Bathing Suit Pt 4: Constructing a real suit.

After two mock ups I'm finally starting on the real suit and I'm excited! 

Viva is  just under two weeks away, and I gotta look the part!

I picked a middle range stiff woven cotton for the suit mainly because of how the fabric handles. It's not too heavy, but has a great pattern to hide any flaws I may make.

Also, because this is a non stretch suit, I wanted the fabric to be sturdy and hold up after many launders.

I first cut out the pieces of the fashion fabric, then, using some softer cotton for the bodice lining, I cut those out ending at the waist markings.

I overlocked the lining to the fabric so they would move together. From there I added the necessary basting stitches and sewed the needed darts and other preps.

For the construction of the suit, I stitched the seams as normal then folded over the seam allowance and did at top stitch. This way I get the extra reinforcement, mild shaping, and I don't have to worry about a popped seam (I'm paranoid about that).

Like the mock up, the main shell of the suit went together rather quickly.

The zipper I choose to use for the back was a but sturdier than my dress zippers, but not industrial. Again, I didn't want to spend anything, so I had to use a yellow one. It's a vintage zipper with a locking pull, so it worked fine.

I altered the length and covered the bottom so I would not get poked.

Now time for a try on.

Not too shabby. I'm still not totally happy with the boobs. this time I'm wearing the suit without my bra and I feel I need some more support so I'm going to sew in an elastic bandeau at the gathers. Other than that, I'm quite pleased with it. The narrowing of the flair of the skirt was a good choice, too. But one thing I didn't compensate for was the back. The back of the skirt was WAY shorter than the front which was already short, so I'll have to do something creative for that, and I have a pretty good idea.

Because of time, and because I recently got two big freelance sewing projects (money money money!) this is gong to be my only bathing suit for Viva. I'm cool with that, so I'm going to make it as cute and eye catching as I can. I hope me in it won't take away from that :)

Okay, I'm off. More suit sewing to do.

Have a great day!