With summer finally here, although the weather is disagreeing a little, my collaboration with CSF online where I look at the different fabrics they stock and give them a road test, this month is all about swimwear fabric specifically Carvico.

I first worked with Carivo when I was designing for UK high streets, from tie-sides for Topshop and colour-blocking swimsuits for Next; they are the fabric company I turn to when designing swimwear. Carvico has been going for over sixty years and their attention to detail to their technical fabrics offers comfort, fit and durability. Matt, shiny or printed with fifty different types of fabrics and weights and over 100 colours you will find what you are looking for. Though to be honest I mainly use the fabric type, malaga, vita or Riviera.

“Malaga: It resists chlorine, abrasion, and provides UV protection. In more than 100 shades always available in stock for a current and trendy colour palette.

Vita: Transforms issues arising from waste into solutions for fashion, Vita is versatile, hyper-resistant, sleek, elegant, stretchy, soft, and breathable. Thanks to its innovative construction, it boasts more than double the resistance to chlorine attacks, sun creams, and oils compared to competitor fabrics

Riviera: Its unmistakable silky touch sets it apart from classic charmeuse fabrics, without sacrificing technical performance. Riviera resists chlorine, provides UV protection with a UPF 50+ rating.”

from the Carvico website.

Like all good intentions when you hit up a fabric place, my original idea for my designs (stripes and floral) went out the window when I saw all the amazing bright colours at CSF online. Obviously I couldn’t just pick one, so I went for three amazing plain colours. Links below.

Pink - Rosa shocking which is Malaga

Blue - Oltremare which is Malaga

Green - Viridian which is Riviera

I know I was onto a winner when my daughter (8) came back from school and declared that I make her something as her swimmers were getting too small but don’t worry she said, she would design it! Luckily she went for a colour block design. So, before I started I had to make a pattern, I took a pattern off her old swimmers and made it a bit bigger. I don’t know the grading for childrens-wear so I did just wing it a little. If I were to make more swimwear for her I would alter the tankini pattern at the hem and reduce the width as in my eye it kicks out a bit. That all said the excess in the hem made it easy for her to off without the chorus of ‘muuuummmmmmm can you help me?’ whilst she wrestles the top over her wet head.

Cutting out swimwear fabric

The grain line is usually parallel to the selvedge, and the back side of the fabric seems flatter than the front, ie when you stretch the fabric, on the front you can run your nail across the ridges and the back is smooth. When it comes to cutting out, let’s not over look that swimwear fabric can be a slippery thing. I would work with the fabric laid out in a single layer, ensure your cutting area is big enough, if you have any fabric hanging over the edge, the weight of the fabric can pull it off the table

I like to weigh my patterns down and use a rotary cutter, if you don’t have a rotary colour I don’t recommend pins and scissors. I would simply draw around the pattern and then cut it out.

Sewing swimwear fabric

What puts most people off sewing swimwear is the handling of the fabrics, if you are using pins use silk pins as they are super fine and won’t leave marks, or if you haven’t silk pins then the pins you have pin along where you will sew to hold the fabrics together.

I found the gusset seam one of the hardest and also because on a swimwear I made for myself I doubles the fabric for support, the over the cups seams were quite tricky, but no more trickier than sewing satin. If you are using a swimwear lining, I found it easier to put that at the bottom of the fabrics when sewing.

When it comes to sewing the legs and waist, don’t use normal elastic, it won’t withstand the chlorine. You need to use swimwear rubber. It most commonly comes in 6mm or 8mm. I tend to opt for the 8mm as I find this gives it more durability either if you have bigger boobs or if you do sports in your swimwear, it tends to stay in place. Also when turning the rubber inwards on the legs etc, using 8mm meant that I could line up my sewing foot with the edge of the fabric and it got the zig zag in the exact right place.

The great thing about swimwear fabric is that it doesn’t fray, so if you don’t have an overlocker fear not, you can just bag out the garment without finishing the seams. When it comes to attaching the rubber, this can be done in a couple of ways.

If you have an overlocker you can overlocker the rubber on, this is what they do in the industry, if you are using this way, be careful that you don’t pull the fabric when you pull the rubber. If you find this too difficult to do in one action, then the next option would be:
Overlock the edge of the fabric then zig zag the rubber on top of the overlocking getting it to edge as close as possible.
Leave the edge raw and zigzag the rubber as close as possible to the edge. I sewed with this option so show you you don’t need an overlocker to make swimwear. Just trim off any fabric that isn’t sitting flush with the rubber.

With any of these options the next step is to turn the rubber inwards so it can’t be seen and zig zag to secure. I use a bigger zig zag than I do for lingerie. I set the stitch width at 3 and the height in-between 2.5 and 3.

For the Hem on the girls tankini, you could sew two parallel straight stitch lines if you, like myself don’t have a two needle cover stitch machine. I, myself chose to sew two lines of zigzag as I know my daughter would crack that stitching yanking the top off over her head when she go dressed.

Swimwear Lining

There are a couple of linings you can use for swimwear, one is a lighter one (I used this one) and the other is a heavier denser knit. The heavier one is easier to handle whilst sewing but the lighter one I think isn’t so clunky to sew with and provides a sleeker finish. If you are using a lining for the whole front then I recommend cutting it 2mm smaller than the swimwear fabric and this allows for pesky fabric shifting.

Swimwear Patterns

I use the same patterns I use for lingerie design for swimwear. If I’m using 8mm rubber I add in 2mm on every part of the pattern than needs the rubber, so on a brief I add 2mm on the legs and waist, though if I’m doing a full lining of swimwear lining I use the same pattern as I like it 2mm smaller to allow for it being so slippy.

So what did I design?

A girls colour block tankini and briefs, an 80s inspired colourblock racer back swimwear crop (the Arrow pattern yet to be released). I doubled up the fabric and put the main stretch at different angles, I will do another blog on this so you get the maximum support.

A low slung bikini brief which is the Iggy pattern, this is still free to get you started into the world of making, however if you plan to use it with 8mm rubber remember to add 2mm to the legs and waist, the same goes for the high leg, mid waist swimwear brief the Birdie pattern. Left to make includes a pink swimsuit with an inner shelf, a colour block brief (which came from the Margo pattern) and a tie back top which came from the Luna pattern. I’ll finish the designs over the Summer so keep an eye out for them.

Technical bits

Use polyester thread
Use a ball point or stitch needle if you find your stitching skipping
Accept that the lining may shift like crazy when sewing - don’t sweat it! It will drive you crazy trying to match it all up, if you have to trim a little of the excess off then do.
If you are sewing a full lining then put your stitch length a little bit longer to attach the pieces together.
Pros for sewing swimwear is that you are not navigating lots of different fabrics, so once you’ve mastered it. You’ve mastered it

If you are liking having all this knowledge in one place, then keep your eyes out for hte fabric course dropping end August.