Skip to main content

Seamus trunks


Pattern: Ottobre 3/2009 Seamus Swim Trunks #40
Fabric:  Blue & white striped lycra with burnt orange trim plus white swim lining
Fabric Price: ~$6.00
Size: 92 cm
Child's Age: 2 1/2


- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 

Here is #3, the youngest.  We'll call him "Chuck" or "Chucky" because he looks like a "Chuck" but of course that's not his name at all.  He has a very traditional and sophisticated name, that his slow-to-speak-for-his-age little self likes to pronounce with a very strong English accent. 

It was the Fourth of July and the first time wearing these I think.  I hadn't had a chance to take any pictures of the trunks for the purpose of the blog. Plus, he's a terrible model: makes awful scrunched up faces at the camera, is constantly moving, and usually runs off before long.  So, I figured I might as well attempt some photos here, at Abuelo's house playing in the inflatable pool.

This is the second item I've made from Ottobre.  The retro styling of these trunks makes for kind of an unusual construction.  There are three distinct pieces, four total.  The main piece is the top front, sides and back.  The ends are sewn up to make the center back.  There's a lower, center front piece that goes in the inside of the piping and two side panels also enclosed in the piping.


Inside waist showing lining
This is the side view before turning the bottom edge to hem.
I can't believe I managed to match the stripes for the most part.  Or, at all!
The swimsuit fabric selection at JoAnn and Hancock is pathetically dismal.  As I did not need for him to be seen from outer space, I decided to forgo their solid and blindly bright selections.  I came across this blue and white striped fabric at the quilting fabric store.  The burnt orange, I found later at Hancock, but it is not true swimsuit fabric, it is just a shiny, stretchy lycra.  Now, I wouldn't recommend stripes on a swimsuit where you have to match the stripes.  It was not my intention to challenge myself in this manner.  It was simply all there was to pick from.  But paired up with the contrasting orange, I really liked the even more retro-y effect of the stripes.  This swimsuit has an elastic at the waist but also calls for a drawstring.  I don't know where to find elastic grosgrain ribbon, and the mere thought of it gives me a headache, so I haven't put that in yet. Though, I did make the buttonhole opening for it.  I do think it would make it look cuter.


I lined it because the stripe fabric wasn't very thick.  It may not be true swimsuit material either for all I know.  And, because this style of swim trunk probably needs some lining.  I made it the smallest size.  I wasn't sure if it would suit my 4 y.o. or Chucky better.  My 4 y.o. (I forgot what name I made up for him) is pretty skinny.  Chuck is smaller but actually girth-ier.  The trunks fit the 4 y.o. but were a bit lose at the legs.  However, they were not very flattering in the front area without some kind of additional support.  On Chucky, since he still has to wear a swim diaper, they looked great.  The piping wasn't as hard to put on as I thought it might be.  I serged all the seams and used a double needle to topstitch the waistband and hem the legs.  Wow, I actually followed the instructions to a T.  I even installed the elastic (almost) like they said I should. 

What is happening to me?  It's like I'm being all professorial, matching stripes, lining stuff, finished edges ... with a serger, double needle topstitching, FOLLOWING INSTRUCTIONS!  I don't even recognize myself anymore.


Very cute trunks, good fit.  Chucky was very excited to be the recipient of something made especially for him this time.  I'm not sure how these would look on older boys though.  They probably need more lining.

Comments

  1. These are great! The piping is a wonderful touch that makes them look very professional. I have a little nephew and I wonder if I could make these without a serger/coverstitch.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thank you. I'm sure you could since the swimsuit fabric doesn't fray. You can always do a zig zag stitch on the edge too.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular Posts

Tinkerbell Cake

I made something! A friend of a friend ..... needed a cake made for her daughter's fourth birthday. I came up with a few ideas, trying to keep them uncomplicated. She opted for the more traditional nine inch round cake with decorations. I thought it would be simple enough, but it always ends up taking me way longer than I anticipate. I wish I could go to a professional cake decorating class by Debbie Brown or Rebecca Sutterby so I could learn some techniques like how to get things to stay glued on. I could never be a cake decorator -my time to money ratio is kind of ridiculous. But here it is. Monkey Pants now wants a Tinkerbell cake for her next birthday too, of course. I need to wake up early tomorrow to make sure she's not eating the mushrooms off of it. (It's happened before).

Emmeline Apron 2

Just got done with this one. Another Emmeline Apron for a Christmas gift. I wanted to try something different with my choice of fabrics this time, although not too different since they are still Amy Butler prints. I chose some darker blue fabrics from the Daisy Chain (Aquatic) line that I wouldn't normally be drawn too. But I'm glad I did. I really like the result. This time, I did a few things a bit differently. One thing about the pattern I'm not fond of is the wordy, yet poor instructions on how to place the waist straps onto the sides of the apron at the right angle. I really don't know why the correct angle isn't just printed on the pattern. So to minimize the trial and error approach encouraged in the pattern instructions, [TIP:] I laid out the fabric and the strap as it would appear once constructed and simply marked a line on the strap corresponding to the angle of the apron. Then, I flipped both apron and strap layers over together; lined up the strap wit

Face painting

For my daughter's upcoming birthday party, I decided I might try my hand at face painting. I collected some photos from the internet I liked, check out a book at the library, and bought some face paints at the party store. The face paints are not very cheap but cheaper than hiring a face painter, right. Here's a couple of the faces I've tried so far. Now if I can only get my face painting time down to ten minutes from twenty minutes a face for the party. I think I may have to enlist a volunteer to help out too. The painting part is actually much easier than it would seem. The only thing that makes it challenging is that the canvas is constantly moving around (at least my canvas). It's not too hard to wash off, but the black takes a bit more scrubbing as the paint is grease or oil based. It makes for a fun activity especially as it gets too cold to go outside. My 3-year old thought it was "amazing" when she looked in the mirror. I even talked my husband i