Peter Max-esque Soma Tankini

Watch out, swimsuits are addictive... you can't make just one! Before I had finished my first one (the Stripey Soma), I was planning my next one. Part of that addiction is the Soma pattern itself-- I just love all of the variations, I want to make them all.

An added benefit is that the economizing side of my personality is feeling quite smug. Okay, lets do a bit of a tally. My last tankini was purchased many, many years ago from Title Nine Sports, and the going rate there is... $80 for a tankini top, and $50 for a bottom. ARE YOU KIDDING ME? That's $130 for the ensemble. Yikes. Of course, I probably would have done some economy shopping and found some sales or something, and I certainly wouldn't have bought two new suits for that price.

For comparison, here are my estimated expenditures:

Soma Swimsuit Pattern from Papercut Patterns: $17
Swimsuit supplies (SewSassy.com): $50 (swimwear elastic, bra strapping, foldover elastic, bra foam, black coated metal rings, lining in two colors, and $10 shipping). Lots leftover, BTW... enough to make a couple more suits!
1 yd Striped spandex: $13+$2 shipping
1 yd Black milliskin spandex: $9=$2 shipping
1 yd Peter Max swimwear from Emmaonesock.com: $26

Total cost: $119 (for two tankini style suits with bottoms)

Okay, so that's not cheap, but considering the going price of quality swimwear, not bad, right? Of course, the best thing is that these suits are totally custom-- they have the fit, coverage, and features that I want in a suit, and that's worth quite a lot!

About this fabric... I've actually had this swimsuit fabric in my stash for awhile. I bought it on total whim when it came up in the New Fabric listings at Emmaonesock.com. It was such a cool print, and how often do you see such a great print in a swimsuit fabric! It was listed as a "Peter Max" designer print, and I'm not sure if what was meant by that was that it was actually designed by Peter Max, or it just looks sort of Peter Max-esque. I'm going with the latter, since I have no evidence that it is the former. It isn't quite as psychedelic as most Peter Max prints... the colors are (to my delight!) rather harmonious.

In looking around for great prints in swimwear fabrics, it seems to be slim pickings. I was a bit tempted by Girl Charlee, but I'm sort of glad I stuck with my stash and spandex world after Cashmerette's experience with a lack of colorfastness. I almost purchased that very same fabric! How disappointing to put all of that work into a garment and have the quality of the fabric be an issue. I'm at least glad that they refunded her purchase.

But anyhow, I went with the stash for this one and I think it is a pretty darn awesome print. In fact, I'm going to put this forth as my first contribution to Tribute Month at Sewcialists. Don't you think Oonaballoona would looooove this print? I know, there was a whole Oonaballoona month last month, but I missed out and my admiration of her style is can't be contained in a single month!

Anyhow, back to the swimsuit. It is another Soma, I was just dying to try the cross-front version. I considered the one-piece, but I was a little uncertain that the one piece would have enough chest support for my girls. I actually thought the bikini version looked more supportive, since it had a band right under the breasts, rather than all the way down at the waist. So I ended up making the cross-front bikini top variation, and adding a tube of fabric to make it into a tankini. Because, as I've alluded to in the past, my abs are otherwise occupied expanding and contracting to accommodate little human beings, and not all stages of that process are beach-worthy!

The pattern came together pretty well. I followed the instructions for the most part, and made no fit adjustments until the very end. I actually found this version easier to sew than the last one since it didn't call for any zigzag topstitching, which I had such a problem with on the previous suit. Zigzagging the foldover elastic was no problem.

The one thing that I ended up having to fix is that the fabric at the top of the bra cups, in the little triangle created by the foldover elastic straps, wanted to bunch up a bit. So I ended up needing to decrease the width of the top of the bra cup by about 1/2 an inch. I took the 1/2 inch off of the inside of the bra and graded it in toward the cleavage. This was actually a total mistake, I meant to do it on the outside near the armpit, but it was late and I was momentarily confused. As it is, my version is just a tiny bit more low cut, which is not really a problem.

The arrow is pointing to the top of the bra cup, where I had to take off 1/2 inch to prevent gaping. I'm a bit embarrassed about that topstiching though, how sloppy!

