swimsuit 2

Flattered to be asked to make another swimsuit-like monokini. I have to let newly bought fabric get lost in the studio from time to time, just to distance it from the purchase. Then I miraculously find it again, and it's like it was free! So I happened to have this p/d fabric and thought it would be a sort of betty page update. From the back it looks almost chaste.

As always, it starts with a drawing, which I then transpose onto paper. A lil trick I devised is to use the entire form on one piece of paper, and poking semi big holes into the pattern where the edges overlap. This way, you can have less paper patterns to go missing in the chaos. I can also use the same bra pattern, even for different sizes, and I don't need a separate one.

Using clear plastic tape, I can reinforce the paper where I have poked my holes, so that as I am "stippling" through them with a pen, they don't tear etc. When I have drawn my lines, I cut the fabric and begin pinning pieces together. Obviously, symmetry is the name of the game, in drawing and cutting the pattern, transposing and cutting the fabric, pinning for the seams, and sewing the fabric together. At every stage of the project I have to police the symmetry of everything.

Another thing that ends up being imperative, is the balance of elastic strengths and pulls.

Next comes the sewing of all the side-seams. I make sure to leave enough room in the fold to thread my elastics through. Making the long straps for the back consists of cutting longer strips of fabric, about an inch wide, with a string down the center and stitched into the far end, careful not to let the string get into the seam anywhere along the tube. I like to first do a zig-zag to make sure I didn't accidentally sew-in the string (if so, it's easier to rip than a straight stitch), and then I do my straight stretch stich down the middle of the zig zag.

 Running the string down the center of the tube/strap makes turning it inside out a snap. Getting it started gently with a chopstick is a good idea. Once you have turned the full length of the strap inside out, the string can be cut off with the end.It got away from me before I could photograph the finished product, with straps and clasps and all. There are some plans to do a shoot though. Stay tuned.

UPDATE: Some highlights from our shoot! Enjoy.