Just Keep Swimming...

School is out.  Summer vacation is here.  I've been going to the pool in the mornings for my girls' swim team practice.  Since I'm already there, I might as well swim laps right?  And I might as well wear one of my new Jalie 3134.

Jalie 3134

 How about a Purple one?  Or a Blue one?  

I made the purple one first and gave it a test swim and then made the blue one a week later.

Let's do a breakdown of this pattern.  The front is designed with 5 (yes 5 pieces).  1 Center front.  2 inset pieces possibly done in a contrasting fabric, and 2 side fronts at the hip.  I originally wanted to cut the front in one piece like I had done for my daughters.   Ummm...not happening.  Curvy moms need curvy suits.  The front pieces provide the necessary shaping at the bust so I couldn't merge the pieces into one.  What I could do was merge the inset with the side front piece so that the front of the suit had 3 pieces rather than 5.  Much simpler.  The center front and side front pieces are individually lined prior to assembly, so there is a visible seam on the inside, not hidden by any lining.

Speaking of curves, normally I add bra cups to my suits.  I had some inspiration from the Funky Seamstress when she did the same with this pattern.  But since I wanted my front pieces to be interlined like the pattern instructs, how could I add the bra cups after the suit was assembled so that I could position them correctly?  What to do....what to do....Ding Ding!  I decided to add an additional layer of lining to which I could attach my bra cups and also add a band of 3/4" elastic at the bottom like a shelf bra.  I waited until I had assembled the entire front then traced the front bodice onto tracing paper.  While tracing I stretched out the bust area so that I could get a more accurate width.  Just like the Funky Seamstress, I wanted the elastic band under the bust to line up with the elastic on the back band.  I fiddled a bit until everything lined up.  I used a zig-zag stitch to sew the bra cups to the extra lining placing the cups between the 2 lining layers.  So my swimsuit front pieces were interlined and I was able to have a bra cups.  Win-win!  This is what it looked like prior to sewing this layer in.

 

I basted this lining/bra piece to the swimsuit front using a zig-zag stitch prior to serging the side seams and then constructed the rest of the suit like normal.   When making the blue suit, I omitted the bra cups because it made the suit grab a little bit too much water when I was swimming laps.  I didn't really need a drag suit.  :)  I also made the back band slightly (about one size) narrower to pull the chest in tighter.   

One change I made to the pattern was thanks to a comment I received on patternreview.com.  She asked if I had lowered the leg opening on my daughters' suits...no I didn't alter theirs, but looking at the envelope photo I NEEDED to lower it on my suit!  Thank you, Thank you! thank you KD in ATL for asking!  I lowered the leg opening by 1" and it was just right.  Not too high and not grandma-esque.  Just right!  Check it out from the side view:

Now I can't be selfish and only make myself new suits can I?  Nope.  I did an assembly line and made 4 suits at a time (3 for us and one for a friend's daughter--my first commission!!)  Here are my girls' new suits:

All fabric was from Spandex World.  My eldest wanted the colorblocked suit and I sent away for swatches from order to choose which blue (cobalt or navy) would look best with the print I had chosen.  I'm glad I did order swatches, colors do look different on your computer monitor.  One note about using all 5 pieces of the suit front:  it creates 2 seams that hit along the front of the thigh, and when attaching the elastic they are folded under and it makes a bit of a bump along the seam.  The smaller the suit, the closer together the seams become.  When my eldest first put the finished suit on, she complained about it.  Thankfully she hasn't mentioned it since, so it can't be too bad.  In any case, I thought it worth mentioning. 

We all love our new suits.  I have now made this pattern 7 times.  I think that is a record for me!!

Memorial Day Weekend = Summer = Swimsuits!

I've done it again!  Swimsuits!  Woo Hoo!!  This time it was racing style suits for my daughters.  I used Jalie 3134:

Jalie 3134

Here are the final versions:

and from the back:

Back view.  Note: I omitted the CB seam on the blue suit

I simplified the pattern by not using contrast fabric and not even cutting out the pieces for the contrast.  I traced the pattern pieces onto tracing paper, then overlapped them 1/4" (to eliminate the seam allowances) taped them together and cut out the front fabric and lining in one piece.  See:

Let me do a tiny bit of complaining here.  Most girls under ~10 years old or so are basically rectangles.  No chest, no waist, and only a small increase in size at the hip.  The girls' size ranges on the pattern assume a waist smaller than the chest and a hip slightly larger than the chest.  That's not a rectangle.  According to their measurements both girls (both rectangles) crossed more than one pattern size.  This was especially true for my eldest.  Let's see what I did in order to cut a pattern to fit her.

Chest: size J (25")

Waist: size N

Hip: size J/K

Torso Length (Girth): size L

I cut a size J at the chest, graded out (ie made a straight line like the side of a rectangle) to an N at the waist, and back in (aka a straight line) to a J/K at the hip.  Because she has a long torso, I lengthened the straps and the distance between the underarm and hip to correspond to a size L.  Confused?  Yes, it was an exercise to keep track of my length and width changes.  

Trace the pattern pieces and laying them out first was a great idea.  I will do this each time I trace a new size.  By doing that, I was able to make sure that my pieces would fit together and give me a chance to make sure that I had lengthened and widened where necessary before cutting the fabric.

Cutting a pattern for my youngest was easier.  She was almost a perfect size H (chest = 23") except for the torso length where she was a size J.  So I only had to worry about lengthening the straps and torso (both front and back) to be a size J length while keeping the size H width.  

As with all Jalie patterns I have made, the instructions are excellent.  There is a center back seam on the suit which I omitted when making the blue suit.  I didn't see the need to have it and my youngest is notoriously fussy about seams/tags/etc being uncomfortable (whine whine whine) so I cut the back on the fold (while remembering (yay!) to omit the seam allowance).

The assembly of the suit was very straight forward.  I basted the side seams with a zig-zag stitch and had each girl try it on before serging.  In both cases, I needed to take in the sides starting from the back band up to the underarm:

Taking in the side seams at the back band up to the underarm

Once the suit was snug, I serged the side seams.  There is actually very little serging that can be done on this suit.  I only used mine on the crotch and side seams, and on attaching the elastic to the bottom of the back band.  All other elastic was sewn on with a zig-zag stitch then turned to the inside and top-sitched with a twin stretch needle.  So there's no obligation to have a serger!

All 3 of us are THRILLED with these suits.  They can't wait to wear them swimming, and I am thrilled that they came out so well and are so cheap to make!!  They swim on a local swim team and I literally spent $68 per suit (gulp) for their swim team suits.  To make both of these cost me about $25 total.  AND I have lots of fabric left over and I can use the pattern again and again.  

I only had one minor panic as I was finishing the blue suit.  I was coming close to the end of my spool of turquoise thread and was desperate to finish before it ran out...so naturally...I started sewing faster! (so silly)  Thankfully, I finished the last stitches and had this left:

PHEW!

So in conclusion: Sew it.  Love it. Swim in it!

Oh--in other news:  In case you didn't know, Katie who blogs at http://katiekadiddlehopper.blogspot.com and Leila of Three Dresses Project are having a Summer Swimalong!  Check it out: