Finishing the 40's Swimsuit or "The Things I Do For My Cousin"

Readers, what could I do?

I wanted to show you my finished Advance swimsuit but my poor cousin Cathy is due to give birth any day now and hardly up to posing for cheesecake.   Consider this crabcake.



I'd put this project aside for a few weeks.  The outside of the suit was essentially done but I had to deal with that inner layer -- you may remember tales of double-layered crotch gussets from a few weeks ago.

On the final version I attached the gusset with nary a hitch, using a lapped seam.  Have you ever seen a prettier crotch gusset, honestly?



The lining is made from fabric left over from Cathy's Ugliest Pattern Ever outfit from two years ago (how time flies!).  It's densely woven striped cotton with silver metallic threads.



The lining is just two pieces -- a front and a back, plus the aforementioned crotch gusset.  There are various darts and tucks here and there, and I added ruching along the sides of the bloomer-style bottoms -- much more flattering than droopy drawers.

Whee!



Each leg has a snug elastic casing too (as per the pattern).  I want Cathy to feel confident.



I ruched the sides by gathering with basting stitches and then stitching a piece of twill tape over the seam allowance to anchor the gathers in place.





The suit zips up the center back, and I used a plain black zipper, as opposed to an invisible zipper which wouldn't have been appropriate to the period (though my zipper is plastic, not metal).



So with both the beach jacket and the suit completed, all we need is a beautiful youngish model to wear it...next week on our trip to Provincetown, Massachusetts!  Where better to do a bathing suit photo shoot than the actual beach?  Readers, we may have to artificially induce labor.  Are first pregnancies always late? 

In the meantime, I'm trying to gather the necessary accessories, in case we are able to drag Cathy with us on our trip.  We might have to leave the kid at the hospital.

Have a great day, everybody!