What’s that? A new feature on Loepsie? Yep! Since I’ve been sewing with patterns more and more regularly, I thought it’d be nice to document which ones I’ve used and how I feel about them. In my pattern reviews I’m going to give a brief overview of what my experience was with a particular sewing pattern, and show you the result I got with it.
I always look up reviews myself before starting work on a pattern, so that I get an idea of what others may have struggled with and what elements of a project I need to pay extra attention to. This has proven invaluable several times in the past, and I’d like to contribute to that. Hopefully my reviews can be of use to someone about to embark on a new adventure!
First up: the Closet Core Patterns Bombshell Swimsuit pattern.
The Bombshell is a classic in the DIY swimsuit world- a very popular pattern that has been around for a good couple of years now. I can definitely see where that popularity comes from. The bombshell features a striking design that looks good on everybody. It’s incredibly flattering, surprisingly modest, and fabulously retro.
The Bombshell pattern comes with three views: view A features a pinched bandeau top, view B features a halter top, and view C gives you the option to make high-waisted bikini bottoms. With each view you can choose whether you want your ruching on the front and back, or just on the front, in which case the back of the swimsuit is smooth.
My Experience
I made view A with a smooth back. I’m quite particular about my ruching, in the sense that I don’t like when ruching isn’t even on both sides of a seam. I had a feeling I wouldn’t be able to get all my ruches symmetrical on both sides and the center-back, so I decided to forego ruches in the back altogether. This made the sewing process quicker, too.
For fabric I used a lovely navy lycra with a pattern of little white seeds. The navy is a classic swimwear colour that goes well with the retro feel of the pattern, and has less chance of going see-through when wet. I paired it with a navy swimsuit lining as well.
This was my first time working with lycra, or stretch fabric in general. The instructions encourage you to practice for a while if you haven’t worked with this material before, which is great advice. I strongly suggest you follow it, haha!
You’ll need a ballpoint needle to make this material work with a sewing machine. Once I got the hang of running the lycra and lining through my machine in a way that the stitches didn’t run off the fabric, it wasn’t actually as hard to work with as I feared. Holding the fabric at a diagonal and letting the presser foot feed it through the machine did the trick.
The instructions for this pattern are pretty clear. There’s a sew-along on the Closet Core website that goes into even more detail, but I didn’t find myself needing it. I completed this project in two days, and I would consider myself a fairly inexperienced sewer (and a complete beginner when it comes to swimwear).
One thing I dislikes about the pattern though, is the absolutely tiny seam allowance. The pattern offers you 1/4″ or 1/3″ seam allowance, which is much less than the 5/8″ you usually get. Considering you’re working with up to four layers of stretchy, ruched fabric, that 1/4″ is very difficult to work with. If you have the chance, I’d recommend widening those seam allowances to give yourself a bit more wiggle room.
The Results
My oh my, what a fabulous swimsuit. It turned out to be everything I hoped for: a flattering swimsuit that I can wear when swimming with children. I think it looks amazing on, and it covers everything that I like to have covered on those occasions, without looking matronly or unfit for my age.
I do wish I had gotten different bra cups. I ordered them online, and when they arrived they turned out to be a wildly different shape than my breasts are. The cups are almost bullet-bra like, which feels odd to wear but if I’m completely honest, I do think that it goes with the retro look of the swimsuit so I left them in.
One very important thing I need to mention though, the reason why this isn’t a five-star pattern… The inside looks horrible. Because of the way the swimsuit is constructed, all the seams are exposed on the inside. They’re finished either by serger or by zigzagging with a regular machine, but they’re all exposed. On a garment that sits against your naked body, I’d really prefer to have them neatly tucked away inside the lining. I don’t understand why that isn’t done in the pattern. If I make this swimsuit again, that’s definitely something I’d alter, although right now I’m not really sure how I’d go about it.
If you’d like to see the video of how I made the bombshell swimsuit, you can watch that here.
