Thursday 7 April 2016

Jalie 3350 - surf and poolside

We've just been away on a summer holiday and I made sure the kids had some new swimwear each before we went.

These floral swimmers had been a favourite of A's (so faded now they're unrecognisable) and so I thought I'd revisit the pattern one size up for this summer.


This is Jalie 3350 view B. I measured her and she appeared to be exactly the right measurements for size I, which is just one size up from last years swimmers.

This first green pair were made with a small remnant of lycra from GJ's discount fabrics. I think it was fished out of the remnant bin and cost maybe $2. And of that I've probably only used half of it! I lined the front with more of the pale skintone pink lycra I'd bought last year.


I made a neater job of the cross over bit this time, and even added a step to pull the lining through the front panels and stitch it to itself. That means there's no unfinished lining edge at the centre front. Much tidier. I'll have to take a few photos next time (next year!) to describe it properly.


A big part of the appeal of this pattern is that she can easily get them on and off herself. The intensive school swimming instruction starts next week and I'm afraid the Cosi pattern (also sewn last summer) with it's cross over straps was just too confusing.


I had decided to make both view B and View A and I was good and sewed this pair right to the end to try the fit before cutting the second pair. I do think they could do with a centimetre or two more torso length, but once I started looking at View A the pattern is more confusing and didn't lend itself to lengthening so easily. So I didn't bother and just made the same size over!


It turned out not to be quite as baffling as I'd thought it would be to add length, as that band is more of a flap. It lays over the uppermost part of the bottom section and adds nothing to the length of the swimsuit. The front could be easily lengthened. It's the back that would require a bit more thought.


I love the back of these swimmers!

I tried really hard to cut my fabric to align at least the colours, if not the chevrons. But the upper back sections, which I fastidiously lined up and cut were upside down! I may have missed a grainline marking when tracing the pattern, but the writing, which I always trace is upside down to the pattern piece. There, hopefully I'll remember that for next time.


The method for creating the straps is great. A strip of fabric is stitched onto the edge of some 1cm elastic, then wrapped around the elastic and topstitched down with a zig zag stitch. Then the excess fabric width is simply trimmed off close to the stitching on the underside. The straps are more stretchy, stable in width and have better recovery than if they were just made from a tube of lycra.


Last year I tried to make my swimmers look professional by using a double needle for all the elastic hems. However, I'd stitched close to the edge and the elastic tended to want to roll out. This time I just went with a nice wide zig zag and it behaves so much better and really doesn't look too amateurish at all. So while I chose to use an overlocker for the main seams, there's no reason why one couldn't make swimwear with a very basic sewing machine only.


The back fastening, as per the pattern, should have been a 2" hook which hooks to a loop sewn by folding one of the straps back on itself.

I couldn't find such a huge hook, but did find a two pack of these 1" clear plastic swimwear closures. It was a bit of a squeeze to get the straps happily through and stitched down, but it turned out to work really well in the end.


The chevron fabric is quite a large piece that I bought at Rathdowne fabrics and the orange another of the little scrap remnants from GJ's. It's really quite ridiculous how little fabric you need to make 5 year old girl swimsuits! I think I'll be sewing swimsuit chevrons for quite some years to come.


We had a fantastic holiday in the sun and the kids adored being on the beach. They were up at a crazily early hour each day and so it would feel like we'd been in the water for an eternity, yet my watch would only say half past nine in the morning! This little one is pretty brave when she wants to be and delighted in the big breaking waves. Flipper would take her out and hold her over his head while the wave broke over them. Sometimes they both got completely submerged but she didn't care a bit.

Of course in the Australian sun, you only get to show off your swimsuit for the sake of a blog photoshoot. The rest of the time it's hats and rashies on. So that's what I need to sew her next, a new rashie for riding the boogie board!



21 comments:

  1. Very interested to hear what pattern you use for a rashie. They seem to exist is Aus RTW only! I need one with a full length zip - a cardi rashie. Stumped for ideas. Did you make board shorts too? What fabric, & where do you find it? Next question - are you making swimmers for yourself?

    These swimmers are gorgeous, beautiful job with the chevron closure.

