Éléonore grows up so fast that all her sweetheart and twist front swimsuit prototypes are now too small. Summer has finally arrived in Quebec and she needs new ones!
We wanted a quick project and thought it would be a great timing to see how 3354 would look as a swimsuit. She already has soooo many asymmetrical gym leotard prototypes with the wide strap, we opted for view B (spaghetti strap) with girly ruffles!
Éléonore picked a fun printed spandex in the fabric room and we found a bright fuschia solid that was a perfect match.
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Little Miss Jalie is verrrry tiny (her bust measurement between size F(2) and G(3)) and because swimwear fabric does stretch a bit more than mystique (especially when wet), we decided to go with size F, which happens to match her torso measurement. Her hips are smaller than F so we did a Small Hips Adjustment (shown here on 3138 pattern pieces) to make sure it would be nice and snug.
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We wanted a quick project and thought it would be a great timing to see how 3354 would look as a swimsuit. She already has soooo many asymmetrical gym leotard prototypes with the wide strap, we opted for view B (spaghetti strap) with girly ruffles!
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| Asymmetrical Leotard Pattern |
Éléonore picked a fun printed spandex in the fabric room and we found a bright fuschia solid that was a perfect match.
Little Miss Jalie is verrrry tiny (her bust measurement between size F(2) and G(3)) and because swimwear fabric does stretch a bit more than mystique (especially when wet), we decided to go with size F, which happens to match her torso measurement. Her hips are smaller than F so we did a Small Hips Adjustment (shown here on 3138 pattern pieces) to make sure it would be nice and snug.
We had Éléonore try on the bathing suit once the leg elastic were sewn to make sure the fit was tight enough at the bust / underarm and at the waist (we needed to take it in a little).
The ruffle was very easy to do:
- Cut a 2" wide strip of fabric that was 3 times the neckline binding piece length.
- Gathered one edge (we used the serger, but you can use the "gathering stitch" method with your regular machine)
- Sew the ruffle to the edge of the neckline opening (right side) with a zigzag stitch
- Apply the binding as shown in the instructions (steps 1, 2, 3, 4 below)
Then we made a strap (only one instead of three since there is a lot going on), sewed it to the front, pulled it and pinned in place at final fitting and sewed it to the back. Éléonore was so happy with it that she ran outside right away to test it!
She is only 3 and takes her pattern tester job very seriously!
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| Éléonore, quite happy to win against Henri (who is wearing his 2563 trunks Grand-maman made last summer) I just love this perfectly timed photo :) |
As you can see in the photos, the fit is spot on and the suit stayed nicely in place after a whole afternoon of running and sliding!
In conclusion, if your child is between sizes, go with the smaller one and make sure the size you pick is the correct length otherwise the suit will grow when wet and the fit will be odd. Do not hesitate to take it in at the waist to have a nice, fitted dry swimsuit. If it's too big when dry, it will look huge when wet!