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Transcript:

Caroline: We are recording today on the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territories of the Coast Salish and Kwakwaka’wakw peoples, including Tsleil-Waututh, Squamish, Musqueam, and K’ómoks first nations.

Helen: Hello, and welcome to Love to Sew. I’m Helen, the designer behind Helen’s Closet Patterns.

Caroline: And I’m Caroline, the owner of Blackbird Fabrics.

Helen: We’re two sewing buds who love to sew our own clothes and want to encourage you on your sewing journey, too.

Caroline: Join us for today’s topic: Sewing Swimwear 2.0.

Hi, Helen.

Helen: Hi, Caroline.

Caroline: How are you?

Helen: I’m doing great. How are you?

Caroline: I’m good. I, it’s funny that we’re talking about swimsuits today because it is raining buckets in Vancouver.

Helen: Sam and I had plans to go for our first swim of the season tomorrow because the weather was looking promising, and we were going to wear our wetsuits, but now it’s calling for a thunderstorm, so maybe next week.

Caroline: Yeah.

Helen: Yeah.

Caroline: Looking forward to that sunny spring/summer weather so we can test out our swimsuits again this season, but can’t come soon enough.

Helen: Yeah. But by the time this episode comes out will be a really good time for our listeners to start thinking about making a swimsuit if that’s something that’s on their list for the year. It’s always great to get it done before the summer weather hits because then you can get the most use out of it. So that’s what we’re going to be talking about today.

But first we have some great feedback that came in after we released our Getting Started with Pattern Drafting Episode, and we knew we just had to share all of the tips with you. So @SewBusty on Instagram said that their favourite pattern drafting book is Dress Pattern Designing by Natalie Bray. They wrote, “I find her method to work the best for busty figures (after trying a bunch of methods)!”

Caroline: Thank you so much for this recommendation. It’s true that some drafting methods are better for busty figures. So it’s good to get a recommendation from someone who’s tried a bunch of methods with that in mind. So we’ll make sure we link that up in the show notes.

And we also have a message from Tamanna. They wrote, “I would highly recommend the fashion courses on Domestika – they are absurdly affordable and super well-produced. Many are in Spanish with subtitles, but there are also some in English or Portuguese, and it’s really cool how it reflects design sensibilities from around the world. They have classes on moulage, pattern making, draping, pattern drafting on Illustrator, and sewing from basic to advanced. I’ve taken nine courses there now and have been amazed by the quality of the content each time.”

Helen: Oh, thanks, Tamanna. We looked at the prices for this, and they’re really great. We’re going to link this in the show notes for this episode. Very exciting to find another hub for pattern drafting online courses.

Caroline: Yeah.

Helen: Taylor wrote, “I wanted to share a hack that I use for sustainable, cheap options for drafting paper – check out wrapping paper bins at the thrift store and grab some rolls of paper with a one inch grid on the back. Wide paper, easy to store, and no guilt about wasted, expensive, newly produced materials if you (like me) have to redraw your patterns a million times! Also, the grid is AMAZING because you can count instead of measure and you never have to worry if lines are straight or square to each other.”

Caroline: Ooh, this is a fabulous idea. Thank you so much for sharing this with us, Taylor. I now have another section to look at at the thrift store when I go visit.

Helen: Yay.

Caroline: Okay. So if this topic for the show seems a little familiar, it’s because we already made an episode about sewing swimwear, you might remember, but it was four years ago. Can’t believe we’ve been podcasting for that long. And the number of sewing resources and swimsuit patterns exploded since then. And we have learned a lot too. So even though we’ll be covering some of the same ground as four years ago, we’ll have more and better fabric advice, sewing tips, and pattern recommendations to share with you in this episode. So I’m excited to dive in with this little sewing swimwear refresher.

Helen: Ooh. Dive in, like a splash?

Caroline: Let’s dive in! Make a big splash.

Helen: Alright, Caroline, have you sewn any swimsuits since that wonderful swimsuit photoshoot we did on the beach in 2018?

Caroline: Yes, I have. Not a ton, actually. I’ve sewn one swimsuit – the Friday Pattern Co Vernazza Two Piece, which is a little top with a tie at the front and then a high-waisted bottom, and I really love that suit. I sewed it out of one of our prints at Blackbird that we designed. We also did a photoshoot at Blackbird in 2020, where we had a lovely local woman, uh, sew up some suits for us and, uh, we shot them, and I had one made in my size, but sadly, it didn’t fit.

Helen: Oh no!

Caroline: How rude! So I don’t wear it, but I still have it in my swimsuit drawer cause I love it. It does, like, go on, but it’s just, the torso is too short. So it, kind of, rides up at the bottom, so I don’t wear it. I would maybe wear it with, like, a skirt or a pair of shorts, but I haven’t had the opportunity yet, but that’s basically the new swimsuits or new handmade swimsuits that are in my wardrobe.

Yeah. What about you? I feel like you’ve made a lot because when we recorded that episode, you used, like, a first, really early sample of Sandpiper in our photoshoot. And I remember you talking about it, and it took you a few years to release it, but tell me more about that.

Helen: Classic Helen takes me a few years to release the pattern I talk about. I loved that sporty design that I did for that photoshoot for the first swimwear episode. And Sandpiper does have, like, a higher neck and a more full coverage back. And it, sort of, fits like a workout top, which is my ideal for a swimsuit because I’m a very active person at the beach.

I love paddleboarding, which is new to me. I love swimming. I love Frisbee. I love making sandcastles. I love looking for crabs. I love snorkelling. Like, all the things. Just love being in the water. I love to splash around. So I want a swimsuit that’s really going to offer me support and coverage and make me feel comfortable doing all those active things.

So since our last episode, I’ve also made the Friday Pattern Co Vernazza, and I do love that one as well. And then a lot of Sandpipers swimsuits, and that’s, kind of, been the extent of my swimwear sewing, but prior to that, I’ve tried the Seamwork, uh, swimsuit patterns, Reno and Dakota, I think they’re called, and the Sophie swimsuit from Closet Core, as well as the Bombshell swimsuit from Closet Core. That was, like, early indie pattern sewing days. I can remember when the Bombshell hit the market, and everyone was so excited about that pattern.

