Goodbye to Summer

This past week was brutal. Fire smoke has been chocking our air, driving us inside our stuffy apartment. It's lonely - you can't visit with friends inside because of the virus or outside because of the smoke. It's stuffy - we can't open the windows so now it's been much warmer inside than without. On Wednesday, the sky was so dark that it looked like night most of the day. For each adaptation I make in 2020, it feels like it just throws more punches. I feel so deeply for those affected by the events of 2020!

In my free time, I've been trying to focus on happier things. So today I'm throwing it back to one last summer project from a happier time - my new bathing suit from our trip to the foothills at the beginning of August.



Pattern: an amalgamation of personal patterns
Fabric: 1 yd nylon spandex

Cost: $10

Cooped up indoors for most of the summer, this swimsuit had a lot of internet inspiration. First, I love these bikini bottoms from Sew Swimmingly. You can get the pattern on their site but I had already fitted a pair of high-waisted Ohhh Lulu Grace Panties so I just used those. I have a very long lower torso, so to get them to fit at the waist I had raised them quite a bit! Having already done that, it was just a matter of attaching a circular flounce to the side panels to get this fluttery mermaid look. It looks like the Sew Swimmingly pattern has you sew the flounce into a seam, but I just topstitched mine to the side panels before sewing the panels to the front and back pattern pieces. So that you don't see the stitch line, I topstitched the flounce upside down and then just folded it down over the seam line. 

The top was a bit more of a project. I like a bit more of a substantial top to balance out fuller bottoms. I first tried out (and fully made!) the Edgewater Ave Maxine Top (not pictured). It's quite cute and I learned some interesting construction, but I just didn't love it with these bottoms. Having nothing but time on my hands, I decided to make another! The Lisette for Butterick pattern 6358 would have been great, but it's out of print and I'm not about to go running around town trying to find one. (Bonus if you do have it - it's got the right bottoms for this suit, too!) Instead, I used a personal pattern I had traced off a Madewell bra and adapted it to have tie fronts. The construction got a bit dicey but in the end it came together quite well. 

Here's me at the river, enjoying happier times.





Our warm weather (and smoke!) is likely to continue for a while yet but I'm all out of swimsuit fabric so I'll be looking for something else to sew. Stay safe everyone!