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    1. I toyed with the idea of a short zip for the kids, but they don't really need it. For a full zip, I'd just put a chunky zip up the front of a tight fitting t-shirt pattern and widen the neck and into a mini mandarin collar. My rashies are only pull on t-shirt style though so a zip would just be decorative.
      I love the look of the Jalie boardshorts pattern, but haven't bought it 'cause I've never found the right fabric.
      I'd consider trying swimmers for me one day, but it seems a lot of work!

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  2. Cute swimmers and love the chevron one, but there is no way I can tell the back upper piece is upside down.

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    1. You are kind! Now that I look at it, I doubt I would have had the pink chevron overlapping correctly if it had been the other way up after all!

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  3. Ahhhh!!! These are awesome!! The fit looks fantastic and I love your choice of fabrics. Chevrons are impossible to pattern-match. Like, you can't, because of the laws of physics and stuff. ;-) I'm working on swimsuits for my kiddos right now too, although I hit a snag on one and put it aside and haven't gotten back to it quite yet. We'll see!

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    1. The applicable law is the one that states you might align your chevrons but you can never be certain where or when that may happen (apologies to Heisenberg)
      I got one right 'though; check out that center back seam. What seam you say? Exactly! :)
      I hope your swimmers come together. Here to help if I can in any way

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  4. I love the fit of this suit! Looks so good on her, great fabrics too. Mmmm swimming.

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    1. Thanks Kristin. I'm delighted with this pattern's fit/shape. Can't rate it highly enough. Hope you get some warm sunshine soon

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  5. I reckon you could do some part green, part chevron suits next year. Looking good.

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    1. Or maybe a full length chevron Lycra bodysuit for bike riding! :)

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  6. Both bathers are lovely. Such a cute design! I'll also be interested to know what you use for a rashie pattern. Last year I made one from an Ottobre raglan top pattern and just adapted it slightly. It worked pretty well.

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    1. Thanks Marisa. It's a fabulous pattern and such a huge size range it will never be outgrown!
      Yep, I went with a simple raglan t-shirt. It's the matching swim trunks I'm most pleased with!

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  7. I love the green one, vintagish. One more request for the Rashie pattern.. And the fabric too.. Will any raglan tee pattern work???

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    1. Thanks. I like the solid green too. I've used Lycra fabric that is probably "dancewear" rather than "swimwear". They won't last forever in sunshine and chlorine, but with growing kids i only expect to get one season from a swimsuit anyway. All the more reason to make them cheaply myself.
      I used a simple raglan tee. It will be an Oliver + S blog post, so there's a clue to which pattern! :)

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  8. The fit on these is amazing - they both look great! And it looks like they stay on nicely, even without the crossed straps at the back (which I agree are a pain for kids - E always ends up tangled and calling for help when she tries to put hers on). Making bathing suits feels a bit like the final frontier of sewing, but I may just have to give it a try.

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    1. Thanks Angela. I thought sewing swimwear was one of those things I'd want some hand holding for, but I have to say the Jalie patterns are well written and very easy to follow. Really, if you can sew a t-shirt you can sew a swimsuit. Give it a try, the price of failure (in fabric terms) is so low! :)

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  9. Both suits look great! It looks like the Jalie pattern is for adults, too, so you can just go ahead and make one for yourself using that :) I may look into View B for myself...

    Hey, we're in Hawaii right now on vacation, and our kids are up at 5 a.m. everyday, too! So much fun, yes?

    One more thing: I accidentally deleted your last comment on my blog--trying to hit the right button on a phone is difficult, and there's no "undo". So sorry, I'm not slighting you!

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    1. :) Nicole, I've had so much trouble with bloglovin' on my main computer (fails to load, can't open the blog links etc) and hate trying to read and comment from my phone, that I fear I've been the one possibly snubbing and failing to keep in touch properly with my favourite blogs. i hope I was complimentary!
      Enjoy hawaii. have you got bikes with you?
      Yep,the Jalie size range is aastronomical isn't it. It's the swimsuit that I'm sewing up next that I'd consider trying for me one day...

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  10. Adorable suits Shelley. I use the Field Trip tee, sized back as a rash vest pattern, works well.

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    1. Thanks Nicole. I've sent you a sneak peek of what I've been up to. You'r eon the money!

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  11. Great job sewing such fun swimmers. I would have never noticed the chevrons were upside down on the back! Such fun bright colours. I too was amazed how little fabric swimmers required.

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