Caroline: Oh my gosh. Yeah. I remember that, too. That was a long time ago.

Helen: Yeah, right? It feels like forever ago now. But it is only, like, five or six years ago. And the Maison Fleur, I can’t remember the name of it, but I made that one in the early days as well. So definitely been plenty of swimsuits in my past. Only a few of them has stayed in my collection. And that’s mostly due to poor fabric choice, which we’re going to talk about a lot today, but I do love my Sandpipers.

I’m excited to make some more this summer. I would love to make one with long sleeves that’s, sort of, like, a rash guard slash swimsuit that I can wear while I’m paddleboarding cause that is my new obsession. Just want to be on my board as much as possible.

Caroline: Yes. I also picked up paddleboarding last year and have really enjoyed it. I don’t think I get out as much as you do cause you are lucky to be so close to so many places that you can go paddleboarding, but it has, kind of, affected my swimsuit choices when I’m out, uh, on my paddleboard. And for that reason, I also picked up a couple of suits from a local company called Nettle’s Tale because the swimsuits that I had were not, like, full coverage enough. And I felt not necessarily, like, safe to be falling into the water and moving around that much, um, without having some kind of wardrobe malfunction. So yeah, I bought some, sort of, higher neck choices from Nettle’s Tale, and I wear those a lot when I’m out on my paddleboard, but I would love to make a Sandpiper this summer for my paddleboarding adventures.

Helen: Ooh. Would look very cute on you.

Caroline: Alright. Well, should we talk a little bit about fabric? My favorite part of the swimwear sewing journey.

Helen: Yes. And this is the most important consideration, I think, when you’re making a swimsuit. Obviously, you want to choose the style you like, but then you have to choose the right fabric for that style. So for the main fabric of the swimsuit, you’re going to be looking for polyester or recycled polyester or nylon fabrics. Synthetic fabrics are preferred for swimwear because they don’t break down easily in the sun, the salt water, or chlorinated pool water, and they keep and hold their shape. They’re also much less absorbent than natural fibres so they can dry quickly. You don’t want to be lounging around in a wet swimsuit for too long. Everybody knows that feeling.

Caroline: Yeah, no, it’s so true. I know when I went paddleboarding last summer, before I picked up some swimsuits locally, I ended up wearing, like, a, kind of, sports bra type thing that I had that was made out of bamboo, just cause I didn’t have any other options. And, man, when that top got wet, I just felt like I was weighed down, waterlogged.

Helen: Yeah.

Caroline: And it took so long to dry, and it just reminded me how important it is to have those moisture-wicking fabrics like poly and nylon when you are sewing up a swimsuit. And I will also say not all poly and nylon is created equally, so we’ll talk a little bit more about that soon. So when you’re looking for a swim fabric, you definitely want a fabric with spandex. So spandex can also be called elastane or Lycra. We recommend looking for fabrics containing 10 to 20% of this ultra-stretchy fibre. This is what’s going to give that fabric stretch and also recovery.

And then when you’re looking for swim fabric in person, there are a couple of things that you can look for. So when you stretch out the fabric, you definitely want to be stretching it out when you’re looking at out in person. You want to check if the print still looks nice. Sometimes prints become really distorted or lose a lot of their colour, when you stretch the fabric out, and if it still looks nice, I would say it’s a good quality swim fabric.

But I do want to mention that a lot of swim fabrics, especially if you’re looking at prints, are done with digital or sublimation printing techniques. And this kind of printing is always going to fade a little bit when you stretch it out. So at Blackbird, we look for the digital prints or sublimation prints that do this the least. We test out so many different qualities, and Laura and I were in our sourcing room, just stretching, stretching the prints, just to see which ones look the best. And we try to go with fabrics that do this the least, but it’s always going to happen a little bit. And I will say it’s usually less noticeable when it’s actually on your body than if you’re just staring at the fabric, you know, and stretching it as much as you can cause you’re usually not stretching a fabric to its full capacity when it’s, like, on your body cause that would just be too compressive.

I will say there’s, like, a broad range here. So some fabrics are going to go almost white when they’re stretched or almost grey when they’re stretched, and others will just fade a little bit. So just look for something that doesn’t fade too much. And then you also want to look at a couple of other things when you’re stretching and feeling up the fabric to see if it’s a good quality.

Helen: Yeah. So, for example, does the fabric become more sheer when you stretch it? This is bad news for swimwear because it’s definitely going to get wet and you can, of course, line it, but a high quality swim fabric will stay opaque when it’s stretched, even if it does lose some of its saturation, it’s still not going to become see-through.

Also, does the fabric bounce back after you stretch it? If it does, then it has what we call good recovery. And this is really key for swimwear. You want it to hug your body. We don’t want it to bag out. And if you’re shopping online and you aren’t confident in the information the retailer provides, it might be worth it to order a swatch, so you can test it out in person or just make sure you’re ordering from a company that you trust that, you know, has actually done the work to find those really high quality fabrics so that they’re bringing you what they know is going to work for that specific purpose like swimwear.

Caroline: Yeah. It’s fun now cause at Blackbird we’ve been carrying the same print quality for a few years now and the same solids for a few years. So we can go back and pull pictures of people who have made swimsuits, and we can see it sewn up. And so it’s really fun to see those examples. And if you can find a shop that has some examples of swimsuits sewn up in those fabrics, then that’s always a good indicator of whether it’s a nice fabric.

So swim fabrics also come in different knits, so, kind of, different knit constructions. One of the new trends that we love is ribbed swim fabric. It has a really cool retro feel to it. You can find skinny ribs and wider ribs.

Some ribbed swim fabrics can be a little bit more delicate and prone to snagging due to their construction. So not necessarily a suit that you want to, like, drag against a rock or concrete when you’re sitting at the pool, so just keep that in mind.

