The Swimsuit: Round 2

Here's where I am on Round 2 of my swimsuit. Round 1 was last year when I did the muslin and halfway finished the "wearable" second try. Don't think I'll actually wear my second try, and it might be destined to become a second muslin. However, I'm learning much from my swimsuit attempts and will get it right. This is new territory for me, just like making bras and panties.

Here is the muslin I created in the Summer of 2009. It ended up being obscenely low cut in the front when worn. Totally NOT wearable. I made the appropriate alteration by raising the neckline. Black elastic would have been better too.

Below is the swimsuit I originally intended as wearable (no elastic inserted into the openings yet). I learned a few things along the way while making this second one. I drafted my own bra lining. Um, let's just say I alotted for length and width but no depth LOL. The lining was too short. I cut a second lining. Again, it could have been even longer because of the shape of the bra cups. Another thing about bra cups. The U-shaped ones that are inserted like an upside-down U into the lining are shapeless. Let's just say I was wondering where my C-cups went LOL. Luckily, I bought three pairs of nice, padded swimsuit bra cups along with the generic ones last summer. Guess which ones I will be using from now on.

Also, I bought swimsuit elastic for the openings and also used it at the bottom of the bra lining. This does NOT work for me. It's just too darn stretchy and narrow. Really, do I want what I've got to fall below the bra shelf elastic??? Yes, it's that flimsy for a bra lining. Fine for other areas of the garment though. Check out a quality swimsuit or a tank with a built in bra shelf and you'll know what I mean. The elastic is about 1" in width. Same with sports bra elastics that go around the torso--about 1". I'm just going to use good quality 1" elastic for the bra lining bottom edge. It's not like I'm going to be swimming all the time in my swimsuit 'cuz I don't love to swim. The swimsuit will see minimal water wear.

Also, I nixed the high cut legs. I took a really good look in the mirror today, a REALLY good one! It was a day of reckoning for me. Nix the high-cut legs! Once upon a time I could do high cut well. My figure is still good, but it's not *that* good. The moderate leg openings will look better. Also, I'm still tweaking the bum coverage.

So back to the drawing board so to speak. I made more alterations to my swimsuit pattern. Raised the neckline even higher to accommodate the shaped bra cups better, redrafted the lining yet again, and gave the leg openings a more modest look. Here's the pattern so far:

Last but not least, here's the KS pattern I'm using and a Threads mag as a reference. Very typical for me, the KS pattern ran HUGE when using the measurements closest to my own. I had to alter from the M down to a S or XS in certain places. I know some people love KS for fit, but not me. The KS patterns always run so darn big on me.

That's it for now. Hopefully tomorrow I'll have something to show for my effort. The second "wearable" one will likely end up unwearable. I can't get past my mirror experience today with the high-cut leg openings 'cuz I'm not 23 anymore.