McCalls 2772 Archives - Handmade by Carolyn

bathers

17/10/2025 8:03 pm \ 5 Comments \ Carolyn

Hello! I made a new pair of bathers for myself… and I’m chuckling to myself that I’ve gone kinda Bay Watch this year. Is Bay Watch even a part of the collective consciousness any more? hmmm I could be aging myself a bit with that reference?!

it’s only a year since I made my last pair of bathers but the fabric didn’t last as long as I was hoping. Oh well. I swim every day nowadays so maybe it’s not so surprising that they’ve worn out. And I have to admit that I don’t think this fabric is going to last l0nger than a year either. It already has that very stretchy quality that doesn’t bode well for future stability.

I used my old favourite “vintage” pattern – oh and it hurts to use that word since I bought it when it was new! of course McCalls 2772, that I’ve been using practically every time I make bathers. I just really like the style of this pattern, and when you’re happy with a thing then it’s ok to stick with it. The stretchy red polyester is from Fabulous Fabrics.

As usual, I made a skirt that I’ve stitched to the underneath of the bikini top to make a tankini version of the pattern. The whole back “skirt” is cut in one piece just using the upper curve of the bikini back as a guide and with the regular length of elastic attached to the top of it.

The first beach swim in the new bathers! and here’s to many more. When I was browsing fabrics I really wanted to find a cool print like palm leaves, or beach balls, or something with a mix of beautiful colours, or pretty florals, or wide stripes or something nautical. I found nothing at all that I liked in the print selection, this plain red was the only thing I even vaguely liked in the end. It’s ok, because I do love red, and it feels both cheerful and timelessly fashionable.

Posted in: sewing, Uncategorized \ Tagged: bathers, Clara, McCalls 2772

polka dot bathers

24/11/2024 6:02 pm \ 6 Comments \ Carolyn

Hello! I made some new bathers recently…

I’m afraid this is rather boring and predictable but I used the same old pattern I’ve been using for a long long time now and which is sadly no longer available… McCalls 2772, adapting the bikini top to have a “skirt” – or maybe “lower bodice” might be a better word – attached to the bottom edge. I leave the elastic off and the back piece is cut in one with the “skirt” back and no closure.

It’s been a few years since I made new bathers… I think 2021? just checked; early 2022 actually. I would usually make a new pair every year since that’s about how long they’re good for, but the pomegranate fabric was surprisingly robust and those bathers were amazing for a good coupla years. I do admit though that by the end of last year they were definitely past it, but I held off on a new pair until this summer.

This cute, random ivory polka dot on a hot orange background, swimwear-specific fabric is also still from Le Stash, surprisingly! I’ve had it a long long time, like probably six or seven years or more. I bought it from the Fabric Store during a previous trip to Melbourne.

Hurrah for new bathers! I wore them during a recent trip away, for which I am currently preparing a “travel wardrobe post”. That post was just awaiting this post, actually. Now I have no excuse to not just get on with it… to appear here very soon. 🙂

fun quiz; can you guess this location??

Posted in: sewing \ Tagged: bathers, McCalls 2772

pomegranate

07/01/2022 2:08 pm \ 4 Comments \ Carolyn

hello! first thing made for 2022, hot off the machine!

I desperately needed new bathers; I’d been keeping all my old bathers for years … “just in case” … and at the beginning of summer finally chucked all of them out, bar the least terrible pair. Just recently I had to admit I hated those too, so out they went! So I had to quickly run up some new ones! This is the first new pair I’ve had in about three years, and MAN, it feels so good to slip into a sleek new pair with no loose elastic or baggy stretched out bits.

I used an old favourite pattern I’ve had for many years, McCalls 2772, and made my usual bikini with the bikini top modified to be a tankini. I’ve made this particular design quite a lot because I really love this silhouette and style; I love the vintage-y vibe and think it’s a nice style for my particular figure.

I bought this pomegranate fabric in New York City, during my holiday there with Yoshimi at the end of 2019… and yes, oh boy was the timing of that trip extremely lucky or what! I often pinch myself with how very fortunate we were to have got it in at the time we did! I’m not 100% sure it’s strictly swimwear fabric, from memory it might have been dance lycra or something … but it feels good, quite thick and firm, and I think it will work really well as bathers, for a while at least. It’s not like I swim in chlorinated pools very often so I think it should be ok 🙂

I had the elastic and black thread already too, so I bought absolutely nothing new for this project… also I made a making-of video for my YouTube channel.. One of the things I might try to do this year is a video for every project I do? Question mark because it may prove too much but I’m going to give it a go! My youtube channel is here: https://www.youtube.com/user/HandmadebyCarolyn

I’ve also been thinking I’m going to do this stash-busting challenge/pledge that’s been circulating around on IG for a while, which is to commit to using 30m of stash fabric before allowing yourself to buy anything new. I think I could be able to do this! since maybe I have 30m of fabric still? Just maybe! And I could definitely do with a push to not buy any new fabric for a little while! What I would really like to do is to get my stash right right down to a very small pile with only a few pieces, and then only buy when I need to, if I have a project for which none of the aforementioned stash is going to work, say.