Um, and textured knits, like ribs, can make a swimsuit feel really special. I love our rib swims. We’re getting a few wider ribs in the summer that are super, super cool.

And you might also see swim fabric labelled as Tricot. Tricot is a warp knit that’s soft and stable and warp knits are made with multiple needles. Fun fact: Trico is also the French word for knit.

Helen: Ooh.

Caroline: Oh, I also wanted to ask you, Helen, I remember in our last swimwear episode, you talked about sewing up swimsuits in polyester, and I think you used like ITY knits for some of your swimsuits, like, um, the kind of poly knits that you can find, uh, at most fabric stores that are not necessarily labelled to swim fabrics. So can you give me an update on some of those suits and how that wore and how those fabrics worked out in the end?

Helen: I mean, we could probably take a guess. No, I honestly, I didn’t, they were some of my earlier suits, so I didn’t wear them, you know, to death because they, the fit wasn’t perfect or the style wasn’t exactly what I’d hoped it would be. But, you know, I wore them for a season and definitely, the fabric started to fade, um, and pill.

And in one case, I had used it to make a one piece, and there wasn’t any vertical stretch in the fabric, so it was all horizontal stretch, and that’s something you’d want to look out for. We’re going to talk about that next. It needs to have four-way stretch, because as much as you think, oh, it needs to stretch around my body, I don’t need that vertical stretch.

You really do, because you’re going to be moving around, bending over, and you just need it to be comfortable. It needs to stretch vertically over your body as well. So I made that mistake in my early days.

And part of that is just the fun of going to your local JoAnn’s and seeing what beautiful prints they have in their polyester knit section and thinking like, oh, this feels like swimsuit fabric, but it wasn’t designed for that, so it definitely was a bit of a fail. I think you’ll have better luck buying something that’s specifically marketed as swimwear fabric, and it will last a lot longer and be easier to sew.

Caroline: Yeah, I think also sometimes fabrics that are marked for, like, dance or athletic wear, especially those, like, fun printed nylon Tricots that have a lot of stretch, those can, kind of, cross over to swim. But when you’re looking at a poly knit that has maybe a little bit less stretch, a little bit less recovery, you can almost tell from the hand feel, um, if you’re shopping in person, like, does it feel like a swimsuit fabric or not? I think that’s a good indication.

And I think it also, kind of, depends on, on when and where you’re wearing the swimsuit, um, and what type of swimsuit you’re making. I think it probably matters a little bit less if you’re wearing, like, a little triangle bikini than if you’re wearing a one-piece, uh, where you need it to stretch that, in those four directions. So consider, kind of, what your use is for your swimsuit when you’re picking a fabric.

Helen: Oh, totally. Yeah. So we mentioned stretch in some fabrics, um, are two-way, and some are four-way. So two-way stretch fabrics only stretch along the crossgrain. Um, and again, if you’re making a bikini, you can probably get away with this, but four-way stretch fabrics do stretch both ways. Um, and if you’re making one piece, you definitely want four-way.

So pay attention to what kind of stretch the fabric has when you’re shopping. A good online retailer will tell you that, um, so you don’t have to wonder, and you don’t want to end up with a bathing suit that gives you a royal wedgie, so this is, sort of, a key point to look for when you’re shopping.

Caroline: And the pattern you choose should tell you what percentage of stretch to look for. A good general rule is to look for 30% stretch or more for swimwear fabric. And remember stretch percentage, so a 30% stretch is different from percentage of spandex. So a fabric with 20% spandex, and it can stretch 30% or more, and maybe we’ll pop a link in the show notes. Uh, that kind of explains the difference between how to calculate a stretch percentage versus the content that’s in the fabric.

Helen: Yes. It can be confusing when there’s all these different percentages in the product listing. Sometimes fabrics will say 5% spandex, and they can stretch, you know, 50%, so it’s just hard to know.

Some swimwear fabrics are designed to protect your skin from the sun, as well, and this is really cool because fabric doesn’t always stop sunlight from reaching your skin. But if you look for fabrics with an actual UPF number, which is kind of like SPF for sunscreens. To get a UPF number, fabrics have to be tested. They are as strong as sunscreen or stronger. So it’s really great to have that option, especially if your skin is quite sensitive to the sun.

Caroline: And shiny metallic swimwear fabrics can be really fun. However, keep in mind that the foil reduces the stretch of the bathing suit. So make sure to double check the stretch on a metallic fabric and know that it won’t be great for really active swimming, but it will look amazing if you’re more of a beach lounger.

Helen: Uh, so true. Okay. What about lining? Because a lot of swimwear patterns will call for a lining. It can make a swimsuit sturdier and more opaque, and depending on which lining you choose, it can also make a swimsuit more comfortable and more supportive.

Caroline: Yeah. So power mesh is going to add support to your swimwear. It’s usually made of a blend of nylon and spandex. So it’s a fine mesh with great recovery. It often has less stretch than swimwear fabric, so keep that in mind when you’re choosing what size to make.

Helen: Yeah, you might actually want to size up with power mesh because it is tighter. The nice thing with swimwear sewing, I find, especially with the Sandpiper suit, for example, is that if it is feeling a little bit big in places, you can kind of take it in. So if you’re thinking that you might want to change the size, it might be helpful to size up. And then you can always take in those side seams to, kind of, like, bring it in where you need it to come in and make it extra snug if you want it. It’s so personal, too. Some people like a looser suit. Some people like a really strapped in suit. So keep that in mind when you’re sewing, too, um, you can always adjust.

Firm power mesh is like power mesh, but, you guessed it, it’s firmer. So it’s great for adding, again, that extra support. And if you really feel like you like being held in, this is the lining for you. It can be a great option for bust support if the pattern isn’t offering any other kind of bust support.

