Summertime blue-green dotted swimsuit

I have made 2 swimsuits so far, nothing to brag about, all black, very conservative. Here are some pictures.

The only interesting thing is that I have created 2 swimsuit bottoms for myself that I could digitalize and publish for others. They are high waisted but in 1 size only (size 38/40).

-----------

Now I have decided to make a one-piece swimsuit from Burda 06-2023-129, size 42. I have carefully observed pictures on the Russian Burda site and realized that this pattern is a good one. There were no complaints, only thumbs up. 

So this is what I made:

This is the original from Burda magazine: 06-2023-129

I don't know why I chose size 42 (instead of my usual size 40). It fits nicely, size 40 would be tighter, but this one is just fine. The neckline = cleavage is a bit loose when you are in the water swimming but it doesn't open or reveal anything, it's just loose. It's sewn with a twin needle, no elastic inserted in the neckline.

It is made of ?? (probably) lycra, elsthane, polyester. It's a proper swimsuit fabric I just don't know the exact material because I've had it for a year or two. I used elastic in the leg openings, arm and back openings but not in the neckline. Unfortunatelly, I don't have swimsuit elastic (?!), it's difficult to get it in Slovenia, so I used ordinary elastic. We'll see how long it will last.

I wanted foam cups in the front part, it's a must. But I couldn't get them so I made them myself out of a larger foam sheet. I used a Burda pattern from Burda 02-2011-113 (a corset). Here are some pictures.

I tried the sellotaped paper pattern on my bust. It was OK. I recommend doing all this if you want a feedback on the fit. 

The original:

I used this YouTube video on making foam cups:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GS0RmtOsyHA&t=367s

Then I inserted them into the front part. At first I thought that I will have to sew them to a white mesh and then sandwich that between the front fabric and the lining (which is the same as the original fabric). BUT I realized I can sew them directly to the lining. Look at the pictures. I just had to be careful to place them to the part that is going to be inside (not outside).

I used a zig zag stitch. Foam cups are soft and it's OK done like that. I don't have to cut anything out. Everything is stretchy. How did I decide where to put foam cups? I just guessed. I placed them relatively well but not ideally. Because the front part twists and it's pulled back by back straps it's difficult to place them. It would be easier to decide after everything is finished but I think that can't be done. I mean, it's a step that has to be done now, not at the end.

The front part is lined with mesh fabric. The back is not lined at all. The front keyhole (opening): the right side of the fabric is sewn together, then turned inside out, topstitched with a twin needle and then continued as one fabric.

foam cups sewn on the inside fabric

the neckline opening sewn with twin needle (no elastic inserted)

The straps: are sewn right sides together, then turned inside out, then black elastic (2 cm) is inserted. I saw that from my daughter's store bought swimsuit (from Aldi = Hofer in Slovenia, which was only 3.45 EUR ?!? WHAT? Who can sew swimsuits that cheap? They were made in China. You can't make swimsuit this cheap in Europe. What do I complain about, I bought 2 of them for my 6-year old daughter.)

I have also sewed with straight stitch right along the centre of the strap, from top to bottom, to keep the elastic from wiggling. The straight stitch, of course, snapped when used every day at the seaside, so I have to correct that.

 

Oh, and now my tips and advice:

- I always pin everything together and then I handsew layers of fabric together (with quick, wide stitches) to stay in place when I do the real sewing, for me it works wonders. Nothing moves. 

- 2 YouTube videos I recommend: 

1. making foam cups: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GS0RmtOsyHA&t=367s

2. sewing (leg, arm) openings in a swimsuit with elastic:   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sveGDtF_20U&t=836s

Sewing elastic in leg openings:

Conclusion:

It's a great pattern, there weren't a lot of alterations. Foam cups are a must for me. One-piece swimsuit is quite good to make and to wear. Well, it's not practical when you go to the loo. The more swimwear you make, the more you perfect your knowledge and skills. 

(Super Elegant) Fleece Dress - SEFD - a new clothing hit

 This is my creation: 

This was my inspiration: from Burda 9/2022, mod. 119, size: 40.

My aunt gave me this ˝difficult˝ fabric for free (she loves to sew and I love to sew and we had a fabric swap or to be honest she just gave me some fabric, I didn't give her any fabric back, but that's because she doesn't sew as much as she used to and I sew more than I used to). It's fleece with a very colourful and busy pattern. 

