To Quote Precious Ramotswe, "I'm a traditionally sized person"

I hope that will change, but for now I am definitely "traditionally sized" (in Botswana anyway).   

You will have noticed that it is impossible to find a two piece bathing suit for almost any size person that is in the least bit modest.  I wear a one-piece bathing suit when I swim, but sometimes when I'm in my own back yard and want some sun, I would really like to have a two-piece.  One never knows when the neighbor kid will climb his tree and gaze over the fence (it has happened, and I was in the hot tub, sans suit!), or the meter readers will come...

I had a bathing suit from the days when I was not traditionally sized at all, and I really liked it, so I decided to copy it.  Here it is.  I loved the sewn-in bra and the little-boy shorts.  (I found they were difficult to copy!)

Inside of the top -- store-bought suit.

And the inside of my new one

I had some lingerie fabric I had hauled around for 39 years after making myself comfortable maternity panties...  I used some of it for the lining of the kids suits, and also for this one. 

I had some bra cups from probably 30 years ago that I had never used.  I had to cut the elastic away from the bottom and remove the stretch insert which held the two of them together.  You can see it might be a bit tricky to insert them, but I followed what they had done exactly.  (Thank God for sergers!)

Detail where the cup is sewn into the lining at the top

And across the bottom of the insert

I cut my outside and inside tops exactly the same, but somehow after I was finished there was a bunch of excess fabric on the outside that just bunched up.  Now I know why lots of bathing suit tops have gathers in the center front.  It was an easy solution, so I hand stitched a row of gathers (they do not show up in the picture below).  If I hadn't been so tired (and lazy), when I finished, I would have made a proper tied bow--it would have looked much better.  As it was, I just used a bit of the leftover strap that was already sewn together and made a little bow.  It's fine for the purpose...

I found this lycra fabric, which is intended for bathing suits, but it is not as thick, and is much more stretchy than the fabric I used for the kids' suits.  (It feels more like dance costume fabric to me.)  It's fine, but I honestly do not know how well it would hold up in normal bathing suit-type useage.  The red trim and straps are made from the same polyester fabric that I decorated my granddaughter's bathing suit top with.   For hers, please see:   http://nanabs-sewing-fun.blogspot.com/2011/05/jammers-and-bathing-suits.html

top

I really should have taken a picture showing the insides of the bottoms because I was in new territory again as I copied the store bought front.  I sewed the lining and the outside fabric center seams for both back and front ALL AT ONE TIME!   It makes a very smooth seam.  (The store bought pair was only lined in the front, but I decided to do back and front the same way.  This fabric needs the lining everywhere.)

I really TRIED to make the same little-boy shorts with slight elastic at the leg.  I kept taking them up and up, but this is the best I was able to achieve for my "traditional shape"!  You can see they are a bit more gathered around the bottom than the original ones were.  They do, at least, cover the things I wanted to cover.  If I ever make something like this again, I will make the legs at least 1-inch longer.

bottoms

Ta-dah!   one "sun suit"

(Just don't expect to see me model it on a runway anytime soon!  :-)

Speedos for Him

I finally grabbed his "speedos" so I could copy them.  (They are not Speedo brand.)  For the rest of their bathing suits from this fabric, please see:  http://nanabs-sewing-fun.blogspot.com/2011/05/jammers-and-bathing-suits.html

For his, no bow on the front; only loops on the inside of the front (easier for them to see as they are putting them on). 

Actually, I put the loops on the back, so when he first put them on, they were the wrong way around and really, really pinched his bum!  I fixed that.

Back view

Front 

Their mother says they have a LOT of bathing suits, so no more until next year.  He will probably need bigger ones next year, but his sister will be able to wear these in a couple of years.

"Jammers" and Bathing Suits

He has a pair of "Jammers" and likes them.  I found some lycra and I wanted to experiment with serging and sewing with lycra, so I tried to copy them.

This is the store-bought pair

They had used a triple cover stitch for the center front and back seams, as well as as the inseam.  They used a 3-thread flatlock stitch for the side seams, and cover stitches for the elastics.

Here is my not-so-nicely trimmed triple cover stitch.  The machine wanted to eat it UP, so I broke the rules and used a little square (maybe 1-1/4") of stabalizer on the serger to get the seam started--worked like a charm!  

(I'm pretty sure they told us we could NOT use stabalizer in a serger...  I won't push my luck, but it worked and I think it would have been ruined without it--it was just stitching in place a bazillion stitches--trust me, that's NO fun to get out!)

Inside/outside

Comfort panel like the store-bought pair had  (Narrow 3-thread cover stitch around the panel and also for the side seams)

I used a 4-thread overlock stitch and the elastic foot for all elastic and it was hard to getting it properly adjusted for inserting just the right amount of elastic, but the tie can be used if they are not snug enough.  (Yes, I made two button holes and pushed the strap through...)

I did not do the hem and the elastic in one step with a cover stitch.  I just used a knit stitch on the sewing machine and turned them up after applying the elastic.

Jammers!

His sister LOVES to wear his, so I will make her a pair as well.  On hers I will insert the elastic in the normal way and save myself at least a couple of hours of changing the feet and thread set-up on the serger every five minutes to do each different part!

I did do the triple cover stitch as I did on his--front and back seams and in-seam.  It helped when I tried to carefully straighten the jagged cuts on the seams before sewing--it looks good now.  It went pretty fast when I decided to insert the elastic in the normal manner, plus it is adjustable!  

I lined both the back and the front of Little Miss Sensitive Skin's Jammers.

I stitched both sides to the bathing suit at the crotch using the "lightening stitch"--should hold in place nicely.

Then I decided to make her a top (and I truly hope it fits!).  I used the shirred elastic belt loop maker foot for the shoulder straps and I can't wait to fit them.

Back of top

Then I decided to copy her Speedo's so she'd have options (and I had enough fabric to do it for both of them).

Fully lined

Cute!

Here's the outfit with Jammers

And with Speedos

I will make his Speedos as soon as I can get my hands on his real ones to get the size right.

One of my reasons for persisting with these articles is to get in some real practice in changing the feet and thread path to keep going back and forth between the 3-thread flatlock, triple cover, and elastic inserting foot, plus the lightening stitch on my sewing machine.  It slows one down, but does create a nice end result and the more I practice the better I get at it.