Sewing

June 27, 2025

Smocking: The Art of Elegant Fabric Shaping

Smocking is one of those enduring needle arts that quietly transcends trends. While it’s often associated with heirloom baby dresses and delicate children’s clothing, smocking is far more versatile than its sweet, vintage reputation suggests. At its heart, smocking is a form of embroidery that adds stretch, texture, and beauty to pleated fabric. Whether used for function or flair—or both—this technique has stood the test of time for good reason. Smocking is also often called “shirring;” however, there are differences. Shirring is a sewing machine gathering technique, while smocking is an embroidery technique on pre-pleated fabric.

The technique originated centuries ago as a practical solution for shaping garments. It allows an item of clothing to fit close to the body for a flattering look but also be super comfortable because there’s plenty of give. Before elastic, smocking allowed clothing to stretch and move with the body. Farm workers in England wore “smocks” with stitched panels that gathered fullness across the chest, back, or sleeves. Over time, what began as a functional feature evolved into a decorative art. Smocking, aka shirring,

English smocking is worked over a panel of evenly spaced pleats. Each stitch catches the top third of adjacent pleats, forming a flexible chain across the fabric. The stitches can be simple or elaborate, depending on the design. Pleats are usually created using a hand-crank pleater, which feeds the fabric through a set of rollers and onto threaded needles. These gathering threads form a grid that serves as the guide for embroidery.

A popular method of smocking in the 40’s, 50’s, and 60’s was the “pick up the dots” method. This technique involved transferring dotted patterns onto flat fabric, usually by ironing a transfer on the fabric, then stitching and pulling the threads to form pleats as you worked—a process that felt like cutting-edge technology at the time.

Then, in the early 1980’s a true game-changer arrived in the form of the hand-crank pleater. Smockers would feed a flat piece of on-grain fabric (usually batiste) through the geared rollers, and would carefully turn the handle. Like magic, the gears would fold fabric into crisp, even pleats. The pleats were then pushed onto threaded needles, which held them in place. When the fabric was pulled off the needles, it remained gathered on the threads that were buried partway into the pleats and created something ready for smocking. The thread grid served as a handy guide for stitching charted designs. Today, smocking (or shirring) can be done using your sewing machine.

In the mid-1990s, a new style emerged called “stacking” or “picture smocking.” This technique stacks stitches to form recognizable images—teddy bears, toy trucks, Christmas trees. However, these motifs become distorted when stretched so an additional layer of stabilizing stitches is worked on the back to hold the panel in place. Picture smocking is most often used as a decorative insert, rather than a stretchable garment section.

Classic smocking is rooted in geometric patterns—zigzags, diamonds, hearts—repeated across “the pleated fabric. Traditionally, geometric smocking serves a structural role in clothing—shaping yokes, blouse fronts, sleeve caps, or ruffled dress shoulders. The smocked sections are anchored by flat fabric, which controls the stretch and gives garments a graceful silhouette without losing structure.

Shirrring with your Sewing Machine

Work with lightweight woven fabrics like cotton voile, chambray, or rayon challis. The lighter the fabric, the more it will gather during the shirring process. As a general rule, a lightweight fabric will shrink to about half its original width after smocking—sometimes slightly more depending on the fabric and stitch spacing.

Wind the Bobbin by Hand

Use elastic thread to wind your bobbin by hand, not with the machine.
Wind it evenly and with just very slight tension—don’t over-stretch the elastic as you wind.
Place the bobbin in your machine as usual.

Thread the Top as Usual

Use regular thread in the needle and thread your machine like normal.

Mark Your Stitching Lines

On the right side of the fabric, use a washable fabric marker or chalk to draw evenly spaced horizontal lines. Common spacing is ½” to ¾” apart.
Mark as many rows as you want shirring. Start with 4–6 lines for a small area like a cuff or waistband.

