Swimwear for surfing

I decided to make the rashguard top from the Make Your Own Activewear book by Melissa Feyr. To go with it I also made some BIG knickers. Well the UK sea is cold. I actually own a wetsuit but its really hard to get the ankles on and off and I pulled my operated leg a bit badly before we went to Cornwall trying it on so I decided to make these instead and not hurt myself using a too small wetsuit.  I think probably I really need to top and bottom to be seperates anyway. My old wetsuit is probably a bit small because its at least 22 years old. Its lasted well for a cheapo suit from Newquay. I really need a new one tho I am tempted to try to make my own. I was shocked how small it was when I measured against my currentclothing. Chld sized. But then I bought it around 1997 and last used it about 2002, I never though I had got that much bigger because I still wear clothes from the mid-a990s but I must have because I would be very "bulgy" in my old wetsuit now.

 I was so happy to go body boarding I forgot to get photos taken on the beach. You get the idea though!

Since they let us out of lockdown and we can now go on holiday, this was all a bit of a rush job and no time for attempting to make a proper wetsuit. We expect/ hope to be back at work soon so no time to waste to get a holiday in.

I actually did this right for once due to my expensive precious shark fabric so I started with a proper muslin made of cheap coral stretch fabric. However since seeing the photos of the muslin I decided it did not fit properly. It pulls across the chest.

I never saw photos tho until after I had actually made the rashguard. I just looked in a mirror. Just shows you, photos are much better for gauging fit.

Interestingly and probably down to the different fabric, the rashguard does not need an FBA where as the muslin did. Its all very confusing for me to be honest. Other than I added a bit of length there is no size difference.

I have previously made a skirt from this pretty nasty crepe stuff. I used it for the lining so you do not really see it.

I must admit the colour is slowly growing on me!


It was surprisingly wearable on holiday.

The book tells you to add an extra bit of fabric under the arms. So having found the basic close fitting block works ( or so I then thought) I altered the block to make the under arm gussets. 

You can see the weird Vs here.

Then though I am not so sure I have sewn these up right to be honest, but they do work by not pulling up the top from your hips when you raise your arms.  Have I sewed this up right?? 

It does work when on the Vs just tuck inside the sleeve under the arm and is not seen but should the extra Vs be part of the body side seam or sewn as I have below? 

A shoe lace serves as a pullcord to get in and out of this top.

 I realised I had not enough fabric for two sleeves so used some textured scuba for one sleeve and round the neck. It was the only available appropriate fabric so that was the choice.

For the neck I reversed the fabric so its smooth because I reckon the texture could cause chafing when wet.

Then as I started to sew I had a disaster.

I caught the top in the overlocker making a small hole far too far down to just make the neck bigger. I have read of other bloggers/sewists doing this but never done this myself before. Well its quite typical I suppose!

A disaster on the most expensive fabric I have ever used!

 

 After some upset and much frustration over ruining my fabric, and not having any more and probably not being able to get any more anyway because its from Ebay back in January when I was pattern testing for Ralph Pink, and I want this done today because I go on holiday tomorrow, I decided to use a scrap of the textured scuba left over from my black sleeve as an insert giving a colour blocked effect. As it turns out it works really well and also ties in my contrasting sleeve.

I made the knickers using New Look 3239. They have a front lining which is great. I constructed using the same method as my basic thong.



I have previously had a problem with zips on stretch fabrics for example on this top, which I love but the zip is far from perfect. 

To avoid having a wavy zip this time, I added a small strip of interfacing along the  back edges to stop the zip from going wavy while I sewed it in, which worked a treat. It just needs to hold my fabric in shape while I sew the zip in after all. I used this method previously for my reversible skirt.



Its actually quite hard to see here when the top is wet but the zip is nice and flat.


Incidentally this is a woven not knitted interfacing thats meant for knits. I had lots of small off cuts so just used that. It will not after all matter if this falls off later.

The interfacing goes under the zip then the facing goes on top so that once the facing is added its not seen at all. 

I am very happy with the end result of this project and my suit worked really well in the water too. I think having tried it out in the sea, I would go down a size next time and perhaps possibly do a FBA to make it fit because the lower body was a bit loose really. Though as already said there is no fabric pulls accross the bust with this top even though there are with the muslin.  I find this FBA stuff and fit issues very confusing because my muslin needs an FBA (I think) and yet this top is large on the body but doesn't need an FBA unless I make the smaller size. Ahhh!

Best of all I have actually started to use my book to make my own activewear. Since I bought it for my birthday in 2019 its been on my shelf for a whole year without being used other than flipped through and read that is. Also thats another one of my New Years Resolutions done - to use all my patterns/ mags/books etc at least once.

Thanks for popping by,

Bracken