The Imaginative Seamstress

 People have asked me these questions several times, about the maternity scrunch top. "What does it look like when you're not pregnant? Does it look too full and frumpy? How much does it stretch? Will it look okay when I'm not expecting and don't have a large belly?" Well, there are a few variables but I'm hoping these pictures and descriptions will answer some of those questions. And at least give some visual answers to satisfy curiosity! :-) I will say that it may depend on the type of fabric that is used and how much stretch it has in it. I have what I call a 'midsize fullness' for the belly, and its what I commonly use. I re-sized from 'really full' to a little 'less full' when people started asking if they could wear the maternity top whether they were expecting or not... Or at least if it could be worn for pregnancy and postpartum. Some had asked if it could be worn all through pregnancy. From early on, all the way throug...

 This question has been asked of me constantly, as ladies are trying to measure themselves for a custom fit suit. Mostly we would run into issues when I asked for the torso length measurement. They want to know how to do that, and I usually explain and send them an example photo of someone taking that measurement. They're not my photos so I didn't feel like I should post them on my blog. I needed one of my own, so I took some, and had my sis-in-law help me with one of the pics. (As she so nicely decided to drop by as I was trying to take pictures of myself!!)  I don't like stressing over whether or not the bodice is going to be the wrong length!  Like if I'm not totally sure they measured right, and that scares me to death! I mean, if its wrong, then I make the suit wrong!! I was struggling with this most recently when someone gave me their torso/body length and it seemed short to me. I wondered if she knew where she was supposed to measure to? But I've also wonde...

In my fabric choices you'll find some that are labeled "Heavy Weight" Well, what does that mean? Today I'm going to talk about heavy weight swim fabrics. These are different than the standard 6oz fabrics that I grew up with, these are 8oz fabrics. What are the differences? I'm about to tell you.  In 2012, after 20+ years of being around swim fabrics, I thought I knew something about them... Something, maybe, but everything? No. My first encounter with heavy weight fabric was when the supplier sent me what I thought was the wrong fabric. In truth, I may not have read through all the details before purchasing. What happened was I had bought a small piece of yardage, in a print that I liked. I did this to get a feel for what kind of fabric it was before buying more. Because, as I've said before, its difficult to tell the type/quality of a fabric when you're just looking at a picture online. When I received the fabric in the mail, I was really happy with ...

I am inspired to write on alternative modest swimwear. I received an email from a young lady (16) who told me she was tired of walmart bathing suits. Its hard to find modest swimwear she told me, and who wants to wear a t-shirt over their suit? Nobody does. Sometimes we think its just sooo hard to find anything modest! Well that can be true, but its really not that hard if you just know where to look. And I'll get to that in a moment..  Another thing is that everyone has their own sense of style. Some may not like my style, and there are other people out there who make modest swimwear. Maybe you prefer their style over mine? That's just fine. And everyone's sense of what is modest is different too. There are places like LLBean, and Lands End which provide more coverage than some places. And there are people who are perfectly happy with those. What I want to tell you about today is something you may not have realized. And that is that you can find a modest swim shirt...pro...

First off I have to tell you, I am very picky about quality in swimwear fabric. How it feels, stretches, even what color it is on the back. (imagine that) I'll explain that a little later...  Now I can't always remember which technical names I'm looking for when I'm searching swimwear fabric on the internet, but I've got to be sure I'm looking at the right thing. Its not like I can touch it and immediately know that I've got the right stuff. I know words like nylon, spandex, lycra, and polyester, and even cotton are thrown around. I know enough to stay away from anything that says cotton-lycra on the label. When I was growing up swimwear fabric was simply called LYCRA.  But these days so much clothing is made from stretch fabrics and the word LYCRA is in everything stretchy. Knits have LYCRA in them, but they're not for swimming, they're for stretchy t-shirts, leggings, etc. I found these helpful little notes on ehow, while I was searching for a li...