Adjust Stitch Settings

Set your machine to a longer straight stitch (3.0–4.0 mm).
Do not backstitch at the beginning or end—just leave long thread tails to tie off.

Start Sewing

Begin sewing on the first marked line. Sew slowly and evenly.
As you stitch, the fabric will begin to gather. That’s the elastic doing its job!
Repeat with each marked line, sewing rows parallel to each other.

Secure the Threads

At the beginning and end of each row, tie the thread tails together to keep the elastic from pulling out.
You can also backstitch, but tying is usually more secure with elastic thread.

Steam or Press

After sewing all rows, use a steam iron to press the smocking.
Hold the iron above the fabric and blast it with steam—don’t press hard.
The heat will tighten the gathers and give a polished look.

Smocking or shirring adapts to suit nearly any vision. It can be bold or delicate, sweet or sophisticated. From vintage to contemporary, from baby clothes to bold fashion statements, smocking stretches far beyond its origins and remains a timeless technique that allows fabric—and imagination—to gather, flex, and flourish. And while it requires patience, the end result is a textured work of art that adds charm and craftsmanship to any project.

More Information

June 20, 2025

Speedy Stitches: Exploring Machine Needlepoint Techniques

With all due respect to traditional hand sewing techniques, if there’s a faster, easier way to do it by machine—I’m in. So I started wondering: could I replicate needlepoint with my sewing machine? Turns out, I can!”

Full disclosure: I don’t do needlepoint by hand, so if you sense a lack of familiarity with the subject or terminology, that’s why.

You’ll find plenty of simple needlepoint patterns available, or you can create your own. Coloring books offer a great source of easy designs to experiment with or just grab a sheet of graph paper and start sketching!

Machine Needlepoint Basics

Thread

The world is your oyster in terms of thread, but there are several on the market that mimic hand needlepointing wools. These specialties can be acrylic, wool or blends—they are thicker than normal sewing threads and have a fuzzy texture.

Examples of these threads include:

Sulky’s Filaine (100% acrylic)
Aurifil’s Lana (50% acrylic/50% wool)
Madeira’s Burmilana (50% wool/50% acrylic) or BurmalanaCo (50% cotton/50% wool)
Wonderfil’s Ellana™ (50% wool/50% cotton).

In addition to those fuzzy strands, you can also use this technique with metallic threads, finer pearl cotton, or buttonhole- and topstitching-weight threads for a less fuzzy look to the stitching.

Machine Set-up

You’ll need a large-eye needle for any of these specialty threads—a 100/16 topstitching needle is a good choice because of its elongated eye.
As you test stitch, if the fuzzy threads tend to shred, move up a needle size to avoid damaging the thread and the look of your piece.
Thread a matching standard or bobbin-weight thread in the bobbin, and the specialty thread on the top of the machine. Use a needle threader if you need help to get fuzzy threads through the needle eye.
Some machines may require slight tension adjustments with the heavier threads, so be sure to test-stitch and adjust as needed.
Lower the feed dogs on the machine and if you have a darning or open-toe foot, use it for better visibility.
Keep a tiny lint brush handy as fuzz will build up on the machine’s needle area and in the feed dog area, so frequently cleaning is encouraged.

Canvas

Choose a canvas for your base. Canvasses are designated by the number of spaces (holes) per inch. For machine work, use a 10- to 14-count mesh, depending on the thread you’re using—a smaller number for heavier threads and a higher number for lighter weight threads.
Draw your design either directly onto the canvas, or onto a piece of stabilizer that you can secure to the canvas underside so you can see the design through the canvas holes.
Cut the mesh with enough room around the design for the intended use. If you’re going to frame the piece or sew it into something else, allow extra space for those finishings. It’s also helpful to leave space enough to hang onto as you work.

Getting Started

Note: Test-stitch before you begin your project to get a feel for what you’re doing and the look you want to the finished piece.

This technique is admittedly quite mindless, as all you’re doing is stitching back and forth in adjacent canvas holes.

