Leopard Print Bikini

I'm going to make this a speedy post but I wanted to share a recent make. I'm lucky enough to have a holiday to Italy booked for later this summer and the accommodation we'll be staying in has access to a swimming pool. I decided to continue my exploration into swimwear making and make this, my second two piece set. It also gave me the opportunity to finally use this piece of leopard print swimwear Lycra that's been in my stash for over ten years! 

 

Patterns:

A few months ago I made the Vernazza two piece pattern by Friday Pattern Company, proof of which you can see on my Instagram account here. It came out far better than I expected, particularly the bottoms, which I combined sizes to make. I traced the size M for the main part and graded up to the size L for the waistline and the fit is pretty much spot on. Therefore I went straight for the same pattern for this version, the only difference being that I inserted elastic into the waistband to make them feel more secure. 

The top half is made using the Helen's Closet Sandpiper swimsuit pattern. I received this pattern for free sometime ago, and hadn't initially considered it one I'd be likely to make. But the relative simplicity of the style appealed and I felt it would be a good canvas for this fun print. I initially attempted a wearable toile of the pattern using some solid black swimwear Lycra, thinking if it worked I could then make the leopard version and have some mix and match pieces. Sadly that wasn't the case as my first version came out too tight. I guess that there must be a lot of variation in the stretch and recovery of different swimwear fabrics, and although I measured myself carefully, the size my measurements corresponded to was just too small. 

So for this version, I recut the pattern for the next size up AND added some additional length to the elastic that is enclosed in the armholes and neck hole. It worked well and this version looks and feel much better, although I don't feel super secure at the bottom edge to I might insert some elastic into the bottom band at some point. 

Fabric:

As I mentioned above, I've had this length of swimsuit fabric in my stash for an embarrassingly long time. It's survived a number of destashes over the years because I always knew I'd get stuck into making swimwear at some point. Both halves of this bikini are lined with basic, black, swimwear/dancewear lining fabric that I bought on eBay. 

Thoughts:

Unsurprisingly, I'm excited to try this bikini out when I go on holiday! I'm also committed to try swimming in the sea here in the UK this year, which is something I don't remember ever doing, despite living close to the seaside almost my entire life. 

Liberty Wilder Blouse: Meh

Right. So what do we think about this blouse then? As much as I wish I did, I just don't think I like it. Both the colour and fit aren't right for me. Which is super annoying because I adore both the fabric and the pattern. On other people. 

Fabric:

Perhaps the most annoying thing is that I've had this fabric in my stash and have been mulling over what to make with this it for YEARS. Literal years. Not continuously of course, but regularly. I even included it in my #2019makenine sewing plans, although I didn't get round to using it until early 2020. It's some gorgeous Liberty tana lawn, the print is called Jonathan, that I bought from the Sewbox.co.uk stand at the GBSB live event two or three years ago. I've seen a few projects on the internet where people have used it the other way up, but to me it looks likes ruffles and I prefer it this way. 

It almost goes without saying, but this fabric was a dream to work with, and feels amazing against the skin. The issue I appear to have with it is that it is orange. I'm a big fan of wearing rust, and I thought that I could pull off wearing it's purer, less muted cousin, however it would appear that I cannot. Oh, and did you see the pattern matching I pulled off along the centre front seam (see above, if you can!). Mic drop!

Pattern:

As I mentioned before, I internally debated my pattern choice for this fabric for an embarrassingly long time. For quite a while, I thought a pattern that actually included ruffles would be fun to make in this ruffle-y print. However, in the end I fell down on the blouse version of the insanely popular Wilder Gown pattern by Friday Pattern Co.. I'm not really a dress wearer, and certainly not a gown wearer, but I've really liked all the other blouse versions I've seen on Instagram, so I decided to give it a whirl. 

I felt confident to go ahead without making a toile, basing my sizing choices on the finished garment measurements (I blended between sizes, as per usual). The only change I made to the pattern design was to alter the sleeve: I straightened the otherwise tapered shape and added elastic to the hems to make them a little poufy. A decision I do not regret. The construction was straightforward and fun. I omitted the topstitching down either side from the centre front seam because I was trying to disguise it as far as possible (did you see my pattern matching, BTW?!), and I finished a few of the seam allowances together (closed seams) rather than separate and pressed open (open seams) because I thought the finish would be neater.  

Thoughts:

As I previously said, I don't think this colour looks good on me, but I'm not convinced that that's the only issue here. Something doesn't feel right around the neck/shoulder area. Perhaps it's related to volume: maybe there's not enough fullness for the gathering at the neck to be fully effective and subsequently it feels slightly wrong. I'd be interested to compare these pattern pieces to the True Bias Roscoe pattern to see how differently the volume in those patterns is handled.  

Of course, things would never have got this far if I'd just made a freaking toile of the damn pattern. I could have then sized up or something, or opted for a different pattern for this fabric altogether. But to be honest, I still would have made something orange that wouldn't have suited me, even if the fit was better, so all in all I feel like I saved some time. If you know me IRL and would like to own this blouse after the pandemic (oh yeah, that whole GLOBAL PANDEMIC thing I'm just blogging through), then give me a buzz!