Anyway, this project used 1m of fabric, haha. 1 down, 29 to go!

Posted in: sewing \ Tagged: bathers, McCalls 2772

scribble-y sundress

06/12/2019 1:07 pm \ 9 Comments \ Carolyn

I’ve made a new dress, and how gorgeous is this splashy, scribbly, fireworks-y print! And the way this divine rayon challis ripples breezily against my legs was actually quite quite delicious… it was extremely hot when I took these pictures, like 39C, so soft whisper-y cool, featherlight stuff felt like exactly the right thing to wear.

While we were in San Francisco, Shams took us to Britex. According to basically everyone who knows; Britex is a “must-visit” for the fabric enthusiast… like, every single, San Francisco shopping recommendation to me included in some form or another ” …and Britex, of course”

And I most heartily concur. This place is insanely fabulous and I could’ve happily spent all day there.. The walls are stacked floor to ceiling with, well it felt like thousands of bolts of strong solid colours, arranged by colour to make a rainbow mural of fabric itself. What a sight to behold! I was crossing the rainbow bridge! Is this heaven?!!!

I die…

can you even…?? #sigh And this was only ONE floor, there was another one too!

Shams introduced us to the lovely owner, Sharman Spector; who was so kind and welcoming to us foreigners. I learned that Britex is a Legacy Business, which means it is one of a “longstanding community-serving business that is recognised as valuable cultural asset to San Francisco by the Office of Small Business. Preserving Legacy Businesses is critical to maintaining what makes San Francisco a unique and special place.” … and thank you, Professor Google for that succinct explanation…

Obviously, this is a wonderful idea, one that I wish we would adopt over here. Imagine a world populated by lots of small businesses offering unique and special services?! This, and many other utopian customs are just part of the enormous appeal of San Francisco, and I should add, New York City too. I think they are very innovative and future-thinking over there, while still keeping firmly in mind what is important to the happiness of human beings.

Anyway… my dress!

Sharman kindly gave me a length of this lovely “scribbled flowers” rayon challis; it’s delightfully whisper thin and feels coolly divine against the skin. So I envisioned a floaty, nothing-y little wisp of a dress. The print is quite oversized, so I could’ve got away with a longer dress, I think, but I’m very happy with this length; I think it’s both cute and chic, and the higher neckline balances nicely with the higher hemline.

Pattern; is my own design. It’s very simple because I really wanted this lovely eye-catching print to shine… so I’d made a similar dress for my friend L at the beginning of the year, a clone of a favourite dress of hers, and I couldn’t get the design out of my head. Mine has a few key differences which I wanted to implement; namely it’s quite a lot more A-line… MORE float!! … and has pockets. I altered the width of the top bits too, and the armscye. Actually, the armscye turned out to be a bit of a boo-boo… once it was hemmed it was just a leeetle bit low-cut.

You could definitely see bra-action… and I decided that if the bra was going to be seen, at least it could be a bra designed to be seen, and that went beautifully with the dress, complementing it. I toyed briefly with the idea of a hot pink thing, – sawww tempting!! – but in the end decided the perfect bra to match this was in fact a plain black, strapless bra. Strapless, well obviously, and plain black in order to not fight with the amaaaaaazing print, and to offset the black fabric I used for the tie.

For the bra; I used my old faithful McCalls 2772 swimsuit pattern pieces for a strapless bandeau bra; the only mods I made were to make boning channels using the side seam allowances, and inserting a short strip of boning. This keeps the bra structured and upright and not fold in on itself while I’m wearing it.

I also gathered the centre front onto a 7cm length of black elastic, just because I think it looks nice! and I also shortened the back straps by several inches, to make it nice and tight. Strapless bras have a tendency to migrate south, if they are not quite tight! I like my underwear to be in sets, so I also whipped up a matching pair of undies, using the bikini bottom pieces from the same pattern.

Oh, the dress neck-tie, I cut from a black satin remnant, leftovers I think from this black Forsythe dress I made for Cassie, three years ago.

The front and back of the dress are actually different from each other, even if they LOOK identical! so in order to identify the back I used this little Kylie and the Machine label I got in the Perth Frocktails goodie bag. It’s pretty cute, isn’t it? even if I kinda had a fleeting wish it was one of the “the is the back” labels; well I can swap that out if I ever buy a set.