Set the machine for a zigzag with a width compatible to the span of the needlepoint canvas holes. The more holes you span, the wider the stitch width. Working with adjacent holes produces a tighter looking design than spanning multiples.
Stitch the zigzag between the holes to fill the space (5-6 times for heavier threads). Don’t stitch too many times or you’ll create a mound of thread rather than a flat finish. The important part of this test is to count the number of stitches, as you want each set of stitches to be the same.
If your machine has memory capabilities, save the number of zigs and zags so it will be the same on each set of holes.
Stitch slowly, as it’s important to stay within the hole openings and not stray to adjacent openings.
Once you’ve filled a hole pair, move the canvas so that you can stitch again in an adjacent set of holes, moving across the design in a horizontal row pattern.
Continue filling the hole pairs across the width of one row of the design. At the end of the row, move to the next row and do the same, noting that the needle goes into one of the holes of the previous stitching area each time.
Be aware of your design, as thread color changes are needed as you stitch the various design areas.

Once you’ve completed the entire design, steam and block the work before framing it or incorporating it into a project.

Voilà—easy peazy!

~Linda Griepentrog is the owner of G Wiz Creative Services and she does writing, editing and designing for companies in the sewing, crafting and quilting industries. In addition, she escorts fabric shopping tours to Hong Kong. She lives at the Oregon Coast with her husband Keith, and three dogs, Yohnuh, Abby, and Lizzie. Contact her at .

June 13, 2025

Wise Words and Witty Threads

Every now and then, while we’re elbow-deep in the archives digging for something entirely different (like sewing archaeologists), we stumble upon a true gem—an “oldie but goodie” that makes us stop, smile, and say, “Well this aged like a fine seam ripper.” This blast from 2010 is one such treasure: a hilarious and heartfelt presentation delivered by an ASG member at a Los Angeles chapter annual meeting. As we read it—nodding, laughing, and maybe snorting once or twice—we realized it’s still sew true today. So of course, we had to share:

Most sewers find sewing creative and fulfilling, if occasionally frustrating, and produce lovely projects. But there’s another aspect of sewing that we can explore…the very human side of sewing.

We learn early on about stitching standards and we face them every time we run up a seam. We ponder, “Move on? Or rip and re-stitch?” We aim for professionalism, but lest we be too perfectionistic and fussy, we might consider the standard told to me by a dear quilting friend whose grandmother critiqued iffy stitching quality thusly: Could you see it from a galloping horse at 30 feet? The message? Relax! It needn’t be perfect. According to my artist sister-in-law, minor flaws are the mark of human craftsmanship.

True Sewing Confessions

Chapter meetings, Neighborhood Group meetings, and sewing classes are wonderful places to meet some super ladies—accomplished, talented, friendly, and helpful women. And I am amazed at what’s shared when a session turns into a gabfest. I mean, there’s such trust and comfort level that we confess our sometimes-dumb behavior, publicly revealing our moments of distraction and mental lapses. Where else would someone confide they nearly burned the house down because they left a hot iron face down on fabric or plastic? Or volunteer that they swear at their sewing machine? Or share that they stitched an entire seam without noticing the needle wasn’t threaded or the bobbin was empty?

In addition, we also admit to things like cutting out two left sleeves and affixing iron-on interfacing to the front of the fabric. Or cutting out an entire project with the fabric facing the wrong direction so the obvious one-way theme is upside down and lament…what was I thinking?

We love classes and can sometimes feel we’re transporting most of our sewing paraphernalia to them, but we can also skid into class late and loaded with gear, and suddenly realize we’ve left not only the machine at home, but the project as well. If you’ve felt chagrined and embarrassed, you’re not alone!

Most of us over a certain age swap frustrations about the most necessary and basic visual requirement of sewing: the challenge of getting the thread through the eye of the needle. And those eyes seem to be getting smaller all the time.

