The Story of a Perfect Swimsuit

This is a long story - grab a cuppa or a poolside cocktail. Is it interesting? Who knows? but I thought I would share it anyway. 

I had a go at making a bikini way back in June 2016 as part of the vintage pledge challenge. There were peaks and troughs as it were in this 1960's pattern. The bottoms were totally brilliant but the top popped over my breasts when I did breaststroke in the pool! I had made the straps so short, to create support, that there was just too much tension. I like to take the positives so after one holiday I kept the bottoms and binned the top after salvaging the plastic clasp.

To ensure I could continue wearing the best fitting bottoms ever I then made a tankini top to match them, luckily I still had some of the same fabric left over. I modified the Tilly and the Buttons Fi Fi boudoir set top. I had finally cracked it and it is still in holiday-suitcase-circulation two years later.

But then I wanted a swimsuit. In Feb 2017 I tried the flojo Belle swimsuit to test their new release at the time. Again, there was mixed success. It was groundhog day;the bottom was brilliant, the midriff was marvelous, the straps were super and the top was TERRIBLE. It was so flat, there was no shaping or support and it  was really quite unflattering. I stuffed it in a box on top of the wardrobe and wore a swimsuit my mum gave me for 2018 - she didn't like it, I gave it a home.

Then by chance, I found another half started attempt at swimwear in my fabric cupboard when I was having a clear out in February. I had cut another pair of the 1960's bottoms with lining but had never sewn them up. Maybe I needed to shop for elastic or something and it fell off my radar. I don't even remember cutting them out...but in 2019 it got me thinking again.

I made them up and they were indeed as nice as the first blue pair. I hunted out the old Belle swimsuit and salvaged some fabric from it. The straps were good and there was enough front and back fabric to make a top.

I had been on a blog called cookin' and craftin' where there was a brilliant list of patterns for sewers who wanted to try incorporating twists and ties in their sewing: one of them was the Nautilus swimsuit. I took the 'plunge' and bought it. I wanted to make the full swimsuit but decided I had the opportunity to make a few fitting decisions by making just the bikini top first.

My machine didn't agree with the rubber swimsuit elastic I all ready had which ensued a month with a broken sewing machine. Although it is a super fit, some of the sewing is what you might call a sh*t sandwich. It is still wearable though and taught me a few things for my main swimsuit make.

I now had a new stripy set (by recycling the old costume, some cups from an older swimsuit and the original clasp) Keeping up?? I felt more confident about cutting out a full new Nautilus swimsuit. 

I was making my swimsuit in the week leading up to a swimsuit being made on The Great British Sewing Bee. My partly made top half was featured on the Minerva lycra swimsuit mailshot that week. It was easier to make this time because I had been through the pattern once before. It is not an easy pattern to follow but it is supported by photo tutorials on their blog which held my hand through the trickier parts. 

I now own: a tankini, a bikini and a swimsuit all made by me.

I got there in the end, it has only taken 3 years!

You can, if you think you can. Jo xxxxx