COSI SWIMSUIT . TWO DIFERENT WAYS TO FINISH IT

This week the Portuguese online sewing magazine COSE+ is celebrating summer and I had the pleasure of contributing with a post about the Cosi Swimsuits I’ve sewn for my kids. But, since the post is in Portuguese and many of my blog readers can’t understand it, I thought it would be a good idea to share it here too. (Leitoras portuguesas: por favor passem pelo site da COSE+ para lerem o texto em português. Obrigada!)

For the past two years I’ve been sewing many Cosi Swimsuits for my girls and they have always been a hit. I made the first one for the pattern tour and followed to the line the instructions on the pattern...

 

But then I thought it would be interesting to find other ways to finish the leg and torso openings. These two ways I am sharing with you today are really, really simple and easy to sew. Plus they give you the opportunity to add a simple but cool detail to this great pattern.

 

1. Finishing the openings with Lycra bands

I was quite impressed with the nice result I got with this super simple technique! Instead of using regular elastic to finish the openings, I did it by sewing Lycra bands, just like I usually do for a tee neckline. I was lucky enough to find pre-cut Lycra bands in my local store but you can easily cut them from a piece of fabric.

 

So all you have to do it fold the band in half longwise and sew it to the opening. Then turn it up and topstitch all around with a double needle to secure the seam allowance. Don’t forget that for the perfect finish, like for tees, the neckband should be slightly shorter than the opening!

 

2. Finishing the openings with fold-over elastic

Ever since I made my first swimsuit I was willing to try this technic. It looked so simple! And it looked like the perfect way to add a little detail to my kids’ swimsuits! So last year when I found this glitter fold-over elastic in Paris I had to get it.

 

To apply the fold-over elastic to the opening all you have to do it fold it in half lengthwise (the elastic has a little crease in the middle that helps folding it) and sandwich the fabric in between. Then topstitch all around with a double needle or a zig-zag stitch making sure you catch both sides of the fold-over elastic. Like with the Lycra band, the fold-over elastic should be slightly shorter than the opening for a nice finish.

I hope you are feeling inspired to sew lots and lots of swimsuits for you girls this summer! Especially because the lovely Suz from Sew Pony has put together a coupon code for COSE+ readers and I am also sharing it here for you. So, to get your copy of the Cosi with a 20% discount until the end of this week (Friday, 9:00pm GMT+1) use the code COSE20 at the check out.