I swear, I have the most lovely group of blog readers ever!  Thank you so much for the positive feedback that you gave me on my Jaywalk dress, and on the photos!  I really do love the dress, and whether I win a prize or not (and considering how amazing many of the entries are, chances could be slim) I have made something that I know I will wear again and again and again.

At the moment I am having a bit of a frenzy to get organised for our Thailand trip.  Ramping up to full-time work in the last couple of weeks has impacted significantly on my sewing time, and there are a few things that I wanted to get made for the trip that won’t be finished.  But some new bathers were non-negotiable.  There is a fair bit of poolside lounging ahead, and I didn’t have anything that fitted my current size and shape!  Kwik Sew patterns to the rescue.

This is Kwik Sew 3609, kindly modelled by Ada. I’ll post photos of me wearing them after our trip – I just couldn’t bear to get into bathers in June! I sewed the size Large, without alteration.

The bottoms are super simple, and come up nice and high over my belly. I prefer to tuck my stomach inside my togs instead of have it hang over them. Not much to say about these really! There’s much more work in the top.

Yes, it’s basically a swim dress. Clearly I have become middle aged. But now I prefer more coverage for a myriad of reasons. The bust is twisted and gathered, and has a halter strap. There is elastic through the top of the bust and around the top of the back, as well as more elastic around the underbust seam. I think that these will provide plenty of support for the swimming I’ll be doing. No laps.

The fabric came from Rathdowne Fabrics, which is a marvellous resource for swimsuit fabric. I used the overlocker for much of the construction, but used the machine for just as much. Elastic was applied using a zig-zag, then turned to the inside and zig-zagged in place again. Kwik Sew has excellent instructions, and if you take your time it isn’t all that difficult to make these.

Kwik Sew 3696 also got an outing. I like two piece bathers due to their ease of wearing (a polite way of saying that it’s easier to go to the toilet if you are wearing a two piece). The pants on these were had a much lower rise than the previous pair, and after trying them on I decided to unpick the waist elastic and add a wider band to the top to make them come up higher. This inside out photo shows the added band, which also has elastic around the top. The double layer of the band should also provide a bit more tummy support.

The halter top was relatively straightforward. The ties are threaded through a casing on each side of the cups, which gathers them in a bit, and there is another tie put through the centre of the cups to gather them there as well. The side ties provide some cup size adjustability.

Once again, the fabric is from Rathdowne Fabrics. There is also elastic around the top of the cups and around the underbust seam and the top of the back.

Here’s hoping that both pairs perform well in the pool! I have a Bombshell swimsuit cut out as well, but may not get that made in time. And I’ve been sewing togs for the girls as well. I’ve enjoyed making these much more than I anticipated. There are some gorgeous bathers patterns around – Jalie have just released one that is particularly nice. Maybe next time!