The thoughts, sewing projects, and fabric oglings of a dedicated sewist.

Boom!

9/9/15
Yep, that's the sound of my Bombshell bathing suit, or at least it's the sound I made out of excitement when I was all finished!

So this is officially my second adventure in swimsuit sewing, but I'm pretty sure the first one didn't get blogged about because I never wore it due to it being better suited to someone with a torso about four inches shorter than mine. Not a good look.

But this suit? I feel fantastic in it! I wore it for about an hour around the house just because I could after sewing the last stitches.


And it's a good thing I did because the next week, when we actually went to the beach, I had to dress like this:



Okay, I do realize that my 5-year-old was fine in shorts and a t-shirt but she runs hot. It was 64 degrees out! I needed a sweatshirt.

I have wanted to make the Closet Case Bombshell for over a year, but second-guessed my choice because I wasn't sure it would suit me (and instead made the 4-inches-too-short suit. Good call.). I bought the pattern back in June but managed to procrastinate the work all summer. Karen's Made Up challenge got me to tracing, and cutting, and all the rest. I love books (I was a reading teacher in a former life) and I lived in England for nine years, so the National Literacy Trust is something I can fully support.

I used the lining as a muslin and took it in by increasing the seams allowance to 5/8" at the side seam. Luckily, I tried just a 3/8" for the real deal and that was plenty. I don't know if my main fabric had less stretch, or just all the layers and ruching made it tighter, but it was perfect as it was. No other fit adjustments were made. The only struggle I had during construction was that my regular sewing machine completely refused to sew zig-zag stitches in the rubber elastic around the legs and neck. I tried stretch needles, universal needles, ballpoint needles and even a Microtex sharp, but I had skipped stitches every time. I finally ended up attaching the rubber elastic with my serger and then topstitching with a straight stitch. I'd like to play with this some more when I make this suit again, as I think the neck will want to roll out without the zig-zag.


I love the back of this suit - all that ruching is super flattering on everyone.

I purchased the fabric last summer from Girl Charlee. I was on swim team when I was a kid, and my favorite swim team suit was a navy/white swirly print. I loved that suit, because everyone ended up with crazy tan lines since somehow the white part of the suit didn't really block the sun. It was like having a henna tattoo all over your body. This suit is black/gray/white, but the print pattern is close enough to call up the memory.

My only disappointment was that even after adding bra pads and a shelf bra to the inside, I am still not a B-cup in this suit. I know that it's probably asking too much for a swim suit to give me the same lift as my best bra, but who can blame a girl for dreaming?


Looking forward to seeing all the Made Up projects tomorrow!
9 comments on "Boom!"
  1. Looks fantastic, Lisa! Good on you for finally conquering this pattern!

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    1. Thanks! It feels so good to check things off my challenge list.

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  2. Great suit, very flattering!! and I'll bet that you'll make another one :-)

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    1. Yep, thinking about using view C for a high-waisted two-piece.

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  3. Of COURSE you paraded around the house in that for an hour--I would've paraded around the STREETS if I'd made that and looked so good in it! Great job, and you look terrific. Wear it with pride!

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  4. Whoowee that's a great suit on you! I just love a classic Hollywood swimsuit. Question re. skipped stitches on the elastic: how about testing a larger needle? On one hand, you want a knit needle so you don't make holes in the fabric, but those can be too slow puncturing the elastic, so the top thread doesn't make it below in time to complete the stitch. Same deal with a sharp needle if it's too small. What about testing a few scraps with a sharp or titanium needle one size larger than you were using, just to make sure it's puncturing in the proper time... ? (sorry if I missed your saying you already tried it)

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    1. Hi, Ky - Thanks for the idea. I went up to a 14/90 on the stretch needle, but I did not try titanium. I do think that it's about puncturing in the proper time, as I was able to straight stitch just fine, but something in the zig wasn't catching. I'll buy and play around with a few more needles. Thanks for stopping by!

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