| Reader Comments |
| Terry McCormick | 4/11/03 | Kwik Sew owes you a big favor - this suit is great and you look great in it - and that's exactly what plus size ladies need to see - I'm a larger size than you are (and 30 years past nursing!) but still go to my water workout and need a nice looking swimsuit. Have just gone down one suit size, looking around for the next size down - groaning at the price of larger, good looking swim suits - and here is your review! I'm going to buy this pattern this week - thanks very much! |
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| Femme | 4/11/03 | Mary, I commend you!! The suit looks great, and besides that, you ARE very brave to post a swimsuit photo. It really is a public service! I much prefer to see how something looks on the person, rather than just on a dress form or hung up. I do notice that plus-sized photos don't get as much positive feedback; I think this isn't because the garments aren't as "good" but we're so used to thinking that only thin women look good in clothes. Kudos!
Deb |
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| mudcat | 4/11/03 | I also applaud your willingness to post the photo. It looks great on you. I like the print. It looks to be a comfortable swimsuit for hanging around a home pool too. |
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| sewgirl | 4/11/03 | Wowww!!! Aside from how nice you are to post a picture in a swimsuit, it's a great angle so we can see the front and the back. A beautiful project. I would never think to sew a swimsuit. Now,....hmmmmm...... |
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| CatherineN | 4/11/03 | Thanks for the photo and review. You are not very fat. |
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| MaryT | 4/11/03 | I would never think to sew a swimsuit either, but you give me ideas maybe for next year! And I don't understand why we think the swim skirt is matronly. These styles are coming back with a bang, so you are right in there!! |
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| Chere | 4/11/03 | Cute suit - and you are an attractive model. I am not a plus-size, but I also feel more comfortable in a skirted suit. This looks like a good pattern. |
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| Mini | 4/11/03 | This looks like an excellent style for larger women and/or those who prefer a more modest look. Thanks for a very helpful review. |
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| Ann | 4/11/03 | Mary, thank you for the great review and photo. I am in the pattern stage of a swimsuit, and one of my options is the cami view of this pattern. I like it even more now than before. |
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| Skymom | 4/11/03 | Mary, you look great in the suit. I personally think skirted suits look graceful and attractive on many figure types--they really shouldn't have the matronly reputation they've got. And think of how nice this silhoutte looks as a skating dress on those little tiny Olympic skaters, too. I'd much rather see practically ANY figure in a suit like yours than even a scrawny chick in a thong! I like your review, and am impressed that you converted a regular suit to a nursing suit--double the praise for that. |
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| Jules/Vancouver BC | 4/11/03 | I like that, Mary - it looks very comfortable and I think it's flattering. I kind of like the line of the skirt - more so than the style where the skirt starts at the waist.
I'm just starting Kwik Sew 3072 (plus size tank suit) and have already promised myself that I'll post a picture with me in it in all my size 4X glory *lol*
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| Debbie Spriggs | 4/11/03 | Great suit. Mary! I always appreciate seeing any garment on a real figure. It's been years since I made a suit, and your wonderful review has me thinking I may just pick a pattern out for myself. Thank you!