I also added bra cups. I had some removable shaped foam cups around from my former Lululemon tank obsession, and these were perfect. I just sewed the cups into the lining with a wide zigzag. I made a guess as to placement, and actually I think I probably could have placed them a bit more towards the center. I may have to fix this at some point to prevent wardrobe malfunctions, but I'm not yet convinced that it is a real problem.

I had to make some decisions on how to finish the back of the suit with my tankini modification. I decided that the back clasp wasn't going to be useful, so I went with the crossed bra straps that are used in the one-piece version. I also sewed a bit of swimsuit elastic into the top of the tankini piece that would be exposed in the back to prevent gaping. And of course I crossed the straps in the back-- as has been previously noted, I have some of the world's most slopey shoulders.

For this tankini, I decided to incorporate a bit of ruching on the sides. I simply cut a 5 inch piece of swimwear elastic, and then stretched it and sewed it down to about 7 inches of the seam allowance at the bottom of the tankini. I then topstitched the seam allowance down with my twin needle so that the elastic was encased and not against my skin. I also hemmed the tankini with a twin needle.

One thing that frustrated me a bit was that I was completely unable to find foldover elastic in a 6/8ths width, which is what the pattern called for. I could only find 5/8ths width. Why does this matter, you ask? It's a small thing, but 6/8ths folded over would make a 3/8ths inch strap, which would have been the same width as the 3/8ths inch bra strapping. I know, it is a small detail, but it sort of irks me. I considered all sorts of ways to make the straps match. I briefly considered not folding the elastic in half equally... but that was super-duper fussy. I also thought about using the foldover elastic instead of bra strapping, but I liked the beefiness and softness of the bra strapping. So in the end I just went with it, and the 2.5/8ths folded elastic meets up with the 3/8ths bra strapping at the rings. If you are not staring at it, it is just fine really. But someone please tell me, can you get 6/8ths foldover elastic somewhere, or is it only available in New Zealand or something?

The bottoms went together without a hitch. As in the previous version in black, I did all topstitching with my twin needle.

The blue in this pick got a bit crazy! In reality it is more like the previous pics.

In anycase, I love my new suit! I think the pattern provides great camouflage real or perceived figure flaws, and the styling is quite clever.

Python blazer- Burdastyle Asymmetric Jacket #116

Walking around Rome this spring, I couldn't stop admiring all of the great asymmetric jackets. Some more moto, some more equestrian, made in wool, leather, canvas or cotton. I refrained from buying any-- instead, I came home with yards of italian wool! 

But when it came time to sit down and sew, I ended up pulling out this fabulous python ponte that I had picked up from Emmaonesock. I'm a little dubious about ponte as a jacket fabric... I had a RTW ponte blazer with me in Rome that pilled horribly. At the same time, I had a couple ponte tops made from ponte from Emmaonesock and Marcy Tilton that I wore constantly all spring and they didn't pill at all. So I guess I'm hoping my ponte is higher quality and will fare better than that RTW blazer! Just to tease me, I was halfway done with the blazer when I spotted a fantastic python denim at Emmaonesock... argh! 

The pattern is the Burdastyle Asymmetric Jacket #116. This was actually my very first foray into Burdastyle patterns. My first muslin for the jacket was awful. Too narrow in the bust- and I NEVER have that problem. I had traced the 42, the largest size on the pattern I downloaded. The size chart said the bust was 37 3/4, and I usually measure a 38. The next size up has a bust of 39 1/2... what is a size 38 girl supposed to do? I hate that I'm always between pattern sizes! So I basically ended up trying to grade the bust up a size, and the hips out a size (or two). I also increased the size of the armholes and widened the sleeves. I basically redrew the whole pattern! A couple muslins later I had a viable pattern.

I guess I should have guessed I'd have trouble... all people who have posted have mentioned how form fitting the pattern is, and they have mostly embraced the skin-tight look. But since I plan on wearing this at work over my usual tops, I want the fit to be a little more relaxed. 

Once I got to sewing, it came together pretty well. As is quite well known, Burdastyle directions are worse than useless, but how the pieces fit together was fairly self-explanatory. I found the cuffs to be difficult though. Trying to get the zipper to fit in smoothly and the cuffs to match perfectly was a B----! It would have been easier if the cuffs had been a single piece of fabric folded over, but for some reason I don't understand, they have a seam instead of a fold. In my opinion, just another place to introduce inconsistency. I'll definitely do it my way next time. 