Then we have the grown-up version of grade school show-and-tell, one notable use being to tout new notions discoveries. We’re excitedly sharing our latest find and then someone says, “Oh, those have been around forever!” Or “I bought one last week.” And we secretly feel crestfallen because we wanted everyone to clamor for a demo so we’d be a hero.

The Big Three Topics

There are three topics that create a buzz among sewers. The first is fabric stashes—for which there is near-universal embarrassment and guilt about the addictive lure that keeps it growing. We develop a love affair with fabrics, dreaming up projects, inspired by the sight and feel, color and texture, print and pattern of textiles, and sales that beckon with irresistible bargains. And sometimes we just go crazy!

I’m sure you all have your stories. For me it was a piece of fabric so exquisite my heart did flip-flops. It’s a delicate white silk emblazoned with colorful butterflies in breathtaking detail—absolutely gorgeous—and I gasped at the price—in triple digits! But I was smitten and had to have it so I splurged and bought a quarter-yard. It’s art on fabric and I gaze at it in awe every now and then. So, if your fabric purchases are sometimes accompanied by excitement with a tinge of guilt—welcome to the club. You have lots of company.

The second topic that creates buzz is paused projects—those begun with every intention of swift completion. But if we get stuck, we set them aside to figure out how to get past the problem, and then it’s out of sight, out of mind. Or we start another project, nagged by the memory of that unfinished one. Or… sound familiar? You have lots of company.

The third topic is pattern fitting. The bane of many sewers is adjusting commercial patterns to fit our bodies, which, for many of us, do not remotely resemble the models on the pattern envelopes! We struggle with tissue patterns, fitting shells, and muslin trials, trying to mold pattern pieces to our unique curves and bulges so clothes will fit, feel comfortable, and flatter us. And all this must take place before the cut material slides under the needle, by which time—according to one ASGer—her fickle body has changed size and shape.

The Praise Factor

We sewers freely pass out compliments when we see each other’s projects. But I have a pet peeve about this process. Folks, modesty does not require that you describe all the places you struggled with. My advice to compliment recipients is, “Would you please say “Thank you” before launching into a detailed description of all the flaws you perceive? Honestly, I probably wouldn’t have noticed them and it’s very awkward when I have to defend my own compliment. So, when complimented, look pleased, acknowledge the praise, and share a feature you love about your creation. We’ll both feel good. Then you can vent about the vexations and confess the imperfections.

Our contacts with other sewers enrich our lives. We meet sewers who make clothing and create crafts, are crazy about quilting, or into embroidery, all sharing what they love and helping each other. Let’s celebrate our sewing sisterhood!

Inspired by the late writer Erma Bombeck, former ASG member Deborah Sumner delivered this humorous look at sewing at the Los Angeles, CA chapter’s annual meeting in November, 2010.

June 6, 2025

Serger Q&A: Differential Feed, Threading, & Securing the Ends

Sergers can be especially mystifying with their multiple threads, loopers and needles. But we’re here to help with answers to some common serger questions.

My serger has a differential feed, but I don’t really understand what it does. Can you enlighten me?

Understanding a differential feed system is important to get the most out of your serging capabilities.

Serger stitch length (top) and differential feed (bottom) settings.

Fabric is fed under the serger foot by feed dogs—those little teeth under the presser foot. There are two sets of feed dogs that operate independently, depending on the differential feed settings.

For example, some knit fabrics emerge wavy and stretched out after sewing a serged seam—obviously, not an ideal scenario. Adjusting the differential feed ratio can eliminate that distortion, maintaining a flat finished seam. Oppositely, adjusting the other direction can create a ruffled seam, stretching the area as it’s being overlocked.

Proper adjustment will create a flat seam.

Depending on the brand, the differential feed adjustment may be accomplished with a dial, a lever or knob and can showcase a number or simply a schematic, or both. At a setting of 1 (or N for normal), both sets of feed dogs move at the same speed. This is usually a good setting for woven fabric seaming as long as they’re not bias-cut edges. But, a 1 setting for knits can be problematic.