I thought of making the most typical thing – a cardigan or a sweater. BUT … I was inspired by Burda magazine. I saw the two pictures of this dress pattern in the magazine and I got my ˝brilliant˝ idea. Let's make a super elegant dress out of this ˝difficult˝ fleece. It should be an essential piece of wardrobe, like LBD (little black dress) or a white T-shirt. It should be a new clothing hit - SEFD – super elegant fleece dress – it's soft, warm and elegant at the same time. It keeps you warm in winter time and you can look great instantly. I'm not kidding, I'm very serious, it is extremely comfy.

I think that you can take any old fleece and merge it with a super elegant dress pattern and you'll have a winter winner for sure. It sews wonderfully and fast. Beware: when you make neckline facing, don't use fleece, use something else. using fleece would be too bulky – I have done this mistake once in my life and I'll never do it again.

Some details:

I decided that the seams (on sleeves, neckline and skirt bottom) should imitate a blanket – so I made the seams quite wide with a twin needle. I used an ordinary zipper because I had no invisible zipper at home. I didn't change the pattern a lot, I just tweaked it. I changed the front folds, the first ones looked like I had a boxy belly, I played around and decided on those that you see. I took in the back before I sewed in the zipper - for 2.5 cm on both sides on top. (When the zipper was finished, I realized I should do this down the entire back bodice, because I'have done it only at the top back part). Why does Burda make so much room at the back? I have no idea, maybe for broad shoulders and back. I got used to this problem, so I'm not even surprised by that anymore.

Maybe I should lengthen the top bodice to reach my belly button (because now it's like 3 cm above my belly button), I'm not sure. I shoud try this once, because it feels a bit strange - like an empire dress. 

Behind the scene photos:

Some more photos:

That's it. Make yourself an EFD (Elegant Fleece Dress) every winter, you'll feel great in it!

Barbie-mania

Oh, yeah, Barbies! I'm a big fan of Barbie dolls. I probably started sewing and creating because of their beautiful, pink, plastic, shiny, wonderful world. I used to look for everything connected with Barbie world when I was a child because everything was just so attractive. But it was also slightly unreachable. Slovenia was a small post-communist and socialist country in my childhood, a part of Yugoslavia (YU consisted of 6 smaller republics (Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia, Slovenia, Macedonia, Montenegro) and 2 (less-independent) states: Kosovo and Vojvodina). 

Everything nice was coming from Germany, Austria, Italy, also Czech Republic and Slovakia and Hungary. Everything what was precious and valuable was in German marks and it was quite expensive. So we used one currency to buy and sell in our country and German currency to save money in and to buy more expensive goods like cars, kitchen appliences and Barbies, yes, Barbies.  My mum bought some for me when she was able to travel abroad as part of excursions for teachers. They were probably from China but at that time even those toys were of relatively good value. I didn't have any original Barbies - in my memory they were so expensive, like 99 marks = 99 euros. 

I remember looking through a catalogue of toys which was in German. I could never get those pink houses, cars, closest, scooters, beautiful sparkly clothes etc. So I created my own from boxes, fabric and so on. Things were not pink but I was able to play and to create. I took good care of any Barbie clothes that I owned and copied them to re-creat my own clothes for Barbies. (I should show them once before my children totally destroy everything.)

Anyway, enough of memories and nostalgia. I'm getting old. 

Here are 3 Barbie dresses and two patterns I've made recently (The first one and the third one are made after the same pattern, the second one is a different pattern.) Here I'll show just pictures and I'll try and make PDF files to download for my next post.

#1: The Blue Sparkly dress

#2: The Pink Cotton dress

The process of making:

Here is the original file I found on the internet, but it's a .jpg file, so not very useful: Simplicity 4719

 https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1zNJn0I7Mn7pZc4Z1mNKTYUHMLuao-khv?usp=sharing

(I hope I'll publish it in PDF soon.)

#3: The Pink Boucle and Satin dress - the latest one

(This Barbie is like my best one that I own and she is over 30 years old.)

Useful site for making Barbie clothes:

A lot of great Barbie clothes with PDF patterns