How to Sew a Swimsuit – Getting the Pattern Prepared – Swimsuit Sewbration
Today I want to help you find the perfect swimsuit pattern for YOU and prepare it to be cut out. There are SO MANY amazing patterns out and still coming out every week. I have loved testing out a few and instagram stalking the hashtags for the rest! How do you choose just one? You don’t! 😉
I did a whole blog post about my top 5 patterns to use. All of these patterns are PDF patterns, some can be bought as a print but if you buy it as a PDF you will need to print the patterns off yourself. I recently posted two videos on my YouTube channel all about this. The first video is, How to Print a PDF Pattern at Home and the second is How to Send PDF Patterns to a Printer. These posts should cover all of your bases so you will be able to find and print the PERFECT pattern to fit you and your style.
After you have the pattern picked out and printed, you need to decide which size you want to use. All patterns have three main sizes that they will list: bust, waist, and hips. If your sizes don’t match up with the sizes of the pattern you can grade your patterns. Grading is basically blending two sizes together. My hips are usually a couple sizes bigger than the size I use for my bust or waist so instead of picking one size and having the suit fit weird, I gradually bring the hips out to the size they hit, so I have a perfect fitting top and bottom.
A typical fitting problem for a swimsuit would be that it’s too short or too long. This is a very easy fix! Most patterns will have a lengthen or shorten line (on one-piece suits) and all you need to do is cut on that line and lengthen the pieces however much you need. Make sure you do this to all the pieces that are affected by the length. You can watch my video on how to lengthen here and the one on how to shorten here so you can see it in action.
I HATE when my bum hangs out of swimsuits. I like to be covered. So another adjustment I usually make is to make the line for the bum go out farther. In the past I have also just free handed turning the bottoms into shorts or extending the shape of the bum out and I looooved it!
Don’t be afraid to adjust the pattern how you want it to look and fit. That is part of the amazingness of making your own swimsuit! Tomorrow I will talk all about cutting out your fabric. If you are worried about fit AT ALL, make a muslin using the swimsuit lining before you cut out your fashion fabric! Don’t be afraid to test it out. That way you know your suit is exactly how you want it before you cut out the fun fabric.
And remember YOU CAN DO IT! Take things slow and have FUN!
Happy Sewing Friends!!
