four layers of fabric, two of them gathered. And ALL of them stretchy. Again, this step requires a lot of accuracy and you have to go really slow.
However, as Heather has expressed it nicely in the instructions - when you're done with this step you can already cover your butt! Yay!
After that you sew the crotch part to the front lining. Again I used a million of pins here also in the middle so that nothing would slip away.
Here comes another mistake that actually required the use of a seam ripper. In the pattern instructions, there is a chart that tells you a) to draw a line for the gathering on the front and b) where the tab should be sewed on the suit (see below). However, if you're smarter than me than do notice that you draw the line on the LEFT side of the fabric and the tab is attached to the RIGHT side of your fabric.
After pinning all layers together and again sewing with HIGHEST care along the side seams you are actually ready to try the suit on for the first time.
The elastic in the above picture has been already partially sewn into the leg openings. Attaching the elastic was not a problem at all, although a third hand would have come "handy".
Trying the suit on for the first time I was actually quite pleased with myself. The lining fabric feels fantastic against the skin and the fit was just perfect. I sewed in the rest of the elastic at the bottom and then also around the bust. I tried it on again and I was really disappointed about the fit in the bust area. Above the bust, there was way too much fabric which was just dangling to the outside. If I had attached the straps to the bodice as it was ,the bust line would have stretched all the way up almost to my collarbone. I actually have pictures but I just rated them as inappropriate (and my boyfriend did too).
I wanted the bust line to be almost a straight horizontal line though, just as the official photos for the pattern show.
So, I ripped out that elastic again and opened a part of the side seams. I took in some of the front bodice and cut a bit of fabric from the top. This required me to do another bust dart but this one is also not visible in the final garment now. This is roughly how I cut the top part:
When I sewed in the elastic for the second time I actually stretched it a bit, which is not required in the instructions. Now, the suit fits perfectly and stays up without the straps (when standing still at least).
Now that I've sorted this out all that is left to do is attach the straps and the tab in the front. Whoohooo!
So, there will be another post with my result this weekend!
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