Caroline: Yeah. And Tricot swimwear lining is a lightweight option that you often see in ready-to-wear bathing suits. It’s usually made of nylon and sold in a few basic colours. It’s not going to add a ton of support, but it will add opacity and a bit more weight to a flimsier swim fabric. And you can find lightweight swimwear fabric, which you can also use for lining. So some fabric shops will say that it’s suitable for lining, but if you’re in doubt, just ask.

Helen: Yeah. And you can also self line with your chosen swimwear fabric. Some patterns will even call for that. Like, if there’s a detail, like a tie, you’ll typically line it in the same fabric as the outer layer, so the lining doesn’t show when you tie that tie. The nice thing is that you generally don’t need a ton of fabric to make a swimsuit. So lining in the same fabric doesn’t actually add a lot of costs. Sometimes I will be like, oh, I can get all of this swimsuit plus lining out of this cut that I purchased, and that way you have less waste.

Caroline: Yeah. And swimwear nearly always calls for elastic, which makes total sense. Most of us want our bathing suits to be as secure as possible. So you want to look for chlorine resistant elastic. Sometimes it’s labelled as swimwear or elastic.

And there are two main kinds of chlorine resistant: rubber elastic and braided elastic. So rubber elastic has a ribbed surface and is coated with silicone. It’s a little trickier to sew with then braided elastic, but it is less bulky. And braided elastic is made of cotton and rubber and comes in a natural, off-white colour.

Some patterns are going to ask you to add elastic to certain seams to reinforce them and help with recovery. So you can actually use clear elastic for this. And it’s, clear elastic is really thin and comfortable, but it’s not as strong as rubber or braided elastic, but for this purpose, it doesn’t have to be.

So there’s a few different elastics that you’re gonna be looking for. Use your pattern instructions, and you might want to experiment. Personally, I used to use the braided elastic, and now, I prefer rubber elastic. So your sewing practice might evolve.

Helen: Ooh. For trunks or board shorts, you want to look for a polyester microfiber fabric. This would be a lightweight, soft to the touch, dry super quickly. You can also try using nylon ripstop fabric though this is much more challenging to sew. It frays quickly, and it requires a microtex needle.

For a mesh brief insert, power mesh would be the way to go. You could use a swimwear tricot, but it might look a bit bulky, so power mesh does work better here. Mellie Sews, uh, who has a great blog with lots of sewing advice, has also used mosquito netting with some success for that mesh insert, that inner netting.

And if you’re looking for technical fabrics for swimwear, I would recommend a company that’s local to me called Discovery Fabrics. They have a lot of really interesting textiles, including great fabrics for trunks and board shorts and things like that, so check them out.

Caroline: Which is really hard to find. We’ve been trying to source a good fabric for that for so long and for that mesh, kind of, netting lining, and we just haven’t found one that we really like that’s at a good price point. Um, so I would totally check out Discovery Fabrics because they have a lot of options.

Helen: Yeah, they do.

Caroline: So depending on your pattern, you may need some other notions. So underwires (and underwire casings), clasps and g-hooks for closures, maybe rings and/or sliders for straps. The sliders are going to adjust the strap length. Um, a lot of the time these supplies can be found at lingerie suppliers online. Grommets are also a nice touch for board shorts drawstrings. Though, a small button hole will totally work for this as well if you don’t want to go through the trouble of finding and installing grommets.

And if you’d like to add more bust support to your swimsuit, you can add foam cups, just make sure that they’re made for swimwear so that they can handle the water, salt, and chlorine. And I also wanted to add foam cups can come in many shapes, but sizing can be pretty limited on these. So you can also purchase foam by the metre or yard and make your own cups. We’re going to circle back to this in a minute and talk about how you.

Helen: So smart. Yeah, the adding bust support thing, it can be really challenging with swimwear design because it’s not always taken into account with the swimwear design. And you might want to look for a pattern to start off with that has bust support, something like an underwire, um, or actual cup shaping on the bust. And that will give you a better starting off point. And you can always add those foam cups, which no matter what your bust size, you might want regardless, because you might just want to have that extra coverage.

Caroline: Mhm.

Helen: All-purpose thread will work great for swimwear. You could also try wooly nylon thread in the bobbin of your machine. Just make sure to hand wind it. wooly nylon thread is nice and stretchy, so it’s great for swimwear. It’s also a little bit softer. Test it out on your fabric first and really stretch it. Some fabrics can’t handle it, so you want to just do a test no matter what you’re sewing. You can also use wooly nylon thread in the loopers of your serger.

Anytime you use it, you probably want to adjust your tension, but I honestly just use all-purpose thread when I’m sewing my swimwear, and I don’t use my serger. I just use my all-purpose thread. Swimwear fabric doesn’t fray, and I’m lining the suit anyway. So I’m like, who cares?

Caroline: Yeah. I would just say don’t use, like, a natural fibre thread, like a cotton, because I think that would break down too quickly and potentially break with all the stretching of the fabric that’s going to happen.

Helen: Yeah.

Caroline: Okay. Let’s get into some swimwear sewing tips. I think the first warning I would give is that swimwear fabric is super slippery, so it’s often best to cut it in one layer. So if your pattern instructs you to cut on the fold, you can try to do that, but you can also just turn that piece over and trace it and tape it to the other half to get a full piece. And another option is to use a marking tool, to trace the pattern piece onto the fabric before flipping it over and tracing the other side.

If you have a rotary cutter setup, that’s going to help with the shiftiness of the fabric as well. So keep that in mind, rotary cutter is always a good call when you’re cutting out swimwear. I know that’s definitely my preference, but if you are cutting with scissors, do your best to keep your scissors as low to the cutting surface as possible. And if you’re right handed cut around the piece counter-clockwise and if you’re a lefty cut clockwork.

Helen: Yes, it is so much better to cut flat and patterns will often have you cut on the fold of the pattern pieces and as a pattern designer, I just want to say that that’s typically to reduce the amount of printing and assembling that people have to do when they’re getting the pattern ready, but it’s totally okay to turn that into a full pattern piece, if that’s your preference or if that’s going to make things easier.

