I hope you’re not sick of swimsuits by now, because here’s another. So by now it seams that everybody has made or is making the Bombshell Swimsuit. If you haven’t yet, you should probably get on that because all the cool girls are. Every version I see makes me squeal about what a bunch of hot babes us sewing/bloggy ladies are. It is universally flattering.
When I saw that one of views was a high-waisted bikini bottom, I knew I needed to make a version for myself. I found the red gingham swimsuit fabric from Mill End. I think this make a cute Maryanne from Gilligan’s Island style bikini. I actually forget to cut one of the pieces out and when I tried to fit it onto my remaining fabric I didn’t have enough. I told the mister on the phone and was pretty dramatic about it. He picked some more fabric while he was out because he’s sweet on me, and now I have enough to make another bikini :).
The top is one of the views of McCall’s 5400.This is turning into quite a versatile pattern. It has so many options that it’s a good one to pick up at the next 99 cent sale. This top feels very secure to wear while swimming. I typically buy only halter style swim tops anyways in RTW so it makes sense for me to finally make one. When it came time to stitch the swim hook and make the loop on the back of the suit the fabric was much too thick for the stretch needle I was using. I was trying to sew through 2 layers of elastic and 4 layers of fabric at that point. I switched to a top-stitching needle and that did the trick.
Now onto the bottom. I made a size 8 at the waist tapering out to a size 10 at my hips. This suit used up and entire spool of thread, in between all of the basting and I zig-zagged my raw edges since my serger isn’t back from repair yet. Holy Moly that’s a lot of thread! When you make this just be prepared to do quite a bit of unpicking along the ruching. Also, don’t think you’re smarter than the directions. I kept going on ahead and then having to back up and unpick bits (maybe that’s why I used so much thread… LOLLZZZZ). The way Heather has you put this together is quite clever, in particular the elastic around the legs and how it continues on into hemming the skirt. Clever, clever, clever…. it almost felt like origami.
I was able to finish this the morning of July 4th and wear it all day on a daytime drinking/ river floating extravaganza. I felt like a babe, and this didn’t fall apart or expose me when I took a tumble over some rapids.
xx, Cynthia
