|~ Size 4 Swimsuit

One benefit of a serger is the ease and speed with which spandex can be sewn. Until last night, all my swimsuits had been sewn with a regular sewing machine. It works great, just takes a little bit of time since it has to sew each stitch three times to ensure the stretch won't pull the threads out. Usually a full ladies swimsuit takes me 5-8 hours. I made this little one in about 2 hours last night- and most of that time was just figuring out what I wanted to do because I only had scraps. :)

 I only had to use my regular machine for two seams: sewing the skirt and shorts together (forming an elastic casing) and putting the ruffle on the bottom of the shirt. Other than that, it was all serged.

 She loves it. I asked her to put it on to take a picture early this morning and she hasn't taken it off yet. :P

I had already made a size 4 pattern a couple years ago for a client, so I just pulled that out and compared it to a garment of Elsie's. (She was already asleep last night when I started so I couldn't get measurements.) Instead of doing sleeves, I just made them part of the bodice of the shirt by extending the armhole out at an angle. I inserted elastic into the shoulder seam to gather it up a bit. I think it adds a really quick, cute touch.

Also, in my eBook, I say that you can put elastic around the hem of the shorts to make them fit better. I left that off of these and just finished the bottoms. Little girls don't really need elastic around their legs and there's no reason for it. :)

Now she's all ready for swimming in the creek!