One little hack that I do sometimes is to, like, lay my lining down on the table and then lay my swimwear fabric on top, both of them flat, and then cut out my pieces like that. There’s still two layers, so there’s some shifty-ness happening. But I find that with the fold in play that’s too much, but I can do two layers as long as it’s flat.

Caroline: Mm. Interesting. Love it.

Helen: You’ll notice on some patterns that they will mark the D-O-G-S or the dogs, and this stands for the direction of greatest stretch. This is the grain for knit fabric. So test out which way your fabric stretches the most and line up your pattern pieces with those dogs. And if you don’t, you might be on your way to wedgieville, like we talked about earlier, or a much narrower swimsuit than you want. You want the direction of greatest stretch to be going around your body horizontally. Some patterns will still mark just a classic grainline, so pay attention to what it’s labelled as, so that you know which way you’re supposed to orient your pattern.

Caroline: I love that our assistant Lisa made wedgies sounds so cute in this episode.

Helen: The royal wedgie or…

Caroline: …wedgieville. Oh my gosh.

Helen: Come on down to wedgie town.

Caroline: You also don’t need a serger to sew swimwear. You can use a zigzag stitch or a three-step zigzag stitch, also known as a lingerie stitch. And take your fabric and test out different widths and lengths of zigzag if you’re not using a serger. You can stretch the fabric out after you sew, so you can tell if the stitch size will accommodate the stretch of the fabric.

Our zigzags on swimwear look wide and short and a lightening bolt stitch can also work well here. So depending on your machine setup, test out some different stitches and see which one looks the best and stretches the best with your fabric. Might take a little bit of experimentation at the beginning, but it’ll totally be worth it.

Helen: Yes, use a ballpoint or stretch needle. You’re sewing knit fabric after all, so this is, kind of, a must. This kind of needle will keep the stitches from splitting and the fibres from snagging, um, and swimsuit fabric has a lot of spandex in it, so you don’t want your needle hitting that bouncy spandex and not going all the way through in order to create the loop on the other side. You really need it to go all the way through, and the ballpoint needles can actually help it to, sort of, find its way through the fibres to the other side.

Caroline: Similarly, clips or ballpoint pins are better than regular pins, which can also snag your fabric.

Helen: Yeah. Or don’t pin at all. That’s, kind of, my go-to when I’m sewing. We’re dealing with pretty small pieces a lot of the time. You can just line up those edges and go right to your sewing machine and use your fingers to hold it in place.

Caroline: Ooh, it’s, like, good practice for pinless sewing, which is very aspirational for me. I love, I love trying to sew without pins.

Helen: And if you need to press, you can use a low heat on your iron, but personally, neither of us press our swimwear fabrics. It doesn’t really hold. You’ll find it’s not as satisfying as print pressing, like, a cotton or a denim. This fabric does not hold its shape when you press it anyways. And again, often you’re doing a lining, so you just need to, like, finger press it to one side. And then once you’ve lined your suit, you’re not going to notice which way those seams are going.

Caroline: Yeah, and if you find, like, your seam looks a little bit wavy, that’s pretty normal. I would say. Like, obviously not too wavy, but a little bit of wave is normal. And just keep in mind once it’s on your body, it’s going to be stretched out and you’re not going to see any of those little imperfections in the sewing.

When you’re sewing, try not to pull on your fabric as you stitch. So this could lead to a super wavy, kind of, curly lettuce hem situation. You may need to pull on the elastic as you stitch it to the fabric, but if you do need to, pull just until the length of the elastic lines up with the fabric and no more. Again, this might take some experimentation and some trial and error on your sewing machine.

Also, I feel like sewing an elastic to the edge of fabric, kind of, like when you’re sewing lingerie, it’s, sort of, like, a feel thing. It’s really hard to explain with words or pictures. You sorta just have to do it and get a feel for it and see what the results are with different levels of pressure or pulling and figure out what looks the best with your fabric and elastic combination.

Helen: Mhm. Again, it’s another thing that’s really personal, too. Some people might want, for example, around a leg opening, that elastic to be nice and snug and tight, and other people might find that to be so uncomfortable and want it to be more loosey goosey. So, you know, you might have to make a couple of suits before you nail down this fit for yourself.

But again, luckily the pieces are small. The fabric requirements are low. So give yourself some grace. If it doesn’t work out the first time, you can always try again, and it will get better.

Speaking of elastic, there’s a method that you’ll usually use for finishing edges that is to serge or zigzag your fabric and lining together along the edge. Because, again, It’s really slippery, so it’s really helpful to join those edges together. Then, you’re going to sew the elastic to the lining side of the edge. You’re going to turn the elastic under, and you’re going to stitch it again.

You can use a zigzag for these stitches, but a triple stitch looks really nice here because you get that extra stitch in the middle, um, and you can do a wider zigzag that way when you’re using a triple stitch. And that’s it. You don’t actually need to finish the raw edges. They’re not going to unravel. You’ve got tons of stitching in there. So it’s going to be super secure.

And if you want to add a ruffle or a flounce to your suit, you won’t need to finish the hems either. Because, again, swimwear fabric just doesn’t fray.

Caroline: Mhm. Yeah. So you just have to make sure you get a really clean cut, and then you can just leave it. So there are several methods for achieving bust support in a swimsuit. The first is simple tension. The negative ease that’s built into swimsuit patterns offer some support, which you can increase by using power mesh.

The second way you can get more support is by using cups. You can get pre-made swim cups, or you can use cut and sew bra foam for a swimsuit designed with cups. There’s a great series of tutorials on the Cloth Habit blog that shows how she made a foam cup bra if you’d like to learn that method, and you can transfer that over to a swimsuit, as long as you’re using foam that works for swimsuits. Often, it’s labelled as, like, swim foam.

You can also use underwire with or without foam cups. So this is going to give your swim top a defined shape. Just use a pattern that’s designed for underwires obviously. And stays or boning are thin, but rigid strips of plastic that are used in swimmer to add support. These are usually placed on the sides of swimsuit tops to keep the bands from collapsing. So these are all ways that you can get better support in your swimsuit.