Of course, the lining had to be hand sewn to the zipper. I did the rest of the lining using the numerous "bagging" tutorials on the internet.

The rest of the jacket was pretty darn simple. The collar was totally non-fussy. Even installing the asymmetric zip was pretty straightforward. 

All of the zippers are Riri zippers from Pacific Trimmings. They are just awesome zippers. I used two long zippers, and cut them to length as needed. 

I bought extra zippers stops which installed with pliers on the cuffs and at the top of the separating zipper on the front of the jacket. For the pocket zips, I didn't bother with zippers stops.

The lining is stretch silk charmeuse from Mood. The lining would have been straightforward too, had I not cut out the WRONG part of the front jacket piece! It looked totally wonky, and I had to tear it all out and do it over. Unfortunately, that means I had to do the zipper in the lining twice too! Argh! I could just have done away with it, but I just love having interior pockets too much, and I sucked it up and did it all over again with the right pattern piece. 

So that's about it! I looove my new jacket, I can't wait until it gets cool enough to wear it this fall!

Oh, and here is the rolled up sleeve shot, as demonstrated by the Burdastyle model. Who wears jackets this way anyway? Not me, but it does show off those cuffs that took so much work!

Stripey Soma Swimsuit, done Tankini-Style!

I'm so excited to have made my first swimsuit! Well, really, why not? Afterall, swimsuit shopping is just the worst thing ever! My current swimsuit is 8 years old, and I still remember the days and days of scouring stores and online shops for an swimsuit I would consider wearing in public. Somehow I doubt the situation has gotten any better out there in RTW-land, and I really don't want to find out.

Is my list of demands really that different from any other woman? Adequate coverage, straps that won't slide off of my shoulders, adequate lining to prevent embarassing show through, and cute! But it somehow seems impossible to satisfy all of those basic needs without doing it yourself.

I had been thinking about taking the plunge into swimwear, but I was emboldened to give it a go by the success of fellow bloggers Lauren and Sallie. They both used the Soma Swimsuit pattern from Papercut patterns, and both of theirs look fantastic!

I'm usually sort of a cheapskate when it comes to patterns, but I decided that this one was probably worth the extra $$-- and quite honestly, it is just a really cool pattern. And of course I have to have it NOW so I did the PDF download. Ulgh, I hate those things- the only thing good about them is the immediate gratification of having your pattern right away! But every time I question whether it is worth it because somehow I never end up with all of the pieces of the grand PDF puzzle, and there I am scouring the stupid file trying to figure out which page got eaten by the printer, or spirited away by my daughter when I wasn't looking. Anyhow, the pain was short-lived because the pieces for a swimsuit are just so small!

I didn't want to use my irreplaceable swimsuit fabric for the first go in case it was a total fiasco, so I ordered some stripes and solids from Spandex World. Wow do they ship fast, they had it on my doorstep the next day (well I do live in the state of New York). The quality of the striped lycra spandex is pretty darn good, thick and opaque with great recovery, and the solid "milliskin" is fantastic, nice and thick, shiny on one side and matte on the other. How they hold up to salt and chlorine remains to be seen!

I ordered my other specialized supplies from Sew Sassy. The whole shebang didn't end up being very cheap, but I think ordered enough stuff to make swimsuits for myself and my daughter for the next couple of years... and who knows, I might even try my hand at lingerie next!

Okay, so I sort of ripped off Lauren's stripey idea... her navy striped soma is just fantastic and I just want one! I did play a bit with the orientation of my stripes, and after making a few sketches I decided to do the top of the cup vertical and the bottom horizontal.

And of course my big change is to make the bikini into a tankini! After giving birth 2 years ago, my body isn't really bikini-ready yet, so I'm more comfortable lounging around at the pool with a bit more coverage. It was a pretty easy adaptation-- I just made the bikini as instructed, but rather than finish the bottom with elastic, I added a tube of fabric to make my tankini. The top measurement of the tube is the finished measurement of the bottom of the bikini, and the bottom measurement of the tube is my hip measurement with about an inch of negative ease.

