sewing with knits

We are reluctant to say goodbye to summer this year, and so before pumpkins and witches take over everything, we’re excited to share one last summer-sewing DIY: a swimsuit! Me-made DIY swimsuits have been the most exciting sewing trend of the summer, and with our Sport Lycra being so perfect for swimwear, we knew we just had to do a sew-along of our very own to show you just how easy this project really is (plus for our friends in the Southern Hemisphere, summer’s just getting started!).

The Alison swimsuit from Burdastyle is a perfect starter-suit, for those of you who may have never made one before and are feeling a little nervous. Don’t be! Sewing expert Meg from the Burdastyle team is extremely experienced with suit-sewing, and so we couldn’t imagine a better teacher. Over the course of the next 3 weeks, she’ll be walking you through how to sew up this vintage inspired suit in a step-by-step, broken down process that won’t feel too overwhelming. We hope you’ll join us each Monday for the next step in the sew along, and if you have any feedback or questions along the way don’t hesitate to drop us a note in the comments section. Now we’ll turn things over to Meg of Burdastyle so you can get started!

Meg: I used Spoonflower’s new Sport Lycra to make myself a new swimsuit! Just because summer’s closing out doesn’t mean that swim season is over, I always love to go to my local indoor pool for a recreational swim or a good aquafit class. Now I can go in style and comfort with this swimsuit using BurdaStyle’s retro Alison Swimsuit digital sewing pattern and Spoonflower’s Sport Lycra in an adorable watermelon print. I always love working with stretch fabrics since the projects come together rather quickly and easily… if you have the right tools and use the correct techniques, that is! Read (and sew) along as I sew my retro swimsuit step-by-step in this 3 part sew along!

First thing to do is gather up all your materials, for this Alison suit I used 1 yd of the printed Sport Lycra, a little piece of stretch lining (make sure you use a lining with the same stretch qualities as the sport lycra, you could also use Performance Pique or Performance Knit), and about ½ yd swimwear elastic. I suggest using elastic that has a width of ⅜”, you could go as narrow as ¼” and as wide as ½” depending on what you have. You can use knit or rubber elastic, I actually prefer to use rubber elastic for swimwear but already had this nude knit ⅓” wide elastic so I made it work! [Read more…] about Alison Swimsuit Sew Along: Part 1