Helen: Yeah. I put some stays into my Reno swimsuit by Seamwork. They put them on the sides there, and it does really help the bands not to collapse and help the suit to hold its shape a bit better. And again, just a very small amount of material, so not too much investment there.

For board shorts or swim trunks, the shorts themselves can be sewn with just a straight stitch. Since there is no stretch in this polyester microfiber fabric that’s used for this part, you don’t actually need stretch in your seams. You’ll probably want to finish the seams though.

Um, and if you make net brief for your trunks, you’ll need to use a zigzag or serger to stitch that because there is some stretch. And you can finish the leg holes with elastic using the same method we just described. That’s the leg holes for the netting. It’s always nice to have a drawstring for board shorts or swim trunks for that extra security. You can cinch it in at the top. And you can make one out of the main fabric or you can buy drawstring cord in a cool colour. Maybe look for something that’s also, um, chlorine resistant or designed for swimwear just so it lasts a bit longer.

Caroline: Okay. Before we move on to patterns, let’s quickly cover caring for your swimsuit. Even if you choose fabrics that will stand up to the elements the best, salt chlorine and sunscreen can still damage your swimsuit over time, and leaving those things to sit on the fabric can degrade it over time. So the best way to care for your swimsuit is to hand wash it with a gentle detergent and lay it flat to dry after every time you wear it. But who wants to come home from a long day of swimming and spend an hour washing their suit every time? Not me.

The lesser, but probably good enough, option is to put your suit in a mesh laundry bag and wash it on your gentlest cold cycle with a mild detergent. Hang it up, or lay it flat to dry. Never use a dryer. The heat can actually weaken the elasticity of the fabric and the tumbling can stretch and distort it. So for the same reason, if you hand wash it, don’t wring it out. Instead, just press it between towels to get the moisture out and then hang it to dry.

Helen: Ooh, I’ll admit that I throw my swimsuit in the wash frequently and in the dryer.

Caroline: Ah. That’s fine.

Helen: It has not fallen apart yet, but I do know that it does degrade it over time. And I try to, like, I think about hanging it up. Another thing is that, like, often you’ll want to hang things that are wet up in the sunshine, but the sun can also damage your swimsuit, but then you’re wearing it all day in the sun anyway, right? I feel like there’s no perfect solution here. You have to do what’s sustainable for you. Um, and you’re not going to completely ruin your swimsuit by doing it the wrong way, but if you do want it to last the longest, then definitely, these are things to keep in mind.

Caroline: Oh yeah. No, it’s so true. It’s not like you’re going to pull it out of the dryer, and it’ll be absolutely ruined. You’ll just, over time, maybe notice that it loses a bit of its elasticity or those spandex, you know, sometimes with a fabric, with a lot of spandex, you’ll get those little spandex hairs that come out. So over time, the spandex might just, sort of, release from the weave and create these little hairs, which goes alongside losing that elasticity. So it’s something that’s going to happen slowly. And if you’re cool with that, then I say, do what works for you.

Helen: Okay, pattern time. Now, before you go searching for the perfect pattern for your swimsuit, take a bit of time to think about what kind of swimsuit will work best for you. This may seem obvious, but we’re going to go through it anyways.

So firstly, think about what coverage level and style you’re looking for. There’s lots of different styles out there. Anyone can wear any style of swimsuit or no swimsuit or whatever you want to the beach or pool. So just keep in mind whatever you’re going to feel comfortable in and look for something that’s going to fill that need.

Caroline: Yeah. And secondly, you want to think about what you’re going to be doing in your suit. So if you’re going to be swimming laps, it’s probably best to go with a simple one-piece or maillot or some kind of wetsuit or bodysuit. If you’re going to be lounging poolside, you can explore other styles and go as strappy and stringy as you want. And if you’re somewhere in the middle, think about what would be practical for you. You can also consider making a rash guard to go with your suit that can be taken on and off. Love this idea.

Helen: Ooh, layering options. Thirdly, think about what vibe you’re looking for. Are you drawn to more sporty, more retro, more flirty, more modern? Gather some inspiration photos of bathing suits that you like, and this will help you later as you think about what pattern view to choose, what fabrics would work, and whether to make any pattern hacks when you’re working with your design.

Caroline: Ooh, I love looking at swimwear inspo because often I find it hard to, kind of, picture, especially with solid swim fabrics. Like, what is that going to look like when it’s sewn up? The pieces are so small, and there are so many cool swimwear designers out there that are doing really awesome colour blocking or just combining colours in a unique way. And I love looking at inspo to see like, okay, how can I hack a pattern to make it more fun? Or how can I mix colours? I’m not always, like, the best at pairing, like, bright colours together, so it’s fun to look and see what other people are doing to get some inspiration.

Helen: Yes, definitely. You can look at just general hashtags on Instagram, like #SewingSwimwear, or you can seek out specific hashtags for your patterns, or just look at Pinterest. I mean, I love looking at Pinterest.

Caroline: Me, too. Okay. Let’s start the pattern roundup. There’s no way we could talk about every bathing suit pattern out there, and that’s a good thing. It just means that there’s a wide selection and it keeps on growing, but we’ve tried to include a variety of styles in this roundup: bikinis, one pieces, tankinis, dresses, shorts, and long sleeves. You want to kick us off, Helen?

Helen: Yeah. So firstly, the Ipswich swimsuit by Cashmerette is a simple modern design with lots of bust support, of course. Thank you, Jenny. You can make it in a one- or two-piece and the design is really great for colour blocking. There’s these designated clear areas where you can play around with prints and colours and really create a look that’s unique for you.

Caroline: And Muna and Broad makes a Banksia Swim expansion for their Banksia Bralette and Tank pattern. It includes instructions for making a swim version and includes a swim bottoms pattern. The Banksia has slings for supporting and separating your bust, so it’s super comfortable and you could make it into a bikini or a tankini.

