Bombshell Swimsuit

Hi 👋🏾

Swimsuit season is in full swing. I definitely want to try my hand at sewing one for myself. I have always been terrified of swim fabric because of the war stories; it’s very thin, slippery, just a total nightmare.

I’m trying my best to grow as a seamstress, so I took on the challenge to make alest one suit this summer. I received some swim/athletic fabric from Mily Mae Fabrics and decided to start off small, sewing a swimsuit for my youngest daughter.

I was surprised how easy and fast the process was. That gave me the confidence I needed to move on to myself.

I poured through dozens of swim patterns and decided on The Bombshell from Closet Case Patterns.

I wanted something that was going to cover my tummy, stretch marks and back rolls without looking frumpy. Also I needed to add a bra. The Bombshell had it all, this was the perfect fit!

There is a Sew-A-Long and there are tons of reviews which helped tremendously.

The swimsuit involves a lot gathering, especially if you choose the ruched back option (like I did). The pattern offers a couple of options you can choose from. There are two different tops(both halter straps), a plain or ruched back and a high waisted swim bottom; in sizes 0-20.

Mines is the full ruched front w/ ruched back in size 16. Next time I will grade down in the hip and maybe even in the waist. It was really comfortable but I felt it could be tighter.

There is gathering basting stitches along both sides of the front. The back is two pieces and basting stitches on both sides of the back pieces.

I used a nylon spandex swim and lined it with power mesh both from Mily Mae.

I originally was going to go with a shelf bra and add swim cups. Ha! That was not enough support.

I left the shelf bra, then sewed in an old lightly lined balconette bra.

I had hand sewn only the top part of the bra into the suit while I was wearing it.

This provided excellent support and wasn’t too heavy went it got wet. I haven’t tried it in the pool yet, so I’m not sure how it would perform in choline as far as dye running.

As I was looking through the reviewer photos, I noticed that the bust tab on larger chests didn’t sit well. I did gather the bust but omitted the tab.

Now, I didn’t like that you had to measure the openings to get the elastic measurements. I much rather for them to already have provided the measurements for the elastic.

Other than the elastic and the gathering. I really love this pattern. It fits really well with minium alterations. This swimsuit will be made again.