Bathing Suit pt 2: The real reason I don't like princess seams

Good morning lovely people.

Over the past few days I've gotten together the first mockup of the baiting suit. From the original, I didn't alter the size too much. I added more for my boobs and flared out the skirt some more. 

 The back was nearly untouched.

Time to start sewing. The first thing I did was baste around the arms and back. They are cut with a curve, and I didn't want those to stretch out while I was trying for fit. I want this suit to fit very well, so I'm making sure I account for everything.

Once I darted the sides of the front and attached the center panel, I gathered up the cups and pinned them into place.

Presto! This looks really good everybody.

Now time for the back.

The dart on the back of the suit is kind of strange. It flairs at the back but the panel that attaches to the side is actually on the dart's center creating a seam like fold for it to lay on. So you get a panel look on your bum...Um...

Ummm....

Once I stitched it all together, I had a top. The mock up went together in around 40 minutes and my grade was pretty good...except for a few things...

1) I need more cup for my boobs. Here I'm wearing the top with my bra, but if I weren't, my boobs would be dripping down the front. The panel is a good 1" from the fold of my under boob, so I need to bring down that front bit and add more fabric (but not too much) for the front.

Here you can really see the side boob issue, and Strong Bad :)

Also, the gathers need to be extended to the sides of my boob. Right now the suit design makes the boobs very boxy with all the gathers at the boob's apex. The dart under the arm is supposed to compensate, but for me it does nothing and I feel gives me too much gather at the front. I plan on cutting the front panel a bit beneath the dart, extending the gathers from the front to the sides of my chest.

2) This is why I hate princess seams on me. This frock seems very unflattering to me. I need to sculpt the waist a lot more and actually take some flair out of the skirt. The back where the darts are does not work on me either. Sorry, no pictures of that. I'll have to work on those things in the next mock up.

3) This suit is going to have a zipper up the back. I think that will work best for me. Place a panel inside to save my skin from zipper teeth and I'm good. I'm also thinking about adding some light boning in the back.

As far as the first fit, I'm pretty happy. The shoulders are taunt and the coverage of my chest is good. I really like the wide shoulders. They seem classy. Because this was so easy to make, I might have time to make two for Viva!

First things first, let me do the next mock up :)

Have a great Saturday!!