Swim pants & top

Pants

One of the things I was excited to have the prospect of making for myself when I started sewing was a pair of board shorts, which I have never found in my size in the cool surfwear shops. Well, I still haven't done that as I haven't found a source of microfibre in a print I like. For now, I am very pleased to have made these nylon-spandex swim shorts.

There is no elastic in the waistband, only the ties to ensure they don't come off. I avoided elastic to try to avoid muffin-top misfortunes.

I used medium-weight powernet for the lining for a bit of control. It's not exactly uncomfortable, but doesn't suit the relaxed feel I was seeking for the pants. I would choose a light-weight powernet in the future.
I chose to have the wrong side of the lining towards the body to avoid the seams showing through the shell. I'm not sure whether one way or the other is considered proper.

  I also had another lesson in how fabrics behave differently making these pants. As I was developing and fine-tuning the pattern, I made it up in both a very lightweight rayon jersey and a medium-weight cotton/lycra jersey. Both versions fit loosely, the style I wanted for the swim pants. The nylon/spandex ended up fitting a lot more closely than I was hoping for.

It was my first time sewing nylon-spandex and I was very pleasantly surprised. It behaved beautifully right until I got to hemming the pants. At that point, I had a little difficulty controlling it, so I did some unpicking and took some time to baste first. 

I'm really happy with how they turned out. I think the pattern is a keeper, with some refinements. The style line where the side panel meets the back is a bit crude and I would like to jazz up the tie details.

Top

The top was a bit of a throwaway effort. I needed to come up with a top quickly to match the pants. I would like to make one with separate cups in the future, but this was as much as my drafting skills could handle right now. That said, I was pleased to see my skills have evolved a little as I had tried and failed to figure out some bra concepts about a year ago. I modified this crop-top style bra pattern. As I made changes to the pattern where I thought I needed more room or different shaping, I was delighted to see classic bra pattern shapes emerge on the paper.

The top has a wide waistband with sport elastic to provide support and allow me to get the top over my head as it has no closure.

I added clear elastic to the front neckline and armscythes to prevent gaping. I think I didn't stretch it enough on the armscythes. They are not quite gaping, but the fabric sits less firmly against the skin than I would like. I also added some down to the waistband near the CF aiming for some extra shaping there, but that didn't seem to work.

I used the burrito method (my first time!) to attach the lining to the shell. I understitched the neckline, but realised it would not be possible to do the same for the armscythes (tell me if I'm wrong about that). Unfortunately, the lining does roll out a little.