Sewing Skivvies: Ohhh Lulu's Ginger Swimsuit

Guess who's finally finished with the swimsuit!!

I am so in love with this suit. It's not perfect. Not even close, but I am ridiculously pleased with it and now I need to go to a beach immediately!

So if you remember from a month or more ago, I used Ohhh Lulu's Ginger Bodysuit, which you can buy here! I did have some issues assembling because I cut out the parts and discarded the paper BEFORE placing it all together. That might have been helpful. Luckily, I had an excellent sewing partner.

Unlucky for my sewing partner, though she somehow never complained, because she would arrange the pieces and I would feel a shudder of terror go through body as I would shriek, "No, no, do it again! This isn't right! See the stripes?! The stripes must match!!!" 

It was  a terribly dramatic time for me. Sorry, Ashley.

But anyway, stripes! My first time with stripes and they mostly match. There's a few pieces around the top that don't line up exactly, but I made it work and I'm so proud of myself.

I'm a little disappointed with the adjustments I wanted to make and didn't follow through with due to poor planning on my part. I wanted gathers under the bust but even though I cut the largest size for the chest (so I'd have plenty of extra to play with), it wasn't nearly enough and in fact, I ended up needing all of the fabric I cut for the top.

I also wanted to lower the sides on the bottom and add ruffles, but then I got tired and decided to scrap the idea. I still have some fabric for another pair of bottoms, but we shall see if I have the time or energy.

That being said, I am very pleased with how the pattern turned out sans the modifications I was thinking of making.

I was terrified that the bottoms were too revealing, despite having a higher waistline.

I was also annoyed that the back rides up (due to my larger rear) and I discussed jokingly about doing a full bum adjustment.

Not a bad idea to be honest, but once I tried on my old swimsuits for comparison, I realized they all rode up in the back and I had just never noticed. Furthermore, they were actually much more revealing on the bum.

Weird how you only notice those things once you're sewing!

Another thing I'd love to work on with my full bum adjustment is the saggy part in the back. It's actually not as noticeable with this swimsuit (especially compared with my RTW swimwear), but it's something I always have to deal with and if I'm making bottoms myself there must be a way to do away with it.

(Or is that one of those things that's totally normal and once again I missed the boat because I was over in the corner being self-conscious?)

Can we pause for a moment and talk my hair? I wanted to do an old time-y photo shoot  because the stripes just scream retro to me (and completely forgot to bring the rest of my props on the roof!) but this hair-do with the victory rolls is so easy and I felt so gorgeous and also like a siren. I told my boyfriend I wanted to go out and call men to their deaths and he just laughed.

I was so serious.

Okay so back to the swimsuit. 

I'm going to compile a tip sheet for swimsuits with links to people who know much more about swimsuit sewing than I do. (Edit: Tips here!) But I was so surprised at how difficult it was. I like knits. I think sewing with knits are fun.

But this was not fun.

Maybe it's been too many months since I actually worked with knits but this fabric rolls like crazy. And the trying to get the stripes lined up was insane.

Perhaps if I had basted the lining to the main part instead of trying to serge all 4 layers together at once while lining up the stripes.

But why would I do anything to make my life easier? ;-) It worked out in the end.

Everyone wants to know about how concerned I am with the white stripes on the swimsuit. I'm not at all. It's fully lined and I carefully laid out the pattern pieces so that not only would the stripes match but the green parts covered all my bits. So I am 100% okay with jumping into a body of water.

A lot of people having been making a lot of awesome swimsuits this summer, and every single one of them says that they love how they feel and they want to wear it out. While I'm glad everyone's feeling some self-esteem, I may have scoffed a bit because it seems a bit ridiculous to feel amazing in swimsuit but actually, it's true.

I feel incredible in this suit. I don't feel self-conscious at all. I think making your own suit is perfect because you have so much control over it, from the pattern to the fabric to even how tight you like your elastic. And it's a million times cheaper than paying $150+ for a nice one.

So yes. Everyone go make swimsuits!

And, ahem, that officially concludes the Show Off Your Skivvies challenge on my end... only 13 days late. Not too shabby. I'll compile a list of links for those looking for resources for the own swimsuits, and I'll have a final round-up post.

Next up: probably a dress.