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| AnneM | 4/11/03 | I love your fabric choice! Thanks for the great write-up. It is a very nice suit style, and looks good on you as well. |
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| Mary Barkley | 4/12/03 | thanks for the nice comments everyone. I left out information in the review about some of the construction details, so here goes: I used a 4 thread serger stitch with wooly nylon in the loopers for all seams and to attach elastic. I use 5/8" cotton/rubber natural swimsuit elastic (available at JoAnns and Hancocks) around the edges. I turn the edges and topstitch them with a stretch twin needle with wooly nylon hand wound in the bobbin. You can experiment -- make some samples. You don't have to have a serger to get a nice result. Zig zag is fine. You can save a lot of money sewing your own suit. A Land's End model similar to this costs $78. I probably spent $25 - $35 on each one I made. If you have a child to sew for, practice on theirs, they use a tiny amount of fabric, so mistakes are cheap. It's really not hard, but the elastic technique gets better with practice. (Makes you want to make more and more.) |
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| Julia Graham | 4/13/03 | Mary, I agree with Femme -- I've noticed fewer positive comments left for photos that don't look as model-y on this site, and regretted it. It is brave and sensible and WORTHWHILE to post the pix showing bodies -- the on-a-hanger reviews are much less useful in any case and, as you note, almost useless with a swimsuit. Your suit really does look good. If only my figure flaws were located where a short skirt could cover them... I'd need a 1920's style knee-skimming version! :-) Brava to you. And re sergers, I have a serger now but have made several swimsuits using zigzag before I got the serger, and it really does work well. |
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| http mom | 4/16/03 | Mary,I too am plus size and I so much appreciate the photo. This suit looks very flatterning on you and I just love your fabric choice. wherever did you get it...it looks like an emerald and so much prittier than the black we always see ourselves in...it's an inspiration for us real women. thanks! |
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| Tessa | 5/30/03 | I'm really impressed! I have made myself swimsuits for about ten years, and it gets faster and easier. I made my SIL a maternity suit a few years ago, for some reason KwikSew has dropped that pattern. I had been considering this swimdress pattern, as my butt and thighs don't need public exposure - thanks so much for reviewing it and posting the photo! |
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| Gigi Louis | 5/30/03 | Mary, thanks for posting a photo of your swimsuit - it looks great on you. I've made some swimsuits for my little niece but never for me. Now that I've ventured into lingerie I think swimsuits are a natural progression. Yahoo! I'll never have to see myself in a swimsuit under fluorescent lights again. Nor will I have to pay $100 for a few bits of lycra! |
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| Mary in FL | 5/30/03 | I have this pattern and will probably make it up soon. I like a lower back, so may try to alter it. I made S&S swim suit once with very low back, and it was very easy to put on. |
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| Marita Kinnula | 5/30/03 | Hi Mary!! you brave soul, it loks very good on you and the last sentence in your review was the best thing that I've read here for some timeyou have my sincerest admiration. |
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| Marita Kinnula | 5/30/03 | Sorry about the mistakes, I'm writing in a dark room, LOL!!!! |
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| chris k | 1/31/04 | So glad to read this just before I start sewing this suit. I think I'm about the same size and shape (except smaller in the bust and probably a bit thicker in the waist!). Nice to see how it should look before I start sewing. |
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| Debe | 1/31/04 | Thankyou, thankyou, thankyou! Great review. I agree, it is so much more helpful to see a swimsuit on a real model. (and I don't mean the ones we see in the swimsuit catalogs!) I think it is so annoying to see catalogs or patterns for that matter that are selling swimsuits for plus sizes, but are being modeled by skinny people. You did a great job and your suit looks fabulous on you. |
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| Mary Barkley | 2/1/04 | Thanks ladies. Debe that is my big complaint about Burda Plus. I love the patterns, but they show the clothes just falling off the models! I'm sure every design has binder clips up the back to make it look like it fits, LOL. |
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| penelope | 4/10/04 | Mary, I love your reviews and this one is no exception. Very much appreciate the further tips in your comment. I'm going to tackle suits for dgds and who knows maybe even myself, thanks to this review and those by a few other very talented sewists. |
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| Sunny Scarborough | 5/3/04 | Thanks for the great review and the picture. It is good to see what it looks like on an average grown-up woman instead of a 98 lb 14 year old. I was thinking of buying this pattern and I am convinced!