I cut a straight medium in the pattern, top and bottom. I'm probably about a size 12 in RTW and usually a 38C in bras. I measure a 39 bust and a 42 hip, so the medium is just about right. And I made absolutely no changes to the pattern in fitting, it all fit surprisingly well. Other than my tankini variation, I mostly followed the instructions. I can't remember the last time I followed instructions for a pattern... but the Soma instructions were really good, and I was clueless as to how to sew a swimsuit!

This was sort of an easy project, but also sort of a B-I-T-C-H. I'm not really sure why I was having so many problems. I have stretch needles and a walking foot and I sew knits and use elastic all of the time. But for some reason my machine was getting hung up on any little bump, and there are lots of them when you are always sewing down the ends to bits of elastic and strapping. I usually have to guide my fabric through rather forcefully, but it was worse than usual. And it was completely impossible to topstitch with a zigzag, which is what is called for all over the place in the directions. Because my machine was feeding so badly, the zigzag topstitch looked like it was done by a drunken seamstress no matter how carefully and slowly I tried to feed the fabric through my machine. I tried so many times I just ended up ditching the first cup and cutting out a new one, after I figured out the workaround- topstitching with a twin needle. Actually the twin needle topstitching looks pretty darn good, and more like a RTW swimsuit.

I don't know what is up with my machine... I started fantasizing about new machines, but probably the first step is to get it cleaned and tuned up, it is certainly overdue. But I'm likely to procrastinate on that because it's probably gonna be just fine for normal patterns that don't need gorgeous zigzagging.

I followed Sallieoh's lead and lined the cups with lingerie foam from Sew Sassy. She suggested cutting out the upper and lower cups minus the seam allowance, and then inserting them after you sewed the center cup seam, using the topstitching to hold them in place. This was a bit fussy and there was a bit of swearing and unpicking, but generally worked well.

From Lauren's review I borrowed the idea of hiding the center triangle seams. I did it sort of like you would do a lining for a dress when you are doing it all on the machine, and it was sort of a squeeze, but it worked! No exposed inside seams on the bikini! But if anyone has any ideas on what to do to make straps look a bit more finished on the inside, I'm all ears. I guess trimming them a bit more would help...

I'm totally amazed by the fit of the bottoms. I did the mid-rise version, and they are PERFECT. How is that even possible, I am sooooo picky about swim bottoms, and I made absolutely no changes to the pattern. But they are just a great balance between coverage and a touch of cheek. They fit so well that I am totally thinking about using this pattern to make undies!

I had some fun with the strapping. I had the real-deal bra strapping called for in the pattern so I wasn't worried about the strength of the straps, but rather with the slide factor. I think I have the world's slopey-est shoulders-- I have yet to find a bra or bathing suit with normal shoulder straps that won't work their way down to my elbows in a matter of minutes. Rather than doing a simple cross back, I did double strapping that crosses on top of my shoulders. I think it looks sort of cool with the stripes, and it is totally secure.

I just love my new swimsuit... I can't wait to go find some water! Good thing we are headed to the shore next week!

Turquoise Linen Button Down Dress: Simplicity 2404

The inspiration for this dress was a color. When I was planning my summer wardrobe, I couldn't get the color turquoise out of my head. Not just any blue-green-- it had to be that particular blue-green that is the color of the caribbean ocean on a white-sand beach.

This is me immersed in salty turquoise water on our honeymoon to Eleuthera! Just look at that color, it is hard to believe it is real! Too bad we can't go back every year, it was amazing.

The best I could do this year was find that color in a luscious linen.

I scoured the internet and ended up finding it at Sawyerbrook Fabrics. They match buttons to fabrics, and I bought the matching buttons too since I knew I wanted to make a button-down dress.

These pictures don't do the buttons justice.. they are a bit like dichroic glass, and match the fabric perfectly. Sawyerbrook is sold out of this gorgeous color, but Mood still has the aqua linen that was a close runner up in my search.

I used the altered Simplicity 2404 pattern that I used to make the Polka Dot Linen Dress. For this dress, I had extended the pleats into princess seams and put in a button placket down the center front, and I did the same thing in this dress. To make it a little different, I used the rounded neck variation, but deepened the scoop a little to make it a bit more summery.

To make it extra special, I experimented with using some self fabric trim. I cut strips of the linen, folded the raw edges under, and sewed pleats into the strips. I didn't really measure it, I did it by eye so that it would have a structured but handmade look. I used the pleated strips as trim around the neckline and the around the hem.