Helen: We’ve already talked a little bit about the Sandpiper swimsuit, but I want to mention it again because it is my go-to swimsuit. I’ve so enjoyed wearing it the last couple of years, and I’m really excited to make some new versions this summer. It’s a two-piece with a sporty top and your choice of bottoms. We’ve got a high rise or a low rise. There aren’t actually that many patterns out there for low rise swimsuits. So if that’s something that you’re looking for, check out Sandpiper. Might be your jam.

Caroline: Awesome. And the Closet Core Sophie swimsuit is a great pattern that includes a pieced bra cup and underwire. I’ve made this one, and I still have it, still love it. It’s great for a swimming situation where you want that, like, coverage on your boobs and that support. And, um, it just looks really cool.

Helen: Yeah, it’s such a cool pattern. The Agility Tank and Dress by by 5 out of 4 Patterns is so cute and unusual! It’s basically a sports bra with an overlay that hangs from the centre front and centre back. There’s an option to make the sides of the overlay hang lower so that you get a bit of torso peekaboo on the sides. It would be an adorable top for a tankini or swim dress.

Caroline: And Jalie’s Victor Swim Shorts are a nice option for trunks. They have all the classic features, including an inner briefs layer, elastic waistband with drawstring, and pockets!

Helen: The Shin Swim Trunks by Joost de Cock on Free Sewing are fitted swim shorts. The cool thing about the patterns on Free Sewing is that you actually enter your measurements and fit options, and it’s gonna generate a pattern just for you! And you can enter your bulge fit preference, so it’s suitable for lots of different figures.

I love a swim short. I mean, again, the more I’ve gotten into paddleboarding, the more I appreciate having some more fabric in between my thighs. I’m doing activewear, and I really want to make some Avery Leggings swim shorts this summer.

Caroline: Ooh. Fun. Okay. Jalie 4013 is a long-sleeve one piece with a half-zip on the top. I love the colour blocked sample! We’re going to link all of these up in the show notes, but this is a great option.

Helen: We talked about Reno a bit. The Reno swim top by Seamwork is cute, kind of, retro halter top style with two piece cups. And actually I have a sew-along for this on my blog, my early blog days, so we’ll link that up in the show.

Caroline: Nice. The Siren Swim Top by Patterns for Pirates has such a cute flouncy overlay! One of the samples has it in a laser cut fabric, which is really fun.

Helen: Swim Style Patterns has SO many swim pattern options! You’ve made some from here, right?

Caroline: Yeah. I made the Jazz Tankini for my mother-in-law, and she absolutely loved it. I added a flounce to the bottom, so I sorta made the bikini, I guess, with an added flounce. And, yeah, I mean, that was, like, five years ago, and she still wears it every summer.

Helen: Aw.

Caroline: Props to me for making a long lasting swimsuit. I’m kidding.

Helen: Okay. This isn’t a pattern, but Tuesday Stitches has a great tutorial on their blog for how to add a skirt to a swimsuit. They use a half circle skirt and include how to do it for a bikini and also a one-piece. Super simple and cute way to hack a pattern if you’re looking for a little more coverage. And I love a swim skirt, it’s just adorable.

Caroline: Too cute, too cute. Another option to widen your selection of patterns for a swimsuit is to use non-swimwear patterns and adapt them for swimwear. So the main way to adapt a pattern for swimwear is to swap knit shell fabrics for swimwear fabrics. You can also add swimwear lining or power net. And normally, swim linings are cut from the same pattern pieces as the shell, and they’re basted together and treated as one piece.

So it’s a good idea to finish the openings like the neckline, armscye, leg holes, waistband, and under bust band with swim elastic so that they’ll stay in place. Also, consider how much seam allowance the pattern calls for and how much seam allowance you’re going to need to finish the swim elastic. You might need to redraw the seam allowance.

And if you want more specific instructions for how to construct a swimsuit, read a few swimwear sew-alongs for reference, but here are some ideas for patterns to use that you can, kind of, hack to make them work for swimwear.

Helen: Yes, both Lila and Jess from Muna and Broad have made really cool rash guards from their Tarley T-Shirt pattern. Their undies pattern would also be great to adapt into swim bottoms too. But if you’re looking for a rash guard pattern, I mean, look no further than your favourite tnt t-shirt in your collection. You can totally take that and run with it to make a rash guard for yourself for the beach.

Caroline: Absolutely. You can also use your favourite leggings pattern to make swim shorts like Helen just mentioned with her Avery pattern. There’s a post on Cashmerette about making swim shorts from their Belmont Leggings, which can give you some ideas for construction.

Helen: Sports bra patterns would be a good base for making a swim top, especially if you’re an active swimmer like me, and they’re designed to fit snugly and stay in place. So again, just a great choice if you want more support.

Caroline: And regular bra or bralette patterns could make super cute and sexy swim tops. Pretty much any undies patterns can be altered to use for swimwear. And patterns for tank tops with shelf bras would work really well for tankinis.

Helen: totally. I mean, also if you have a favourite swimsuit that’s, sort of, seen better days, you know, like, maybe it’s a little see-through in the butt from all that chlorine. You can take that existing suit and make a pattern for yourself out of it. Um, you might need to do a couple of muslins, but if you really love that style of swimsuit, it might be worth it in the long run to recreate a pattern for yourself.

Caroline: Oh, yeah. I’ve had this swim top forever that sort of like wraps and ties in different ways and you can, sort of, customise it how you want. And it’s really just, like, two triangles with really long pieces on the edges. And, um, I keep telling myself like, oh, I should totally hack this and recreate it because it’s such an easy convertible, sort of, swim top that is super, super cute.

Helen: Um, that sounds amazing. I love when things can be worn, like backwards or forwards or tied multiple ways.

Caroline: Yeah.

Helen: Super cool. Okay. A lot of us also enjoy a good coverup in a swimsuit situation. Whether you like feeling more coverage or you just like having extra style element or maybe extra protection from the sun, we’ve got some recommendations for you. The Almada Robe by Seamwork is a short robe with wide grown-on sleeves. It would look and feel really lovely in a drapey print. Definitely can picture this one poolside.

