Emerald Bombshell Swimsuit and Perfect Pattern Parcel 3!

Perfect Pattern Parcel No.3 has just launched and the patterns included are no less of an amazing selection than last time.
In case you need a recap, Perfect Pattern Parcel supports independent pattern designers and also raises money for children's education by asking you to suggest an amount of your purchase price to donate to Donors Choose to support classrooms in need. The funds raised from each Pattern Parcel sale go to help K-12 students in minimising educational inequality and encourage the creation of a community where children have the tools and experiences necessary for an excellent education. So far almost $4,500 has been raised!
Each parcel, containing five PDF patterns from a variety of Indie Designers, is available for two weeks. So you have until 13th June to snap up this one. The brilliant thing about each sale is that you can name your own price for the bundle (yes, really!) and give the indie designers and Donors Choose the support you want.
The patterns included this time are:

• The Poppy Tunic by Make It Perfect
• Water Bottle Tote by Radiant Home Studio
• Jorna Tank Dress by Jenna Brand
• Staple Dress by April Rhodes
• Bombshell Swimsuit by Closet Case Files

Last time I decided to make up the Lady Skater Dress and with this parcel I again chose to make up the pattern that I've had my eye on for a long while and have seen many many other incredible versions of; the Bombshell Swimsuit from Heather Lou. I'm just going to tell you straight up right now that this pattern is AWESOME. Her new pattern, the Nettie Bodysuit, is now at the very top of my 'to sew' list.

Considering that I still consider myself a knit/stretch newbie and am still making making slow progress along the road to confidence using my overlocker I was more than a little apprehensive about making this up. But I seriously enjoyed every single step and could not be more delighted with the result. I felt a little unsure at times about whether what I was doing was turning out right but now I've got my head around the construction and know it will turn out great I'll feel so much more confident next time!
One of the things I felt most uneasy about was the insertion of the swimwear elastic (I got mine off UK eBay FYI, bargain!) as I've barely worked with any kind of elastic before. I'm never sure about how much to stretch as I sew, the right type of zig zag to use e.t.c but all those details are included and I'm super pleased with the finish and the snug secure fit.

I'd always heard talk of how great stretch fabric was to work with, how it gives you more freedom and it's more forgiving when it comes to errors and inaccuracies but I don't know that I'd fully understood that point of view until I made this. I'm not saying that I'm now the queen of knits or anything but I sure felt like it for a little bit.

Heather's instructions guide you through the whole process so smoothly. It's a genius design with lots of parts joining other parts so has the potential to get quite confusing and while Heather herself mentioned that a couple of times in the instructions, taking it small step by small step as she does meant it came together beautifully and with a very limited amount of brow furrowing! Basically I was high-fiving myself throughout the whole process and was in love with the thing by the time I made the final stitch. 
And then I put it on...
I was beaming. I spent a good five minutes in front of the mirror marvelling. I feel so great in it. I love the halter neck, the shape of the back, the gathered skirt and the fit all over. With all the gathering it felt like a lot of fabric to be putting into a swimsuit and I was thinking how flattering can adding this much volume be but the cut of it is exquisite. Heather you sure have an eye for shape and style and what looks good on a body. 

Ok, ok enough of the gushing. What went wrong you want to know? Well I was cutting the lining for both versions of this at the same time and was clearly not thinking straight that night. The last piece I had to cut was the front lining piece for this version. And it wouldn't fit on what I had left. After some minor hysteria I realised I could get the pattern piece out of my leftovers in two parts. I drew a line across the pattern piece under the bust, added a little bit of seam allowance and voila. One quick line of overlocking later and I had my complete pattern piece. I actually think this worked a little in my favour as placing the seam where it is gives a tiny bit more support in that area.

The only thing I did struggle with was simply that it is so hard to get exciting/decent swimwear fabrics in the UK! I mean it's hardly a surprise with the lack of call we have for beachwear around here but it was a massively frustrating hunt. I gave up on a print in the end but was still dismayed by the high prices and shipping costs online. However, I struck gold in Orya Textiles on Goldhawk Road during Rachel's epic blogger meet-up and picked up a metre each of some great quality matt black nylon lycra and a nude version that made a perfect lining for just £9 total. I'm not a fan of the shiny shiny lycra that is more easily available so was delighted to find the matt version but unfortunately not in many inspiring colours. I'd got it stuck in my head that I wanted a green Bombshell so in the end just bought some shiny emerald lycra from the new Goldhawk Trims shop that used to be above A-One and decided to see how it looked using the matt side of that as right side. if it was a disaster the metre only cost me £6. The good news is it turned out great so if you're on a fruitless hunt too don't rule out the shiny dance wear stuff!
It also turns out that nylon lycra is pretty great to sew with. It's a little tricky to cut, I'd probably recommend a rotary cutter if you have one but my machine (with stretch needle) loved it.

So yeah, in my opinion this parcel is worth whatever you can and want to pay just for this treasure of a pattern. But if you're still undecided there's a special surprise involved with this particular parcel! Choose a price of $28 or greater and you will automatically be sent the Bonus Pattern! The Bonus pattern is the brand new and exclusive Prefontaine Shorts for Women by Made with Moxie.

Make sure to check out the finished projects of the other bloggers participating in the huge blog tour; there's sure to be some beauties!

Sew Busy Lizzy - Pienkel - SeamstressErin - Design By Lindsay - the Brodrick design studio - Cookin' and Craftin' - a happy stitch - Disaster in a Dress - sew Amy sew - Idle Fancy - Casa Crafty - Kadiddlehopper - Dandelion Drift - Our Family Four - Lexi Made - The Quirky Peach - Stitched - verypurpleperson - sew a straight line - Sewbon - Shawnta Sews - Mama says sew - sewninestitches - 'So, Zo... What do you know?' - oonaballoona - A Stitching Odyssey - Sew Charleston - Sew Sweetness - True Bias - Ozzy Blackbeard - Welcome to the Mouse House - Sew Caroline - Adventures in Dressmaking - Peneloping - YoSaMi - sewVery - la inglesita - La Pantigana - Sanae Ishida - Seamster Sewing Patterns - Paunnet

P.S. Apologies for the lack of modelled pics in this post. In grey old London I was not feeling up for modelling a swimsuit outside my back door, as great as I do feel in it! There's another Bombshell already in the making though so expect a post with modelled pics of both when I find a suitable occasion to wear them.