Don't you hate it when this happens?

Sunday 11 December 2011
The alternative title to this post, to use a good old Aussie phrase, is well that would be bloody right!

About a month or so ago I found myself driving to the airport to pick up the husband and was a bit too early due to some unheard of light traffic.  The Remnant Fabric Warehouse happens to be on my route to the airport, so I stopped in to have a look at what they had on offer.  They had such a great range of swimwear fabric for only $9.95/m that I had the crazy idea to make myself a maternity swimsuit.  Mind you I've never made a swimsuit because if there's one garment you want well cut and well made to make sure it's flattering and that it won't fall apart on you while you're wearing it, it would be a swimsuit! And of course I've not made a maternity swimsuit either, but I figure if I could avoid paying $150+ for a maternity swimsuit that I would only use for the next three months then it would be worth a try.

So I picked up this dark grey and watermelon pink fan print fabric which according to the selvage was made for Nookie Beach (a local label) by Publisher Textiles:


Pretty fabric, right? I also picked up some skin coloured lining, swimsuit elastic and some sew in bra cups, all for a good price since the prices at the Remnant Warehouse are generally pretty good.  Only I got an email from them last week informing me that they're having a 25% off everything sale! Since I haven't cut out the fabric yet, I could have just waited a little bit and saved 25% (or more likely bought 25% more fabric instead).  Don't you hate it when you have poor timing?

But it gets worse.... It turned out I didn't have a single swimsuit pattern among my collection of 600 plus patterns, and the itty bitty bikini patterns in the Burda magazine weren't exactly what I wanted.  So a few weeks ago I popped into Spotlight when they were having one of their very frequent 20% off everything sale and picked up Kwik Sew 3416 pattern:


There are hardly any swimsuit patterns available, but amazingly Kwik Sew had quite a few patterns to select from, but I thought this one would be the easiest to adapt for maternity given it has a seam under the bust line.  So with the 20% off and an extra 10% from my VIP membership I paid about $13 for this pattern (yes Kwik Sew patterns are very expensive in Australia).  And in another coincidence in poor timing last week they sent out their latest catalogue advertising 50% off all patterns, and helpfully enclosing a 15% off voucher to boot!

And then a few days ago I popped into an op shop and found not one, but two swimsuit patterns for the grand total of $1.... Sure they are 1980s style, but with a little modification they could be modernised: McCalls 9089 and McCalls 9566, both long out of print.














So after all of these grrrrrrr moments, I thought I had better get started on that swimsuit.  I'm happy to say that my test swimsuit made from some lycra I had in the stash has actually turned out quite well so I'm thinking I might just be able to do this successfully after all.  But the final annoying moment? Queen Bee maternity currently has a sale on maternity swimwear (with free postage in Australia), and I bought a tankini in solid blue for $54 marked down from  $128!!! Oh well, I'm sure I could use two swimsuits given I have a beach holiday coming up soon and just in case mine turns out ordinary.

18 comments:

  1. or you can save that lovely fabric and make yourself a regular bathing suit once you're back to your regular size so you'll be able to wear it much longer...

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  2. I'd like to see which suit you make.

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  3. :) I laughed a lot ;)
    Sales happens!!

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  4. sigh. Whenever I try to save a dollar, I end up spending ten.

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  5. ah the remnant warehouse...how I miss it.

    I have moved to Melbourne now and shop at, wait for it...Darn Cheap Fabrics. Great joke in the name but it's just not the same. Maybe you shop promise your self a post baby swimsuit, I'm thinking that high cut stripy number.

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  6. I had that "bloody well right" moment this morning. Last night I ordered mums annual on line calendar at Snapfish as it was the last day of 40% off. This morning there is an email saying now everything is 50% off and free shipping.......bloody hell!!

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  7. Yeah, that would be bloody well right huh? I had a good chuckle at your expense - but only because it always happens to me too! I'm looking forward to hearing about the end result as I just bought fabric for bathers also...

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  8. Too funny and bloody typical in my life too!

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  9. Typical! I do love that fabric though. In early 2010 I was going to make myself a maternity swimsuit using the Alison pattern on Burda style, I thought I'd add some length to the front piece and ruche it at the side seams to be bump accommodating... but then (after buying all the supplies) I saw a maternity costume on sale for $30 which seemed way less stress, so I still have all the material sitting there making me feel guilty (especially as the former bump is now a 14 month old toddler)... I really should get on with sewing a non-maternity costume with it.

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  10. I was going to make myself a swimsuit, got the fabric but chickend out and got a fantastic company in Queensland to whip one up to my specs. It worked out a treat. I like those op shop patterns you got - that was good timing that you were there when they were in the shop wasn't it!

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  11. ANNOYING!

    I would LOVE to make a swim suit but am too BLOODY scared I'd stuff it up!

    Through all your mishaps, I'm so jelly you got to stop off at Remnants Warehouse! OOOOO I miss it!

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  12. Yes, very annoying - major bummer. But you have some great fabric that might have all been sold out if you went back for the cheaper price ...

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  13. Ohhh. They got your good, girl! That would drive me bonkers. But, I'd be thrilled not to have to sew a suit too!

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  14. for both my pregnancies so far i just bought a normal tankini a few sizes larger than i would normally wear and because they're so stretchy they were absolutely fine to wear! i actually got a couple on sale at kmart for about $20 or so... i was very disappointed with the maternity ones i had looked at (both price and design) and was so happy to be able to find some that were wearable (my sisters gave me this advice when i first got pregnant)... i lived in the pool while pregnant... floating around made me feel so much better while carrying all that extra weight!

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  15. Wow. If I could sew, bathing suits would be the first thing I would attack. They don't require a lot of material and they are gorgeous if done right.

    Sophia
    http://lasophialasophia.blogspot.com

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  16. It reminds me of the time I tried to make leggings for my daughter - as my machine doesn't handle super stretchy fabrics well, I'd settled on a pattern for full leg trousers in a firm knit. I paid an eye-opening $18 for the pattern and cut up two of my still-good-to-wear shirts to make it. Then she refused to wear it!!
    (They actually turned out nicely too)

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  17. I agree with the others--save this fabric and make a swimsuit that you can wear for years after giving birth. :)

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  18. Oh well with the weather we are having there isn't a lot of swimming going on.

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