Sewing the Bombshell Swimsuit

My, oh my, the summer has flown by. I cannot believe we're almost halfway through August. Someone stop the clock, please!! 

We've spent plenty of time in our backyard this summer. Sprinklers, popsicles, and slip n slides, takin' it back old school style.

This month started with me participating in the #BRAugust challenge, hosted by Ying from Tailor Made Shop. She has a website, a blog, and an Etsy shop. I purchased bra making kits from her in the past. She is a sewist who creates and sells beautiful things for the lingerie sewing world. Yay for bra making!! Although, for the challenge, I did not make a bra. I opted to make a swimsuit. I've never made a swimsuit and I needed a new challenge.

First, I purchased Closet Core's (formerly Closet Case) Bombshell Swimsuit PDF pattern online. The swimsuit comes in a PDF only. I love the style and have several RTW swimsuits that look the same as View A. I had some mint green lycra and knew I wanted to use it for my new swimsuit. Minty green 50's Bombshell, yes, please!

Okay, so you know the PDF drill: print out the pattern, tape everything together like a madwoman, and cut, cut, cut. Decide on the size you want to cut out first. I went with a size 12 and I had just enough fabric. The measurements were spot on with my body, no need for grading. Yay! 

IKEA was sold out of desk legs but, I purchased the tabletops anyway. So, my sewing space was a hot mess. Just ignore all of the scenery behind me in the photo. 

Oh, do you see the top I'm wearing? You can read all about that here. There is some gaping, but I still wear it. 

I'm cutting out my PDF pattern pieces after I printed and taped everything.

Follow along as I sew a 50's style swimsuit

Layout your fabric and place your pattern pieces on top. Be sure to follow the distance of greatest stretch arrows or DOGS. I cut some pieces with scissors but found the rotary cutter and mat was easier. The fabric is slippery, so choose your favorite method.
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I only had one yard of 60" wide fabric so, I couldn't do the ruched backside. I had to make it work with the amount I had. #sewingwin

You'll have to ignore all the wrinkles in every picture. I didn't press them out and I apologize. I'm usually a stickler for getting out the wrinkles. If you squint, you might not be able to see the wrinkles. 

Materials Needed:

• Stretch needles (Yes, you need these)
• Polyester thread
• Rubber or swimwear elastic- you cannot use regular cotton elastic. It will die in the salt and chlorine water. 
• Swimwear fabric which is a blend of lycra and spandex. I buy my knits online from Girlcharlee.com They have a swimwear section coming soon. It's usually in the dancewear fabric section at Joann.
• Lining fabric (must be swimwear lining)
• Set of foam cups (optional) 
• Sewing machine that can sew zigzag stitches
• Serger (optional)
• Rotary cutter and mat, scissors, measuring tape, ruler, and all your usual sewing notions
• Water-soluble pen
• Clips or ball point pins for pinning layers together
• PDF pattern of the Bombshell bathing suit

Make sure you practice stitching on your serger and or sewing machine first. My differential feed was on, on my serger. Below is a picture of the serger settings I used. I have a Brother Lock 1143DW which I believe is similar to the 1034D. Even if you have this machine, test stitch on a swatch piece first. Every machine is different. I mainly used my serger but did have to use the sewing machine to make gathering stitches, basting stitches, and to sew on the elastic. 

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