Bathing Suits

Dorothy is very petite and I could not find a bathing suit for her anywhere that fit properly.  If they were long enough, they were not small enough around in the leg openings to keep her covered.  I tried some two piece ones, and the rise wasn't long enough and the waists were too big, so the bottoms fell off.  After buying and returning several (I still have one waiting to go back to the store), I broke down and made her a couple the mostly fit.  They are a touch big in places on top, but at her age, that doesn't matter too much.

 Here they both are.  The one on the left I actually made last summer, just to see how it would go.  I didn't have a pattern and just sort of winged it with a tank leotard pattern as a base for the very bottom.  The bottom fit pretty well, but the top was huge.  I did some tweaking to it and it is good enough to be worn in public.  I'm probably the only person who even notices where it is a bit funky.

I bought the blue gingham fabric last summer on deep clearance.  When I saw it, I thought it would be cute for her to have a bathing suit loosely based on Dorothy, from The Wizard of Oz's, dress.  I broke down and bought a basic swim suit pattern, but added the ruffle, trim, and skirt.

 The backs.  It is hard to tell on the hangers, but the one on the left comes to a V in the back and the gingham one is an X.

 I didn't have time to take a picture before class started, so here she is afterward; cold.

 It looks like it did just fine in the water.  I was a little afraid it would stretch and get too big, but it still looks pretty good.

You can see under her left arm that it is still a touch too big, but it is much better than it was.  I cut about an inch out of the binding in the center back, then butted the ends together and sewed them.  I took a small tuck pleat in the fabric to make it lay flat, then covered the entire mess with a little bow.  It tightened it up nicely and looks much better now.  Not bad for just eyeballing how the top should have been cut.

 

 The bow gets a little saggy in the water, but I tacked it so that it mostly stays up.

I'm so pleased with how this one came out, and it went together relatively quickly.  I bought the pattern and trim on a Saturday afternoon, and when I had it finished on Sunday before the kids went to bed, my husband was shocked.

The white stripes are ruffled elastic.  I wanted something that would stretch with the material, and this was pretty cute.  The red ric rac does not stretch, but since it is on the skirt, it doesn't have to.  I debated if I wanted the red on there, and I love it so much.  It's a little nod to Dorothy's ruby slippers, and it adds a nice bit of color to the suit.

 The sun was too bright, so she covered her eyes.  It is just darling on her, and I saw/heard some of the teachers saying how cute she was on her first day of swimming lessons.

 The top is just a bit looser than I would like, but everything else fits wonderfully.  I cut this a size 3, but the length of a 4.

It lays very nicely across her back.


It cost me less to make these than what I was spending on ones that didn't fit.  I think next year, I'll just skip trying to buy her a suit and make her a couple.