I made the buttonholes using my singer "professional" buttonholer, which I bought on ebay over a year ago. Here are some pics of what it looks like on my machine-- it is quite a contraption! My machine is a Singer CP-17C.

I don't know how to lower the feed dogs (I'm not sure if it can be done??? If you know how, do point this out to me!) so I use the plate that comes with the buttonholer. It doesn't quite fit on my machine, so I tape it down temporarily. The screw doesn't tighten down enough either, so I use a washer to hold it in place. But once it is set up, with works great!

Look at how it sticks out the back, hilarious isn't it! The back part opens up to hold the buttonhole templates.

But take a look at these buttonholes! These are from my Polka Dot Linen dress, fresh off of the buttonholer. You really don't want to see what buttonholes look like on this machine without the buttonholer-- they are pretty terrible, despite hours of trying. With the buttonholer, they are quite decent and pleasant to make!

And here is one on the Turquoise Linen dress, with a couple months of hard wear. It isn't perfect, but it is holding up pretty well.

So a turquoise dress is not quite as good as a trip to the Caribbean, but it is fun all the same!

Striped sheath: McCalls 6028

Confession: I envy other people's stripes. Someone will walk into a room in a great striped dress or top, and it is all I can do not to stare. And my favorite bloggers all have put up great stripes lately... Sallieoh's Candy Striper is fantastic, and Lauren at Lladybird's striped swimsuit is amazing! Like so amazing that I may have to make a swimsuit too... but that's for another post...

Well, stare away at my latest make! This is McCalls 6028, done up in a wide striped ponte knit from Emmaonesock. This might be my oufit along dress... I'm a little unsure, I think I have to try it out with the sweater, assuming I ever finish it. Since the sweater is chevron striped, I figured the dress had to be striped or solid. I went through my stash and rediscovered this fantastic striped ponte that I bought last year. And then I went through my pattern stash, and found McCalls 6028... what a perfect pairing! The only possible problem: I only had 1.5 yards, and the pattern calls for 2 1/8 for my usual 16/18 combo. Not to mention any extra for laying out the stripes!

 

But I still thought I could make it work (and obviously I did, since I'm showing off the end product-- Spoiler Alert!) First of all-- since the pattern is meant for a woven, I figured I could probably get away with several sizes smaller. After scrutinizing the actual dress measurements, I decided to go with a size 14, which only requires 1 and 5/8 yards. I spent a looooooong time laying out my pattern pieces, and ended up going considerably shorter than the pattern suggested. Actually, it is shorter than I would usually go. I think mid thigh is still decent though!

I was a little skeptical of this pattern since a couple people seemed to have problems with it in their reviews. But the Mahogany Stylist has a fantastic version in plaid and red piping, so I decided to give it a go. I didn't really follow the directions, but the bit that I did read was well written, had great tips, and seemed to have a totally sane order of construction. But as I said, I didn't really follow them, I just did my thing.

And I LOVE the fact that pattern has an all-in-one facing... I almost always have to draft this myself, and I like an all-in-one sooooo much more than separate neck and armhole interfacings that are always trying to sneak out no matter how I tack them. I did mine in a cream ponte from my stash, interfaced with knit interfacing from Fashion Sewing Supply-- the only interfacing I ever use anymore. I guess with a knit I could have done a binding instead of a facing, but I liked the clean look of the facing.

Since I had sewn the side seams already, getting the facing in was a bit of a trick. I wasn't going to unpick the side seams after spending all of that time matching the stripes. So I ended up using this method to machine sew the facing. It is a bit more time consuming, but it works!

No zipper-- with a stretchy knit, it just wasn't necessary!

For the hem, I totally cheated... I used no-sew hemming. I wanted it to look seamless, and it was going to be a trick to sew since at one point I had about a quarter of an inch to make my hem with. I probably could have hand sewed a blind seam, but I doubt it would have looked as perfect as the iron on hem!

Look a that strip matching! I had to redo my basting about 5 times to get it right.

And okay, it isn't perfect here. But I think it still looks pretty good. Note to self-- cut more carefully next time!

 

It is a pretty great dress, even if I do say so myself! Might keep stripe envy in check for a little while... well, until someone else walks into the room with some great stripes that I can't help but admire...