SEW & SWIM Julie Bonnar discusses how to sew and choose fabrics for swimwear At The Beach collection from Hamburger Liebe
Modelo swimwear fabrics – plain and pattern
It can be difficult to find a swimsuit that you not only like the colour of but that is a good fit and suits your body shape – so why not make your own with a good sewing pattern and some practical sewing tips.
and the rest from Elastane or Spandex, making it durable and water-resistant. A poor choice of fabric could absorb water, and worse of all, become transparent when wet!
Fabrics
Suitable fabrics include:
A fabric suitable for making swimsuits needs to have the right stretch and be comfortable for swimming (and sunbathing). Pick a fourway stretch fabric (you can use a two-way stretch for a bikini). This fabric type is man-made fibres and made up from 80 to 90% nylon
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At the Beach Collection from Hamburger Liebe – click here
Ipswich Swimsuit from Cashmerette
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Modelo do a wide range of swimwear fabrics including patterned and solid colours – click here
Pattern cutting A swimwear pattern is usually
TEST YOUR FABRIC How does it look when it is stretched: Does the print become distorted? Is it transparent when wet? Does it stretch and return to original shape?
designed with negative ease, which means that the finished garment measurements are smaller than the body measurements because it has been drafted to work with a stretch fabric. Place pattern pieces on the fabric in the direction of greater stretch and make sure all your pattern pieces are on grain before cutting. Cutting slippery fabrics for swimwear
