After a lot of hand holding with the sewalong..my bombshell swimsuit is finished! Phew! This is one lovely pattern which is not only nice to wear, but importantly is very very forgiving to some very amateur elastic sewing and gathering!
Hats off to people who can sew swimsuits and leotards because my sewing is not great on this. I am not a fan of 'invisible elastic'. It was never where I thought it was going to be. Urrgh, next time I will have to buy something that I can see!
But having said that, it does come together reasonably easy and I'm glad in the end I went with this fabric bought from Tessuti as it was nice and thick and relatively easy to work with. The lining on the other hand was a slippery nightmare.
The instructions call for the elastic at a 1:1 ratio across the bodice. 80% stretch is optional. I'd say do it. Stretch it! I did a ratio that was closer to 90% and it was too gapey. Way too gapey. It could still be less gapey but I didn't want to unpick again.
I also inserted cups into the swimsuit. I struggled a bit to get the cups in straight and even, as the lining was already attached to the fabric. Next time around I'll mark things out better. I wouldn't mind a little bit more lift in that area but I'm happy for a first attempt.
And what great bottom coverage. I'm not going to do any behind shots, but rest assured there is lovely coverage of the bottom
All in all, a better fit than my store bought ones and I love this style on me. If I can deal with the elastic I'd definitely make these again.
So, after all that talk, here it is. The front 'skirt' is pulled down quite a lot, but obviously you can wear it higher. I'm looking forward to testing it out in the water rather than outside on the deck (in the evening, in the middle of winter!!).