Adjusting the differential feed can create ruffles.

Turning to a higher number feeds more fabric into the front feed dogs and this setting can be used for gathering or easing. It can also be used to create a flatter seam in knits that tend to stretch.

Turning to a lower number feeds less fabric into the front feed dogs than the back is putting out, creating stretch. This setting can be used to create ruffled or lettuce edges.

The differential feed settings work in tandem with the stitch length indicator, so test-stitching is imperative to get a flat overcast seam without distortion if that’s the goal.

I find threading my serger very intimidating. Is there a proper way to do this?

Sergers can be much more intimidating that a conventional machine because they have multiple threads, multiple needles and the added loopers, all needed to form the stitch patterning.

It’s always best to consult your instruction manual for specific instructions, but as a general rule, thread the machine in this order: upper looper, lower looper, right needle, left needle. Some brands thread the loopers automatically, making it less likely that you need to stand on your head to accomplish the task.

Some brands of sergers also come with threading loops to make threading the upper and lower loopers easier. And, there are likely threading diagrams inside the front opening panel. With the threads shown in different colors, it’s easier to keep the threading paths in order.

If you want to avoid having to rethread the serger when you need to change colors, simply tie the new thread color on to the old color and gently pull it through the threading path. Clip the knots before rethreading the needle(s).

Be sure that all threads are engaged in the machine’s tension discs to ensure proper stitching.

What do I do at the end of a serged seam to keep it secure?

The easiest thing to do is to serge off the fabric for a few inches, then thread the serger tail into a needle threader, carry it back under the encased seam edge, then clip off the excess length.

Another option is to apply a seam sealant to the serged seam ends, wait for it to dry, then clip off the excess tails.

Some people prefer to tie an overhand knot with the extended serger tail.

If the seam will be crossed by another seam, there’s little worry about it unraveling, so you may need to do nothing as it will be reinforced with the crossing seam.

*Unless otherwise noted, all images courtesy of Bernina

May 30, 2025

Sewing Swimwear? Quality counts

There is nothing more timeless (or useful) than a high-quality, well-made swimsuit. I recently had a customer who is an avid swimmer contact me after 10 years to make her another set of swimsuits. Although I usually purge dormant patterns from customers, I still had hers and her shape had not changed much during in the 10 years. The original suits had for the most part withstood the onslaught of chlorine and salt and were just starting to show some loss of recoil in the elasticized edges. This is understandable as the elastic fibers are usually the first to go. But all things aside, 10 years says a lot about the garment. Let’s look at what it takes to make a high-quality swimsuit and then in a future article, delve into staple garments of high quality.

Two tank-style swimsuits created by Kim Larcom with Astrosports Activewear.

It’s All in the Layers

It is important to look at the layers of things to consider in making a timeless swimsuit—or event a garment for that matter. By layers, we refer to the considerations you must ponder for that garment to still be viable in terms length of time of wear and its fashion trend longevity.

Style

The first layer we see is the style of the garment. Visually, a garment will always be in style if it suits the wearer, meaning that it accentuates the figure type. With fashion trends constantly changing, there will be short-lived styles, but a well fitted, high quality swimsuit in a style that flatters the wearer is always in style. Also, remember trends cycle. As a longtime seamstress once told me; 7 years to come in, 7 years in style, and 7 years to go out. By that time, they are back in style. If you are lucky to be around long enough, you will see this trend on repeat.

Fit

If a swimsuit fits the wearer well and is the correct style for the anthropometry (size and stature) of the wearer, the visual results will be positive. There are design details that one can use to flatter the figure as well.

