"You can sew whatever you want?!?" I asked my mother with anticipation.
"You can! Clothes, curtains, quilts. Everything except bathing suits." she tells me. She went on to elaborate that she'd tried to sew herself a bathing suit once and it just came out, well, wrong.
I carried on merrily for twenty plus years of sewing, happy with this limitation. That is, until last month, when the Pattern Parcel #3 Inspiration Tour started. I'll be honest. I was surprised at the number of bloggers who stitched up the Bombshell Swimsuit pattern. I mean, you can't sew bathing suits on a home sewing machine and have them come out right....or can you?
Doubt turned to intrigue which turned into a nagging thought that just maybe, maybe you can sew yourself a bathing suit. Plus, if you were checking out the Bombshells the Tour was turning out, they were looking pretty fantastic. And bloggers were raving about their new suits and Heather's pattern and instructions. Now, you know as well as I, that women don't rave about their bathing suits, never mind homemade ones. And yet it was happening. Right in front of me. On my own tour!
So in true Moxie style, I pinched my nose and jumped right into the deep water without knowing how to swim. I bought this emerald green material at Joanns for a muslin along with swimsuit lining. I lengthened the torso by 1 inch along the top pattern line and I graded between two sizes.
Every step along the way gave me heart palpitations. I'm not joking. Here I was, thumbing my nose at the cardinal sewing rule. And altering the pattern in two different ways before I'd ever made it before. The whole time I keep asking myself, "what the hell are you doing?"
Turns out, Heather Lou is a genius, just like they all said she was. Follow her instructions, step by step. It's not rocket science. The pattern fits well and comes together easily (one I had a beer and got myself to simmer down already.) I don't know what I was so worried about. Sheesh.
The Bombshell Swimsuit fits like a dream. It really is sexy and modest all in one suit. It's as comfortable as hell, too. Now I am off to find myself some wicked fabrics to make my next Bombshell with!
PS- Taking blog photographs with your parents and in laws watching is pretty embarrassing. I make much better faces when I think no one is watching.
