Coast-to-Coast: A Swimwear Sew-along

Dear Dana,

First, I owe you a huge thank-you: I’m not convinced I ever would’ve found Spandex World without you, and I think NOT knowing that a business under that name was out there in the world would’ve made my life emptier. I mean: Spandex World? How great is that? Second, can I even tell you how excited I am about this project?? Sewing side-by-side (virtually speaking) is going to be so much funner than going it alone. Being able to blog it back and forth, a la Mason-Dixon Knitting, makes it even more enjoyable for me, too, what with my blogland addiction and all. We’re, like, bi-coastal bloggers now!

I feel like we’re jumping in with the varsity stuff, too, in a good way. I mean, swimwear? My mom used to tell me she made her own swimsuits when she was in college, and it took me years to shake the image of her in woolens from wrist to ankle, with a rubber swim cap. When I finally saw a photo of her–looking disturbingly hot, I should add–on the beach with my dad, in a hipster bikini she’d made herself, I had to throw that initial image out the window, but still never really thought making my own swimwear was something I was likely to tackle. But I think you and I both know that–especially for our girls–what’s out there in the stores is sub-par, to say the least. And sometimes downright trampy. I kid you not, I saw a one-piece in a size 3T the other day with a looooooow back and cut-outs on the side. To make it what, sexier?? Yikes.

So that late night when you and I were emailing back-and-forth and you told me you were thinking you might try making Goose a swimsuit, I was instantly intrigued and wanted to hop on that bandwagon. Lucky for us, we both live in climates where we can start on these in July and be fairly certain we’ll still be wearing them four months from now!

I went on Spandex World and browsed and browsed, and finally narrowed down my selections–well, narrowed them down by my standards: I still ordered 10 different fabrics, plus lining. I had the girls pick out the ones they like best:

For Miss M, who will be 3 this week:

And for Miss E, who just turned 14:

For myself, I’m thinking this one:

Truthfully, I thought solids looked pretty dull at the time, so now I’m wishing I’d gotten some black. Every girl needs a black bathing suit.

Who knows? Maybe we’ll all get more than one! Totally dependent on the Swear Factor involved, of course, but I like to think positive.

I think the best part is that I won’t have to go through the whole learning curve all on my own. I mean, I know you’re all the way over on the whole other coast of America from me, but I love having someone to share the mystery and fun of learning something new! I’ve never worked with Spandex or Lycra before, so I suspect I’d’ve put it off and off and off if I didn’t have you to help me get past the initial hesitation. Hooray! Can’t wait to see what fabrics you picked out–am totally bummed that the red skulls were gone by the time I placed my order (E had her teenager heart set on them!).

Hoping your machine is fully recovered from its trip to the doctor, and crazy excited to see how this whole experiment goes!
Deborah