Monday, January 16, 2012

Disoriented




We were out tobogganing (OK, sledding) last Saturday. Then we came back in and had hot chocolate. That's normal, right? I mean, for a - what - 14 degree day in Minnesota in January? Then I went downstairs and sewed a swimsuit. I'm so discombobulated, you guys. My brain is full of winter clothes - fleece hats for the kids, Kate's polar fleece pea coat, long-sleeved knit winter dresses..... and what am I actually making? Racer-back sundresses, jersey shorts, little tiered tropical skirts, denim mini A-lines, swimsuits. 

I won't bore you with the details, since you're probably making mittens and sweaters and other things winter-appropriate. The short story is I went shopping at Land's End, bought Emily a swimsuit in her size (ostensibly) and she loved it but it was too short (i.e. the shoulder-to-crotch distance was too small). Had to be returned, of course, but she'd fallen in love with it, especially with the little skirt. So I had to sew her one that actually fit her. Grumbling slightly, I will confess. My job on planet Earth, I kept thinking, was surely not to sew things I could buy in stores. It's just ridiculous. 


Even more ridiculous was that I thought this was a fast project (i.e. 2-3 hours). That skirt! It was not a rectangle, origami-folded into a flouncy little tutu. It was a pleated bias-cut arc, meaning it had to be drafted, with all its funny pointy and curved seam allowances drawn into the pleats.

That was not the difficult part, though. What made me mutter was that I was working with a silly little piece of scrap lycra 15" wide. We bought it for $2 from the bargain bin, to make swim shorts last summer and I figured I could make it work. Pschfft. Anyway, that innocuous little skirt was constructed from four pieces of fabric joined in the valley of the pleats so you can't see the seams. And the print doesn't meet at the sides, because there was no fabric to play with. That drives me crazy, but it was my punishment for being a cheapskate. 

Anyway, to make this swimsuit, I didn't use a pattern or anybody's tutorial I could link you to. Instead, I studied all the swimsuits in the house to figure out if there were standard ways to line a swimsuit and do the binding on the various edges. Yes- the armscyes and necklines were wrapped, with swimwear elastic sewn in, and the leg openings were self-bound. I don't own a coverstitch machine, so I used my twin needle (regular, not stretch), but I'd sooner have used a regular needle and done two rows of straight stitching. I really don't like the finish of twin needles, especially where a coverstitch is needed. It's crude. I should've just folded in the hem and done it the usual, proper, non-cheating way.  

For the straps, though, the twin needle did a nice job.


Speaking of straps, I threw my brain out the window and stretched them wrong while I sewed. So one of the straps is great, and the other one is curly like a pig's tail. You can see them in the photo of the swimsuit on the ground. When Emily wears it, it's all stretched out and smooth and perfect, but it sure looks funny on the hanger. 


She doesn't care, though. It was one of the few things I've made for her that she didn't want to take off after a fitting. 


Jenna came and asked for her own custom-order swimsuit when she saw me making Emily's. Poor kid - I had to turn her down on grounds that she already has two swimsuits that are gorgeous and fit her. To make up for it, we baked cupcakes today. Actually, my ulterior motive was to avoid sewing. Hee!

Well, back to the sewing machine, folks. More strange, seasonally-wrong clothes coming up as I finish them and photograph them. I am also making a bizarre packing list that includes sunblock, flip-flops and sunglasses, while dressed in cardigans and looking out the window at this white stuff falling from the sky. Spaghetti straps and snow - oh, my head hurts.




14 comments:

  1. Your swimsuit looks great! I hat buying striped clothes at the store because the stripes NEVER meet up and are totally off. No one will notice they don't meet up because they will probably mostly be under water or on fast moving target with hands quickly moving past them on the way to a water slide or the beach.

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  2. I feel like I've taken a page from your book recently. My sewing machine is gathering post-Christmas-gift-making dust, and my 4-year-old and I have created a doll house from an old Pampers box. All our "furniture" so far has been made from things that were headed for the recycling bin. It's nice to know that whenever she's tired of this house, we can just toss it to the curb without guilt!

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  3. That swimsuit is adorable. Your daughter is a lucky girl. I'm also more than a little jealous that you were able to find such cute swimsuit fabric, even if it was just a scrap. All I've ever found in my usual stores (Jo-ann's and Hancock Fabric) is hideously ugly.

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  4. I have to admit to getting goosebumps when I saw Emily modeling that swimsuit! :) But goosebumps aside... it's gorgeous!! Not perfect? We only know because you told us! Not perfect is okay, especially when it looks so terrific! It's no wonder she loves it!

    Now make her go put some clothes on.... brrrrr!! ;)

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  5. That suit is adorable! Looks very complex to put together, too!

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  6. That's a great little girl swimsuit! I love the sewn in pleat details! I'd take one in my size! ;)

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  7. It must have been such a stress sewing this dress with this tiny pieces you had, but it turned just so lovely. Wonderfull job and Jenna look not only happy but it also suits her very nicely. You did a great job and it does not matter at all that it has curly straps. There is no way somebody would notice it.

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  8. Wow. I love that! It's gorgeous and I love the colours too! Emily looks really grown up in the first pic. I gasped when I saw it. It was like the back of a teenager!

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    1. Yes, Van - my thoughts exactly. There was another shot (which I didn't include) which looked like the back of one of those competitive high school butterfly-stroke swimmers. I did a double take and threw the photo out and blamed the camera angle. How could this be just my regular 7-year old 1st grader standing against the only white wall in the house without electrical sockets on it?

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  9. I was just laughing with my daughter the other day that the stores out here in Oregon just took all their winter stuff out and put in the swimsuits, etc. Then we got the first snow of the season. Love it!
    But that suit is terrific!

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    1. Thanks, Allison! And I need those stores that stock swimsuits in January. Then I wouldn't have to sew any!

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  10. Great suit, L! And oh my, that last picture - E looks so fabulously happy. And old! For a moment, I thought I was looking at E ten years down the road! I love her expression!

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    1. Yes, K, old. I couldn't believe the photos either. Last year she was in Kindergarten. Kindergarten!

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  11. I wish I was doing tropical-headed sewing! It was 2008 the last time we took a trip in January to the Philippines. Although thank you for this, I am about to embark on my first Spandex-stitching adventure (I figure a 3-4 year-old's dance class called Hiphop Princess is as good a time as any to use that matte gold remnant...) and every little bit of encouragement helps.

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