Using gathers to add volume, or using color blocks mixed with colors to create optical illusions are great factors to keep in mind. These details applied to a well fitted tank-style swimsuit will never go out of style.
Within the suit base, you can eye out details of neckline shape, both front and back, shoulder strap width and placement on the shoulder, and the cut and shape of the leg style both front and back.
A slightly higher cut leg can have the visual of creating a longer leg, but without a well fitted seat it can cause the seat or bottom of the back of the suit slide out of place. One thing a wearer does not want to deal with is constantly fixing the back of the bottom of the suit or the straps. So, length, width, and placement all count towards a well-fitting garment. Not only will this flatter the body type but will feel comfortable and be functional as well. Less is not always best when it comes to coverage.
You can add a variety of support mechanisms including a shelf bra, underwires, or sewing cups right into the lining. They are not as hard as they might appear to accomplish. There are a lot of similarities with sewing lingerie and bras to sewing swimwear. Both are very close fitting with little or no ease and have small seam allowances.

Choosing Fabric and Lining

When choosing your fashion fabric, choose exquisite fabrics! The most resilient and brilliant colored spandex fabrics have an 80% nylon / 20% spandex blend. That is not to say that some polyester blends do not work, but they usually will not have the same resiliency and it will affect longevity. When looking at prints, try to look for fabrics that use the wet print method of dying the fabric as opposed to heat sublimation. When fabrics are heat sublimated, the colors fade as the garment is stretched. Try it out when you get a spandex fabric next time. Grab 5 inches and stretch it. Look at the print colors. Do they fade with stretching? If so, that will happen as the garment is worn.

Weight of fabric is also a consideration. Anything less than 5oz. per sq. yd. is too thin and will not last or have the structure needed for a suit to last. Anything higher than 7oz. per sq. yd. might be too heavy when wet so look carefully before choosing. Study your fabric, look at the direction of the print and how that will translate when laying down your pattern. At best, aim to achieve the greatest amount of stretch going around the body; while making sure it works with the print design. You do not want to have sideways designs on the print going in the vertical of the suit.

Lining

You can line the front and/or the back of the swimsuit. The lining plays an important role in a well-made garment as it allows the garment to slide onto the wearer and also protects the fashion fabric from perspiration. It also protects the textile of the fashion fabric from the wear and tear of friction. Lining fabric does have a right and wrong side so study it closely to determine top from bottom. Use a lining that has the same or very close to the stretch coefficient of the fashion fabric. I often use bold colors in the lining as well, because the garment should look as beautiful on the inside as the outside—a ‘tell’ of a high-quality garment! If you happen to be using light colored fashion fabrics such as yellows or whites, then it is best to use a color of lining that closely resembles your skin tone. It may appear that this will show through, but rest assured, it won’t.

Cut the lining as you did the fashion fabric, so that the greatest amount of stretch goes around the body. Use a 4 way stretch fabric so the tension lines can be created in when the garment is worn. This, of course, presupposes that you have put thought into creating these tension lines in your planning of the design details of the suit itself. I have found after many years of doing swimwear that the pattern on the lining is 1/16^th smaller than the original garment pattern. You can trim the seam allowances of the lining after you cut it out or make an additional lining pattern with these specifications. This is often done on collars in blazers to account for turn of the cloth and a better overall fit of the garment.

Strap Placement

Strap placement and size is a consideration for a functional suit. Straps that are place too far away from the neckline will constantly fall off unless you add a back horizontal support strap. The properties of spandex do help immensely with this, but you must know how to use it to its full advantage. Spandex will support with creating tension lines vertically and horizontally, but the strap must have horizontal tension created by strap width, and vertical tension created by the strap placement with respect the shoulder point and neckline. Find just the right spot so the strap stays put, combined with the best width, allowing the spandex do its work, then add elastic for added security and structure. A comfortable armhole that gives you the coverage you need will help you decide the best strap placement.

Construction of the Garment

It is best practice—but not required—to use an overlock machine to do the bulk of the construction. You can use a lockstitch, coverstitch, or zigzag stitch to do the finish work. I use a combination of these, depending on the suit. You can line both the front and the back, or just the front as previously mentioned.