Caroline: Caftans are eternally cool, especially in a drapey or gauzy fabric. Troy from Thriftanista in the City has a simple tutorial for a four-seam summer caftan that looks dreamy.

Helen: Merrick from Merrick’s Art made a super cute circular beach coverup with pom-pom trim! We’re going to link up that tutorial for you as well.

Caroline: Melly Sews made a swim cover-up with a hood and kangaroo pocket out of towels! And the tutorial seems simple, too.

Helen: Uh, I really want on my pattern wishlist, which by the way, is so long. One day I would love to make a wetsuit changing pattern. So it’s basically like a towel sack that you put over your head. It often has a hood and that sort of kangaroo pocket that you can actually put your hands in and access underneath so you can take off your suit while wearing this really warm, cosy towel because not only does it like shield you from people seeing you changing, it also protects you from the cold and the wind cause you’re not always in super sunny, warm situations when you’re wearing your wetsuit. So I really would love to make a pattern for that. Maybe next year. Let me know if you’re interested or not.

Caroline: It’s so niche.

Helen: I know that’s part of the reason why it’s never happened. I’m like nobody wants to buy that.

Caroline: I think it’s a cool idea though. I mean, you can always make a prototype for yourself.

Helen: It’s true. Yeah, that’d be really fun. I’m so perpetually cold when I get out of the water, so…

Caroline: Okay. We’re about to wrap up, but first we want to share a few online shops where you can buy swim fabrics and notions. So my shop Blackbird has been designing its swim prints for three years now. Our new collection is so cute. It’s my favourite one yet. And it should be released by the time this episode comes out. So check that out.

Helen: Oh, Caroline. You’re killing me. I still have prints from last season.

Caroline: I know, I know. Oh my gosh.

Helen: No. I’m always so excited for your swim collections. Like, they’re so, so much fun. I really love how y’all play with colour and often go for less traditional looking swim fabrics, which I really appreciate.

The Fabric Fairy has swimwear prints and solids, boardshort fabrics, swimwear linings, power mesh, even some recycled swimwear fabrics. So that’s a great shop to check out.

Caroline: Meg Healy from Sew Daily recommends Spoonflower’s Sport Lycra. The best thing about it is that you can totally customise your print!

Helen: Literally, anything you want. I mean, how fun is that? What would be, like, your dream swim print? I mean, I guess you design print so we know what your dreams would look like.

Caroline: Well, if it was just for me, it would be like, a print with Pepper on it, all over it or something.

Helen: Aw. Which is doable with Spoonflower.

Caroline: It really is. This is not an ad.

Helen: I would do, like, cute little mushrooms.

Caroline: Aw, mushrooms.

Helen: I know, right? Or just sea creatures, like a print that had, like, jellyfish and starfish on it.

Caroline: Oh, that would be so cute.

Helen: Emerald Erin has swimwear fabrics, cut and sew foam, foam swimwear cups, swimwear elastic, swim hardware, and also just so much great tutorial content on her site. So check it out.

Caroline: And Porcelynne has power mesh, cut and sew foam, underwires, clasps, g-hooks, rings, and sliders. There’s a whole section just for swim hardware!

Helen: Amazing. Melissa of Fehr Trade has a great article on her blog that lists “Where to buy exercise fabric – a global list.” So check that out and enter “swim” in the “find” feature of your browser to see the swim specific links. A great article if you’re having trouble finding something in wherever you are located.

Caroline: Yeah.

Helen: I know it can be really a challenge sometimes to shop globally, especially with shipping. So this could be a great resource for you.

Caroline: Yeah. Okay. That’s all we’ve got for this round of Sewing Swimwear. Making your own swim outfit is a fabulous way to show yourself some love, so get out there and shine in the sunshine. Dive into the water, dive into sewing swimwear.

Helen: I’m feeling very inspired. I am really excited to make a swimsuit. Now I want to make another Sandpiper, and my vision for it is, like, fire engine red, like, the brightest red.

Caroline: Ooh, like Baywatch red?

Helen: Baywatch red. I think it would be so cute with that sporty style of swimsuit.

Caroline: Yes.

Helen: And I might make the bum a little bit more cheeky this time.

Caroline: Love it.

Helen: Just cut it up a little bit.

Caroline: I’m into it. Just make sure you don’t take a trip to wedgieville. It’s not a fun place to be.

Helen: What if it’s a royal wedgie? It sounds kinda nice.

Caroline: I’ll take it.

Helen: Crown it. Crown that wedgie.

Helen: That’s it for today’s episode of Love to Sew. You can find me, Helen, at HelensClosetPatterns.com and Caroline at BlackbirdFabrics.com! And we’re recording in beautiful British Columbia, Canada.

Caroline: Go to LoveToSewPodcast.com to find our show notes. They’re filled with links and pictures from this episode. And if you’d like to get in touch with us, send us an email at hello@LoveToSewPodcast.com.

Helen: If you love Love to Sew and want more, you can sign up for our Patreon! For $5 a month, you’ll get a full-length bonus episode and weekly behind-the-scenes pics. For $10 a month, you get all that PLUS a mini-episode focused on sewing techniques and 15% off codes for both Helen’s Closet and Blackbird Fabrics! Patreon is the best way to support us so that we can keep making quality sewing content. Go to patreon.com/LoveToSew, for more info.

Caroline: Thanks to our amazing podcast team. Lisa Ruiz is our creative assistant. Jordan Moore is our editor. Margaret Wakelee is our transcriber. And thank you for listening. We’ll see you next week.

Helen: Buh-bye.

Caroline: Lisa is the queen of wedgieville.

Helen: Is that a compliment? I don’t think that’s a compliment.

Caroline: I just love, I love all the wedgie jokes in this episode. It’s doing it for me.

Helen: Oh my gosh.

Caroline: Sorry, Lisa. It was meant as a compliment.

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