So, I got this idea in my head, right? To make one of those old timey bathing suits. You know the ones – striped, kinda like a onesie, maybe with a little skirt bit if it was for a lady. I was aiming for the men’s style, the full-body tank top looking thing.
It actually all kicked off because I was hunting for a costume. My sister’s kid was having one of those themed birthday parties – “a trip through history” or something equally ambitious for a bunch of ten-year-olds. Anyway, I looked online, and man, the stuff they sell as costumes is mostly junk. Thin fabric, dodgy stitching, and they wanted a small fortune for it! I just thought, forget this, I can probably knock something together myself that’s better than that rubbish. And down the rabbit hole I went.
Figuring Out the Plan (or Lack Thereof)
First thing, I pulled up a bunch of old photos. Google Images was my friend here. I needed to see what these things actually looked like up close. Lots of wool, apparently, which I wasn’t about to wrestle with, especially if it ever got wet. I settled on trying to find a heavy-ish cotton knit. Something that would hang right but not be too hot. And stripes, definitely needed stripes. Classic navy and white, I reckoned.
Patterns? Ha! Good luck finding one of those easily. I sort of sketched out a shape based on a long vest or tunic, and figured I could adapt some basic pajama bottom pattern for the lower half. It was all a bit of guesswork, to be honest. I just grabbed:
- Some navy blue cotton knit fabric – maybe two yards?
- A smaller piece of white cotton knit for those all-important stripes.
- Thread, needles, the usual sewing bits.
- A bit of elastic for the waistband, because comfort, you know.
And a healthy dose of “let’s just see what happens.” That was probably the most important tool.
Getting My Hands Dirty: The Making Part
Alright, so cutting out the main body wasn’t too bad. I made the top part pretty long, like a tunic that would go down to mid-thigh. Then I cut separate pieces for the shorts that would be attached inside. The real challenge was the stripes. Oh boy. I decided to applique them onto the navy fabric. This meant cutting out long strips of the white knit, pinning them super carefully onto the navy body, and then zigzag stitching all along the edges. It took ages. My back was aching, my fingers were sore from all the pins. I was seriously questioning my life choices at that point.
Once the stripes were finally on, sewing the actual garment together was a bit more straightforward. Knit fabric can be a bit slippery and likes to curl up, but I’ve wrangled with it before. Just had to go slow and steady. I kept the neckline and armholes simple – just turned the edge under and hemmed it. No fancy facings or anything. Too much effort!
The trickiest construction bit was probably attaching the shorts part to the inside of the tunic. I wanted it to look like one piece from the outside but still be two layers for modesty and, well, structure. A bit of fiddling and a few choice words later, it came together. I even decided to add a little fake button tab on the chest with a big old button, just for looks. Made it feel a bit more authentic, I thought.
The Moment of Truth: Did It Work?
So, after a few evenings of cutting, pinning, sewing, and muttering to myself, it was finally done. And you know what? It wasn’t half bad! It definitely looked like an old timey bathing suit. The stripes were maybe a little wavier than a machine would have made them, and the fit was, shall we say, ‘relaxed’. But it was recognizable!
I actually wore it to that birthday party. Got a few stares, quite a few laughs, and a couple of people actually asked if I’d made it myself, which was nice. It wasn’t the most practical thing to wear, a bit on the warm side and definitely not something you’d want to do serious swimming in. But it was a laugh. Made me appreciate modern swimwear fabrics, that’s for sure. And the kiddo thought it was brilliant, which was the main thing, really. So yeah, a successful, if slightly bonkers, project.
