Saturday, July 7, 2012

BAM - Tankini!

I finished the fluorescent tankini last night at 10:30 PM. I spent more time on this one altering the pattern - view B. I'll save most of the gory details for the review...eventually.

Here's an upclose of the topstitching (get your sunglasses). I did the triple zigzag this time around because the regular zigzag looked kind of childish and homemade on the blue tank. All my RTW have a double-needle finish, but I'm scared to try that since my previous double needle with wooly nylon bobbin attempts have been less than stellar. And just how do you thread wooly nylon in a serger, by the way? Seems like it would be so fluffy...

Here we go. So the PR'ers who made this said the crotch was too wide, and I narrowed it just a bit, but obviously it could be way narrower, to get rid of the wrinkles. We'll see if it starts sagging too much in the water...may need to redo the legs.

Hmmm, some thoughts: Pink shows every bump - the blue suit hid a bunch of stuff. (Oh wait, the blue suit was too big around the midriff and didn't even touch me - that may be why there are no bumps and bulges!) I always have thought that this halter style de-emphasized my pearishness, but I could be wrong.

And here's the big news - I left the bra cups upstairs, so these pictures are with no padding! Woohoo! The tank flattened me out, but this style is supportive with elastic under the bust. I did leave out the contrast band since I didn't have any fabric, and I eliminated the upper back, since I did something special...

Ta-da! I copied another tankini I have that used this ring on the back, and cut that fabric up as a pattern piece to sew this in. Of course, this being me, I ran out of my pink thread on the VERY LAST topstitch around the bust elastic (God took pity on me, as usual), so the ring thread is a little too dark, but whatever.

So, it's off to Lake Martin to test-swim the 2 suits, and we'll see who goes to the Blue Angels. I did wash the blue one already, and nothing's come undone, so that's promising!

11 comments:

gwensews said...

Your suit looks great. The test will be when it gets wet. If it holds it's shape in the water, you have a winner! Love the pink!

RobbieK said...

AWESOME!!! I do recommend trying them out, alone, in the shower first.

Pam said...

That is so fun and wonderful that you've made the tankini- love the pink. You can definitely work that color! I also think you were ingenious in the detailing in the back straps. Congrats.

I second the shower recommendation -but why do it alone?

Dr. Fun (AKA Sister) said...

Great idea on the shower test, instead of trying it in front of my BIL...although we've been doing this lake trip for 8 years now and he's seen all the old suits, including the one that was caught on video when I climbed out of the water with a saggy tankini bottom, which prompted me to finally buy some new suits. And Pammie, you made me laugh out loud!

Rachelle said...

I am so copying that back! Perfect colour and style on you. Your topstitching is great. I have a RTW suit with 3 step zig zag. Does your fabric have a texture on it? It looks like it in my screen. Just gorgeous, I love it.

Dr. Fun (AKA Sister) said...

No, that's just my cellulite....no, it really does have a texture that's pretty cool, but it's a lot thinner than the blue fabric. Thanks for the nice comments!

Rachelle said...

Haha your funny, all I can see is muscle definition in your arms....so jealous. I do Jillian Michaels 30 day shred twice a week. She promised me I would be shredded by now. I am still waiting ;) guess that's what having four kids does to a body :p

sewistafashionista said...

Pink looks so pretty on you and the back is great! I too have a cone of woolly nylon in my sewing bin. I look at it, think about threading it, and then push it aside for the standard thread. If it stretches isn't it going to snap in the serger?

Sheila said...

You look great and love the hot pink on you.

Dr. Fun (AKA Sister) said...

Thanks Sheila, and Sewista, I'll get your comment out of the spam basket, but I totally agree - how can wooly nylon work in the serger when it stretches? That's why it comes out of my sleeves I guess...

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