DIY: Sewing a Swimsuit

I am a crazy person.  I thought sewing a swim suit would be a good idea since I cannot find suits that fit by body.  I am a "well-endowed" person so I need a piece that fully covers and supports.  So no triangle tops or regular halter ones.  I had one from Victoria's Secret a few years ago that had the support, but it was about an inch too short to fully cover what needs to be covered.  

 

I found a pattern online at Burda, and it was also the first Burda pattern I've ever bought.  It's this bustier top, Burda #127.  I designed the bottom, using another swim suit as a pattern. 

Sewing something that has to fit perfectly to your body is not an easy task.  I bought swimsuit jersey fabric and lining, and used an old bra for support.  You can buy the underwire and support pieces online, but it is a lot cheaper to just use an old one.  I cut out my pieces, sewed them all together, then ran into a problem where the lining kept rolling to the outside and I couldn't get the lining to stay on the inside.  I finally was able to figure out that since the lining had more stretch than the outside, it was pulling.  So I recut it to be a bit smaller, and that fixed the problem completely. 

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I'm not one hundred percent happy with the suit, but it fits better than anything I've had before.  I even had enough extra fabric to make two bottoms, a regular one and a high waisted one.   

If I could do it again, I'd size up the pattern even more than I did so it would cover more.  I'd also like to figure out how to make the straps stronger.

This picture is from last summer... don't worry, I'm not swimming in March.