Oliver+s Nature Walk pants,I am sure it never anticipated being made into these.
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| Oh la la oliver! |
It's a little like taking Granny's wedding dress and making something out of it for your flamboyant cousin to wear to the Sydney Mardi Gras!(No,I don't have a flamboyant cousin,but wouldn't it be fabulous if I did)?
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| Miss Z models Nature Walk swimmer #1 |
It's swimming carnival on Friday and Misses E-Z needed new swimmers. I had made some a few months back for Miss Z but she left them wrapped up in a pink towel and there was a colour run issue....
The swim pants were a little flimsy and I noticed that Miss Z wore knickers under them so I decided to line them with cotton/lycra knit. This was a complete experiment,I generally don't 'do' knits.
I cut out the 8 for my 11 year old twins and then fitted them. As these are swim pants they need to be tight!
I made two pairs of the cut off pants,put them wrong sides together and overlocked the top and legs.
I then followed the pattern,treating the lined pants as one piece. It was very easy!
Ta-dah! A neat little pant-Groovy,but covering much more than bikini bottoms.
Miss E was very pleased but...."Perhaps they need a little something''?
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| A little 'something' |
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| The perfect buttons! |
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| A big something! |
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| I knew I bought these buttons for a reason! |
The stencils are so simple to use!
They are adhesive on one side.
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| They wash up in water. |
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| Leave to air dry and they stay adhesive. |
Coco approves!
To be continued....
That is a great idea - I would never have thought to turn them into swimmers.
ReplyDeleteThey make great swimmers Kate and the rash vest is the Hopscotch top with two backs!
ReplyDeleteIf I were 11, I would love these too.
ReplyDeleteOh,Thankyou Icicle!
ReplyDelete(I think I would as well)
Those silver shorts are very special and they would be a hit at Mardi Gras!
ReplyDeleteSpecial- That is the perfect word to describe them!
ReplyDeleteCould you imagine them at Mardi Gras? Wow!
Oh, the hopscotch top with two backs... very clever of you! I would never have thought to do that!
ReplyDeleteI'm afraid the Go-Go swim pants would be pretty tame at the New Orleans Mardi Gras. I think the butterfly silk screen really helps it!
ReplyDeleteThankyou Susanne!
ReplyDeleteI guess it depends who's wearing them Johanna!
I have to go completely off topic and say I adore your sink!
ReplyDeleteI've wanted something like that but it's too modern for my husband.
Thankyou Lotta,MY husband chose it! I wanted a ceramic one,but he had let me have everything else my way,so I let him have his head with this decision.
ReplyDeleteLove the cat, love the suits! Great great job!
ReplyDeleteThese are brilliant...you are a wonderful mother!
ReplyDeleteMy eldest girl has outgrown her one-piece swimsuit. We found a rash-vest in a bag of hand-me-downs the other day...I was trying to figure out how to make bottoms out of her old one-piece....you have provided the solution!!! Thank you!
I made some of these today out of some stretchy lycra polyester stuff I had! I just need to hem them later. I hope they won't be too see-through..we might test them in the shower first!
What is the fabric you use and does chlorine eat it? I bought proper swimsuit fabric for her last swimmers, but it disintegrated in a couple of months from chlorine in the pool.
Thanks Mel,he belongs to Miss E,he is a lilac point siamese(I think)!
ReplyDeleteThanks Millie,what a kind thing to say!
I have found that the more expensive stuff lasts longer,but the key seems to be rinsing the swimmers as soon as possible and keeping them out of the sun.
The material I purchase is sold as dance lycra about $30 au,but frequently comes on sale and thats when I buy it. I found some labeled swimsuit lycra SPF 50+ once but the only difference I could find was about $10/metre. It certainly didn't last any longer!
Thanks Nicole...I don't really know what went wrong with the previous swimsuit I made. I bought the fabric for my mother and made her a swimsuit...With the off-cuts I made M a swimsuit.
ReplyDeleteMy mother swims a few days a week and her's is perfect still. M swims once a week and the butt wore thin on hers ages ago. I rinse their swimmers while they get changed into their clothes. They are dried indoors.
It was expensive(ish) proper swimsuit fabric. Thanks for the advice. I finished M's shorts...will try and post photos tomorrow.
I was a competitive swimmer before I stopped growing any taller. To avoid chlorine "rot" don't use any soap or detergent. Avoid the washing machine. Our suits used to rot pretty often until we figured it out.
ReplyDeleteThanks Johanna...I seldom wash them in the machine, but possibly I did more often with the old ones. I will avoid it from now on...Thanks for the advice.
ReplyDelete