Gator is part of Animal Parade, a collection that emphasizes the individualism of clothing. Every garment should be valued and individualized, even basic undershirts, sleep masks, etc.
All the designs are named after important animals in my life. The swimsuit is named Gator because of the gator who lives in my subdivision. I've seen him during walks. Absolutely unnerving.
I haven't had a swimsuit for years and never like any anyway. I browsed online catalogs in English and 日本語 and window-shopped everywhere in town, searching for both style and technical inspiration. I've never worked with active wear garments, so I studied the inside of nearly everything at Dick's Sporting Goods to understand the style elements, seams, and findings typical of swimsuits and active wear in general. I learned a lot but liked virtually nothing.
The swimsuits that stood out to me were treading the line between one piece and two-piece. I can't find my old collage, but here's a quick one. Sorry for not remembering the source of the images. I iterated over the concept in sketches a little.
Ideas:
This is where the two-piece idea led. I like the sheer fabric in the central examples from the collage. I love texture, so all the ruching and gathers really stand out to me, too. I wonder how feasible it would be to make two "two-pieces" - one relatively basic bikini with a loop in the center front of the swim bottoms, and another sheer, pintucked overlay with a tricot panel peek-a-boo skirt that fastens onto the loop. The overlay is tiered in the back then parts around the sides until it fully exposes the midriff in the front.
I'm not sure tricot or mesh would be sturdy enough for pintucks, so I checked if chiffon swimwear is even a thing. It actually is! Plenty of chiffon sleeves and panels floating around out there.
I really like this design. The central fastener on the swim bottoms isn't like anything I've seen in stores. The suit's connected in enough places that it shouldn't become a shapeless bubble nor flap up and show too much skin underwater. I bet it'd be gorgeous to watch float and flow in the waves.
Unfortunately, pretty or not, I don't think it's practical. Chiffon is a dainty fabric, and swimming is not a dainty activity. I lean against brick and against concrete without babying my clothes. Chiffon isn't that comfortable to wear dry, and I cringe imagining soaking wet chlorine chiffon Saran-wrapped over my torso. Not to mention, I don't know how comfortable I am with a two-piece anyway? Body insecurities!
Back to the drawing board!
Instead of synthesizing the prettiest elements into one swimsuit, I should be synthesizing the most practical elements into one swimsuit. People who feel confident and comfortable in their clothes are the prettiest!
I drew and drew over the same croquis, but the big idea is a long-sleeved raglan with a mock turtleneck and tiered layers around the lower body. I facilitated between full-coverage bikini bottoms and shorts. I also had an idea for a swim obi belt. Obi belts were all over the runway a few years ago. I couldn't find anything quite like it on a swimsuit, but it seems like such a cool idea. Maybe not practical, but I'd go for it if it didn't require so much fabric.
Anyway, this is close to what I made. I moved the zipper to the center back to avoid breaking up my beautiful fabric. I didn't care to insert piping into active wear seams. (yes, those aren't thick seams - that is piping.) I didn't make the obi belt either, but I might. I have long strips of fabric left over, and it might be enough to do something cool.
I chose neoprene because it's luxuriously, flatteringly thick, durable, and still relatively trendy in fashion after years of being delegated to seat covers and boring functional garments. I've never sewn with it before and heard terrible things, but I'll try it.
This print in particular is so unique. In a sea of tropical island palm tree prints, this one has swamps! I grew up in swamps and live in a swamp, and I never see our biome fantasized into artwork like this. It's also bright and pastel without entering some generic rainbow or pastel goth palette. It even includes that incredible glowing sulfur color from PANTONE's 2021 Color of the Year. I adore this fabric.
I paired it with a seafoam invisible zipper, pastel rainbow thread, and gray thread.
This is my only picture of my pattern for now. I make them out of thick paper and hang them by piercing a full set with a safety pin then hanging them from yarn bows.
I've never made a raglan sleeve and don't even own any, so this was a real challenge. I started with a regular sloper, taped them together, cut them along the "raglan line," used that to sew a knit bodysuit, then fitted and seam-ripped and resewed until it was spot-on.
I've never designed a mock turtleneck either, even though I really ought to have by now. For some reason, I imagining it should be more tapered, but the neck is relatively tubular. The triangular muscles connecting the neck to the shoulders aren't as important, especially with my placement of the scoop "neckline." It also took several iterations before it was long enough to actually look like a turtleneck.
Sleeves are sleeves. Princess lines and tiers-and-panels are practically my specialty, so no problem there. Then I traced my comfiest pair of full-coverage underwear for the leg openings. As with most of my tiered designs, the tiers of the skirt only start an inch or so from under the previous tier. That bottom tier isn't much longer than the tier on the top. This reduces bulk and fabric consumption, which is 100x more important on a swimsuit made of pricy fabric. The length of the tiers took a lot of experimentation. They need to be balanced, fall at flattering points of my body, begin at comfortable points on my body, and work with the print.
I was very conscious of the print while cutting. I used the white sky as an anchor and draped a few different placements - across the collarbone, across the bustline, and my chosen placement, atop the chest. The print has dense dark areas and light fluffy areas, and this placement emphasized femininity. The grays and trees are at my breasts, emphasizing them while still looking painterly and abstract enough to not be garish. The blacks and voids are at my waist, neck, upper arms, and crotch. Then the dense, difficult-to-read green foliage obscures my lower body. Perfect! I matched the arms, which puts the placid blue water on my forearms, so the part I see the most is my favorite part of the print. Overall, perfect sizing and placement in my eyes.
As for sewing, these are all serged seams using pastel rainbow thread. The edges are serged with gray. The tiered were basted and gathered by hand. It was very, very easy. Whoever told me neoprene doesn't hold stitches must have had a very finicky machine.
The top is supported by underwire and thin cups. I cut up an old bra and attached it to the lining by hand. It was kind of nerve-wracking doing the fittings because any markings or fittings involving stretchy material around the breasts are difficult to achieve accuracy with, but the final fit is perfect.
I've taken it to the beach and the pool and feel so special. No one has a swimsuit like this. The colors are adorable and unique. The print is so intricate compared to the rest of the market. The design is relatively modest but still youthful. I get so many compliments.
It's very comfortable to wear, too, which was my number one design goal here. The skirt isn't too bulky, so I can get away with oversized jeans as my coverup. I feel confident under the thick fabric and tiered skirt, and the long sleeves and tall neck protect me from the full blast of the sun. My thighs do show, but whatever. They're usually underwater anyway. The swimsuit maintains its shape well underwater, too.
Then when I was done, I immediately sewed four mock turtleneck undershirts based off this pattern and love them, too!