Sewing the crotch: I never line only the crotch area for all the reasons discussed above about what the function of the lining plays in the overall integrity of the garment. If using both a front and back lining, stack your garments in the following order in preparation to sew the crotch:

Wrong side up of front fashion fabric—to right side up of back of fashion fabric—to wrong side up of back of lining—to right side up of front lining.

In essence, you have stacked the fashion fabric front and back, right sides together, and the front and back lining right sides together underneath. When you have completed sewing the crotch seam, the right side of the front lining should lie against the wrong side of the front fashion fabric, and same for back. The beauty of this is that the crotch seam is encased so the overlocked seam does not lie against the body. Ideally, you can do this for the side seams and shoulder seams too as well. My sewing order is crotch seam sewn, shoulder seams, then side seams. I do this in a chain fashion to save time, then clip the connected trail treads.

Applying the Elastic

Apply elastic to the wrong side of the swimsuit, on the lining side, with an overlock machine or zigzag stitch on your conventional machine. The stitch lengths and widths depend on size of elastic. Use a larger zigzag stitch on larger width elastics; however, a 2.5 width and 2-3 length is a good starting point. Although some use a three-step zigzag, I have found after years of experience that less-is-best when it comes to thread in the elastic as it will allow the elastic to keep its recoil and resiliency. Although I do use the three-step zigzag on lingerie

Type of Elastic

The best type of elastic for swimsuits is cotton braided elastic. It comes in a variety of lengths and has a beige or crème color to it. Knit elastic does not have the resiliency in the high-tension areas, and nylon braided is too thick. You can use latex elastic but if you so, use the no stretch techniques and make sure your patterns are commensurate with that.

Length of Elastic

Learning what NOT to do: Ready to wear now uses a smooth look to elastic. This means the elastic length is almost the same length as the opening. In order to do this, your pattern has negative ease, meaning smaller than the body size so that the garment stretches when on the body. This allows the garment to look smooth on the rack for retail, but is a lesson in what not to do on your custom garment.

Years ago, the elastic was stretched to fit the garment hole and I still use this technique today in certain areas of the suit to get the best secure fit, especially if the suit is used for exercise or competition. In a deep curve area, you stretch the elastic and it can be up to .9 % stretch factor. Measure the area to be elasticized and multiply by 0.9 — this will give you the elastic length. You can match one to one on straight lines, then stretch over curves. A perfect example of this is the armhole area. The strap has straight lines so keep the elastic one-to-one there but pull it to fit the length when going around the underarm. Don’t stretch the fabric, only the elastic. It is not hard and a technique you will acquire by practice and tenacity.

An alternative is to get machine feet or tension mechanisms to do the work for you. Personally, I find that you need various stretch techniques within one garment… and who has time to keep changing feet or attachments! If you use the stretching elastic technique, you will see the results in the garment when it’s off the body; however, remember that a swimsuit is worn on the body which is where it needs to fit well, be functional, and look good so don’t worry about the gathering effect that stretching elastic causes. Paying careful attention to this in the leg opening means a successful swimsuit. Stretch the elastic to fit over the backside of the swimsuit with less stretch in the front of the leg line. This helps the back “cup” over the derriere.

Practice with your elastic:

Anchor a 5” piece of elastic to a table via tape or pin it to a garment, with a tape measure underneath.
5″ x .05 (5 percent stretch) =.25, so 5″+ .25 = 5.25.” Practice stretching the elastic from 5” to just under 5.25.“ Then practice stretching 5” to 9.5,” which is a 90% stretch, etc.
You can calculate for any stretch coefficient you want. Oftentimes, lingerie will use a 3% strech, which is a very little bit but a good technique to practice when using very little stretch.

Neckline Elastic

Neckline elastic application for both front and back will use a combination of stretching elastic to little (3%) or no stretching, depending on the style lines.