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| AussieAnn | 6/12/05 | Gosh Mary--Thanks for the picture. This suit is SOOO flattering on you. I recently saw some swimdresses on "fluffier" women on QVC and looked around for a pattern. As I LOVE KS patterns, this one will be ideal. Thanks |
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| Irina | 5/28/06 | Lovely! I like the new suit even better than the first one. |
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| Tailypo | 5/28/06 | Very cute new suit! |
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| Debbie Cook | 5/28/06 | Great suit Mary! Very flattering on you. |
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| Mary Stiefer | 5/28/06 | Wow - this new suit is fabulous. The color is great on you and I think it is very slimmiing. Lovely. |
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| ryan's mom | 5/28/06 | What a great swimsuit! I love the color and fabric. |
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| sewbehind | 5/28/06 | Mary, great review. Lovely suit on you. I took the time to look at all your sewing projects. You do nice work. I'm making swimsuits now and it has taken me three tries to perfect the fit. Now I should be ready to go. Of course, each different fabric reacts somewhat differently. Thanks for the tips. |
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| Stacy Sews | 5/28/06 | Wow, great job! I love your suit and the fabric is so pretty! |
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| jemgirlca | 5/28/06 | I love your suits! |
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| amadoofus | 5/28/06 | Mary you made the suit fit you very properly and it looks FABULOUS on you!! It looks so great because the fit is wonderful. You can take a rail-thin person, and if the fit isn't good, it just doesn't look good! Congrats and thank you for posting! |
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| Sew it seams | 5/28/06 | Mary that is a great suit! You would have paid $$$ for that suit in the stores. I love the fabric and color and the fit is excellent! |
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| Susan C | 5/28/06 | That suit looks great on you! You know, I disagree that it's matronly. It looks really pretty. Thanks for the review. |
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| Diane E | 5/28/06 | Mary, you and your suit are terrific! I love the fabrics you chose and the detail in your review. As one who will only go out in the water in a wetsuit (sausage-casing full-coverage neoprene), I applaud your willingness to share your wisdom and photos with the rest of us. |
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| LoriV | 5/28/06 | Mary, great new suit. I like this one better than the first. Your changes make it better, good job. |
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| nitwit | 5/28/06 | A great looking and well fitted suit. I just purchased a KS b'suit pattern (different #) so I hope mine turns out as well fit-wise as yours! |
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| khurtdvm | 5/28/06 | This looks great! I haven't ventured into sewing swimsuits yet - still working on getting over my fear of stretchy fabric. :) But this makes me want to try them at some point! |
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| Stefanie | 5/28/06 | It looks great on you and is such a pretty color. |
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| fuzzygalore | 5/29/06 | It's a sad thing when a perfectly average woman has to screw up her courage to post a picture of herself... Thanks for doing it, because it makes it obvious that your suits are great, and you look great in them too. Good tips about bust support, and I really like your idea of lining with the same fabric, it would indeed look better when you're all disheveled in the water with the skirt over your head :-).. |
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| brrmm | 5/29/06 | I too make my own swimwear cause everything in the shops is soooooo tiny.
This swimsuit is beautiful and the colour/fabric is fantastic !! I've done a review of a previous suit that is shorts & top. This is a nice pattern that I think I may get now because of your wonderful review. Thanks. |
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| PhyllisC | 5/29/06 | Matronly? Not at all Mary. I love the retro 1940's look. There's nothing wrong with being more covered up in a swimsuit. Personally, I get pretty grossed out whenever I see someone who should have more coverage, but doesn't. I always err on the coverage side too. Age really has nothing to do with it. Skimpy suits belong only on those with a body to pull them off! And that ain't me. |
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| Susan0150 | 3/25/07 | The 2nd suit is just gorgeous! Better than any RTW I've seen lately! Love the instructions. I think that I am almost brave enough to try this! Thanks for the great review and the pics. You are a brave woman to post them and they really do help! |
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| JudyP | 7/27/07 | Mary, I just read your review recently and as a result I bought this pattern, some lycra from spandex house and I'm almost finished with my suit. I will also post a review with a photo. I agree that seeing photos of garments on hangers or even dress forms is not as helpful as garments on real people! You inspired me to try sewing a swimsuit especially with your idea of sewing in a real bra. I need that extra support. Thank you!
Judy |
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| khrome | 7/29/07 | Thanks for your review! I have this pattern and wanted to see how other's turned out. Yours is fabulous! |
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