7.18.2016

my first sewn swimsuit.

i made a swimsuit, folks! an itty bitty teeny weeny popsicle suit. and i'm pretty excited about it.


spoonflower was recently running a special on their sport lycra fabric, especially well *suited* for swimwear, and i couldn't pass it up. especially with this popsicle fabric by the little arrow design company. it just screams summer fun.

*margot's new favorite thing is to 'pose' for pictures. she's great at it 

i drafted the pattern myself from margot's swimsuit from last summer that still fit. i then read and re-read every online kid's swimsuit sewing tutorial ever written and sewed it in my head over and over again before working up the courage to cut into the fabric (that's normal, right...).  i found the awesomely detailed tutorials from creative chicks' blog the most helpful, especially the leg opening and continuous bias strap tutorials. i love that fantastically talented people share their knowledge online. thanks for being awesome!


all in all, it was a pretty straightforward sew. the only thing that almost drove me crazy was that my double needle wouldn't work with the spoonflower sports lycra. no idea why. it would sew a single line, but not the second. it worked just fine with the black fabric, which is from joann's, but a similar weight, stretch and sheen. i spent way too much time trying to figure it out, to no avail. i ended up just using a zigzag stitch around the legholes. but if anyone has any suggestions, i'd love to hear them. i did read that there's such a thing as a stretch double needle, so maybe that'd work.


i did realize after the fact that with the way i attached the elastic (per creative chicks' tutorial), i didn't need to add seam allowances to the arms and neckline, so the neckline is a little higher and wider than i needed it to be. next time.
 

i'm really happy with the finished product. it really looks like something store bought. the spoonflower fabric is a dream to work with. it's stretchy, but fairly heavy weight, so it doesn't curl or deform while sewing. it also has a 54" printed width, so one yard of fabric would probably make four or five toddler sized swimsuits.

 *fist bump with dad, aka the toddler wrangler during poolside photoshoot

margot is also a big fan. i finished it late one evening, and she insisted on wearing it around the house. and the next day she nonstop asked to go swimming with her new popsicles.

*we named the floaty animal thing (margot says it's a duck...) steve. margot now regularly asks for steve

she likes it even better in the pool. i'm pretty sure this kid is part fish.


anyone else sewing any swimsuits? anyone else fall victim to the spoonflower sport lycra sale? anyone up for a fabric swap? i'm not sure how many years i can make margot a popsicle suit from all the leftover yardage.