Skip to main content

Summer togs.

I use togs every week; mostly 3 times a week. My last togs were ones I got in Target for end of season sale for $5. They were a really lovely cut and I liked the way the racer back was too. I'll try to deconstruct them. Well you know how togs just are good one day and next they are stretched out and baggy.  I do aqua aerobics on Sunday mornings and when I was getting my stuff ready 2 Saturday evenings ago, I noticed the lycra had stretched out as it does. I had some Jalie togs cut out maybe 12 months but because I found this pair for $5 and my others were still ok, I didn't make them up. Well I needed them for the next day so cut out lining in power mesh and watched Victoria on tv and what ever was on after and made up these togs.


I wasn't sure I'd like them - not sure why - I love the colours and the lilys but I do like them made up. 

  

I made the back band and the straps shorter - luckily I remembered that from last time I made them which was probably a couple of years ago now. I was in a hurry and I set to work with pink thread. I rushed in and decided I would use the lining and lycra as one piece. I also just se the machine to zig zag and set off. 

I didn't think about stitch length and when I put them on to get the strap length right, it stretched the stitches and now it has this flat lock looking stitch. Quite fortuitous as I happens as I really love the look... I think it's a nice feature. 


The seams are a little stiff and a little scratchy but not enough to worry me but enough that it's noted for next time I use power net... if I use ordinary lining fabric and sew it up in as one it's much softer. I do like the power net lining as it keeps things firm for aqua aerobics although I do wear a sports bra when I do it. 

That's the back view with the sports bra.

This is the front view. Here's me thinking the covid kilos didn't get me... ha! The elastic in the front was a little too long and isn't pulling quite tightly enough and next time I'll try and remember to the a little wedge out of the back at the sides just under the cross strap for my sway back. 

I'm really happy with how they turned out. Fabric is from East Coast Fabrics for $15 per metre. I have some left and may make a little rashie too. 


Comments

M-C said…
Love the way these look! What a cheerful print. But why wear a sports bra when it would be so easy to build in the same effect in this pattern? Aligning the bottom elastic of a slightly tighter internal layer with the back strap would give you the same support, as that back strap is clearly designed as a bra's back band. You might want to not shorten the straps quite so much though, as you're losing some of the support effect by distorting the back band. Congratulations on whipping this out so decisively though, how nice to get such a nice suit in a blink 😁
Summer Flies said…
Oh yes M-C I should and it's on the to do list...it's just a time factor. Hopefully in my holidays coming I will make the next pair with a built in bra. I really appreciate your comment.
kbenco said…
Awesome togs. I keep meaning to make myself some, but frankly I am pretty scared of them. You are very clever. I've managed a few sets for my children, but for myself it seems much trickier.
They look really good! Love them!

I'm with KBenco on this. Too scary! But happily I don't actually swim at the moment, so hey...

It does look easy to adapt that back into a built in bra. Not that I know how easy it is to actually do, but just from a pattern perspective yup, worth a try?

McVal said…
So cute! SOMEDAY I'll have enough courage and time to try my hand at a swimsuit, but as it stands, I don't... My next project for MYSELF will be a bra I think. I've had one cut out for more than a year but haven't had the guts to just do it...
Maybe after the Christmas rush.

Popular posts from this blog

The saddest dress, then a few more.

Well hello. It's been a while. It was 8 months from the last post to the previous one to that and it's a bit longer this time. The last day I wrote was 10 Jul 2021. On 12 July my son and I were finally seeing Tim Minchin  after booking it before we went to Europe at the end of 2019. It was going to be April 2020, but changed a few times and although it was a school night (year 12 for Alex) we went for dinner and sat in the show. My Mum had gone to hospital that morning and my sister was still at the hospital with her. Just after interval I got a message on my phone, "get to the hospital now". So we raced out and to the hospital where. although it was a lockdown and no visitors allowed, all 10 of us were allowed to see Mum as she was end of life. I won't go into the whole thing but Mum didn't die that night, but because of lockdown, we were not allowed to go and see her until a week and a half later when we were allowed just to discuss palliative care. By the n

Bubble O'Bill: take 2; bikinis

With some time at home, I've been sewing a bit lately and I finally had time to make the bikinis for my son's girlfriend for her birthday. I cut them out in February from some scrap fabric my friend gave me. I made my son some swimmers   and I see someone has some for sale if you feel you are missing out 😆.   I had to piece together the bikinis as I had nearly nothing left over. I made the top back and the briefs from the free Madelynne Noelle pattern and the front top from another Madelynne pattern I can't find a link for it but was Mallory Lane. It's a basic top with scrappy back. If anyone wants it I have the download. Looks like it's not available any more.  All this piecing and mixing was purely from fabric limitations. The other fabric I mixed it with was ombre from aqua blue to purple and matched well. I asked Liv if she wanted a frill down the centre front to break up the print as I wasn't sure she would, but she loved the idea, so on the went. She tr

Emergency Rashie KS2600

I go to aqua aerobics 3 or 4 times a week and I like to wear a rashie as it's outdoor and it's a bit warmer in the (not very cold usually but really warm this) winter, and I can't reach the spots for sunscreen. In Brisbane you must wear sunscreen every day even in winter as we have the highest skin cancer rates in the world and I don't want to be any more wrinkly than I am! Anyway, I went to the Gold Coast to see my friend for a few days and I left my rashie at her place and I she wouldn't get to Brisbane for a few days so I pulled out KS 2600. I saw this pattern listed on a pattern site and then became obsessed with it till I got it but this is my first chance to try it. Isn't it lovely! I wanted to test it to see how the fit was. I've made McCall's 7417 a few times but it's long between the shoulder and the arm for me and even though I have made a few it wasn't ever a great fit but it is a quick sew. The pants on the McCall's is a good fit