I will often time write my cutter’s “must” measurements for each swimsuit on the patterns:

Neckline opening, cut elastic _______
Armhole opening, cut elastic _______
Leg line opening, cut elastic ________

The Order of Things

The order for applying elastic to your swimsuit can be varied. I usually do neckline, armholes, and leg openings. Sometimes there is a back opening as in a keyhole back. When overlocking the elastic to the opening, it is placed on the wrong side of the garment, with the elastic side up, and the right side of the garment against the feed dogs.

You can also bind elastic edges to have a contrast look to your suit. When doing that, cut off the width of elastic for the area; for example, if using ¼” elastic, trim off ¼” from that opening. Then remeasure the area, cut a strip of binding the length of the opening (or you can use the stretch coefficient plus ½’ seam allowance). Sew the binding strip in the round technique and then pin to the opening right sides together. Cut the elastic at 90% stretch length, plus ½” overlap, and pin to the opening. You will have to stretch the elastic in the appropriate areas as you are sewing both the elastic and binding to the opening and trim off the excess after topstitching (see below.)

Topstitching to the Finish

Next on the list is topstitching. Turn the elastic to the wrong side when topstitching with either a zigzag or coverstitch machine. The right side of the fabric should face up and the elastic side should face the feed dogs. You could also stitch with the right side against the feed dogs and the wrong side up if using a zigzag stitch. If using a zigzag, zig on the elastic, then zag just at the edge or just off the edge, using the edge of the pressor foot as your guide depending on the width of elastic used. If using a coverstitch machine, keep the needles close to the outside edge of elastic so it will hold it down. Whichever way you decide to orient the fabric with respect to the feed dogs, use your left (or non-dominant) hand to hold the fabric in a perpendicular line to the line of the stitching. This will help keep tension on the spandex fabric so it is held snug to the elastic and you will not get any rippling. You may need to pull on the elastic as you go around the curves just like you did when inserting the elastic. Topstitch all the elasticized edges in any order you want. I typically do the neckline, then armholes and, finally, the legs.

If you need to do tacking of thin straps, then use a bar tack or a small-width, short-length zigzag stitch.

If you have decided to bind the elastic edges, you would need to trim off the area to be elasticized an amount equal to the width of the elastic on the garment itself. Remember you will not be turning under the elastic but rather turning the binding over the elastic and topstitching it from there. You can use a variety of methods to topstitch; zigzag, coverstitch, etc. Use your hands to pull the binding snugly over the elastic and around the wrong side of the garment by holding the edge of the binding with your non-dominant hand, and manage the topstitched area with our dominant hand. For example, I am right-handed, so I use my left hand to hold taught and slightly pull it perpendicular to the line of stitching while my right hand guides the garment. Sometimes your left hand (or non-dominant hand) will be underneath a part of the garment which is ok – you will get used to doing it with practice. Be especially careful around curves to keep the binding tight around the garment and the area being bound for a nice, smooth, topstitched finish.

Ironing It All Out

I iron my spandex when all is complete using a piece of silk or polyester organza over the garment which allows me to see the garment area to be pressed. Use steam over the elastic and allow it to recoil to its original (or mostly original) length. Finally, I always tell my customers, that to preserve the longevity of their garment, they should wash it in cold water, with clear, gentle detergent. Rinse it well, and hang the garment dry out of direct sunlight to preserve the elastic fibers.

Like any other type of garment, it will take practice to get acclimated to working with stretch garments but just think of all the suits you can make while trying. Not wearing swimsuits anymore? I am sure there are plenty of willing subjects who would be delighted to reap the benefits of your swimwear sewing musings! Long-lived and long-loved swimsuits is the end result.

~Kim Larcom, ASG Member (Boston Chapter), known as The Bridgewater Seamstress, is the Entrepreneur for Astrosportswear Activewear. She graduated from the Master Seamstress certificate program at the University of Rhode Island and owns her own custom activewear business.