Catching up and the annual swimwear sewathon - part 1 Jalie 4013

Oh I have got so far behind in documenting things here that the whole purpose of the blog (what size? how much extra sleeve length?) is at risk of being completely lost.

The hurdle has been some unphotographed, or poorly photographed, outfits and the feeling that things should be documented in order. Hang that. Let's start playing catch up....

The annual swimwear sewathon was directed by A who declared she wanted the swimmers that have a rashie on top and swimmer bottoms. I toyed briefly with the idea of mashing a leotard and a swimsuit pattern but then remembered Jalie had exactly the pattern I was after. I just didn't own it yet...  Easily fixed. Jalie 4013 - Zoe to the rescue (hard copy shipped promptly, and on sale, from Seamstress Fabrics)

The size was as per her measurements (R from memory?) with 1" of length front and back. This is the same mistake I made with our Bowie skinsuits: If the torso loop measurement is 1" longer than the pattern then only 1/2 and inch is needed to be added to each pattern piece to result in 1" extra overall. So maybe they're a little longer in the body than required, but at least that means they should fit next summer.

The fabrics were all stashed swimsuit fabrics. The camo fabric was divided up between both kids and myself. the plastic zippers came from Jimmy's Buttons' where Jimmy hunted out exactly the zippers I needed and then shortened them for me. Of course the pattern sizing was such that they should have been shorter still (shortened when sewn), but I just made them finish lower than intended and worked around them being the length they were.

I'd just bought myself a coverstitch machine and between a little bit of sewing machine for the zipper, a whole lot of overlocking for the seams, back to the sewing machine to zig zag attach the elastic and then on to the coverstitch to finish the elastic - I had a real workshop vibe going on. Fun times.

I backed the tension waaaaaay down on the lower looper thread of the coverstitch and used woolly nylon in the lower looper thread. Worked a treat. I banged out these two swimsuits for A and then three for myself in the week leading up to our January holidays. Easier than shopping and the sweatshop conditions are pretty sweet.