But for now; it’s finished, and ready to keep me chic-ly cool in this extreme heatwave!

Details:

Dress; my own design, in this beautiful printed rayon challis from Britex
Bra and knickers; McCalls 2772, black poly
Shoes; Zomp, from Zomp boutique

Posted in: sewing, Uncategorized \ Tagged: daily outfit, dress, lingerie, McCalls 2772, own design

Liberty bathers

28/12/2017 12:29 pm \ 14 Comments \ Carolyn

I made these bathers and took these photos over a month ago… hehe I just checked; 19th November! What with the pre-Christmas social whirl and pressie-making craziness, I completely forgot about putting them up here, although I’ve been wearing them almost every day and actually happen to adore them too. Oops!

I bought this gorgeous Liberty swimwear fabric from the Fabric Store, it’s the Liberty of London Argyll Swim in Mistral B… fell in love with this pretty print just about immediately; and those lovely bubblegum colours! I’m having such a pink moment! I planned at first to sew up my regular tankini adaption of McCalls 2772, and even cut out the pieces for the tankini. But then hesitated, had a sudden attack of the oh here we go agains… see; I always make the tankini version of this pattern and never the bikini. Plodding about mindlessly in the ol’ comfort zone as usual… and I really enjoyed wearing my black Sophie bikini last year. Why not be daring and make the bikini?!! Old-me would have worried about such nonsense as age-appropriateness, but now-me is getting over that now. I also asked my resident swimwear experts (Cassie and Craig) who both voted for bikini. Alrighty then! So I just dived right in … dove?

Not much else to say! only that I really really love this style of slightly blowsy halter neck top; I think it’s quite flattering to my figure, and I like the nice full-bottom coverage of the bottoms too. One of the reasons I started making my own swimwear in the first place, even before I swore off buying rtw, was because of the at-the-time fashion for extremely skimpy bottoms. Oh, and also because you weren’t allowed to buy a different sized bikini top and bottom, in spite of the fact that they’re priced as separate items. Ha! I still have vague memories of the actual day I called a halt to the sheer awfulness of swimwear-shopping… three very small children in tow, one in the pram… back and forth, in and out of the changing room… and those lights!! the refusal of the sales girls to comprehend that one wanted a size 12 bottom and a size 10 top… “No, I’m afraid you’ll have to buy two pairs of bathers if you want that!” It was so frustrating! I just went straight to the fabric store for a pattern. Never again!!

Details:

Bathers; McCalls 2772 bought probably about 22yrs ago now, in Liberty swimsuit fabric
Hat; Country Road, also bought probably 22 yrs ago now! it’s been a goodie. I like it because I can hide my face like a movie star and thus be kinda anonymous while wearing my bathers on the internet, hehe 🙂

SaveSave

Posted in: sewing \ Tagged: bathers, McCalls 2772

brick bathers

11/11/2015 5:18 am \ 35 Comments \ Carolyn

It’s a yearly ritual; summer approaching, new bathers.

I’m very hard on my bathers. I hardly ever wash the salt water or chlorine out; they get scrumpled up in a wet, sandy, salty towel, left in the boot of the car, dried out under the full blast of the harsh Australian sun. I occasionally toss them in the washing machine but for the most part they are expected to do solid hard duty with the bare minimum of care. Some fabrics perform better under these conditions than others, but I don’t stress about it for even one second if they don’t. I just plan for a new pair per year, no worries; and don’t give it a thought besides some pleasant day-dreaming about what colour/print I should have next time.

This year, that decision was taken out of my hands by my very practical daughter, who announced she wanted to give me fabric for my bathers for my birthday. So sweet! Well, apart from the fact that she then had absolute control over the colour I would be wearing! Aaaagh! giving over control of my wardrobe, so difficult for control-freak-me! But, one sometimes has to bow down and accept the dictums of another. And I think it’s good for me, helps me for a short while to relax my iron-clad expectations for myself and frequently surprises and delights me.

So, Cassie and I went shopping for the fabric in Fabulous Fabrics together; and I hopefully pointed out a nice navy blue and white striped fabric. Aah, navy blue! you sure have me in your clutches at the mo! I briefly entertained a vision of myself in some Fwanch-inspired, nautically navy/white striped number with a chic wide-brimmed hat set at an elegant angle, paddling about in the shallows in a ladylike manner.

But no! I had not reckoned with the even more iron-clad will of my daughter; who firmly told me that navy/white stripes were so boring and that I would just look the same as everyone else.
POP *bubble bursting*

I was told I would be wearing this nice shade of brick instead.
You know, we have this saying in Australia about being built like a brick, er, house… * Haha! I jest; obviously this deep coral/terracotta colour is very much moi, a tonne nicer for my colouring than navy and white, I admit it; and I think it also looks rather striking set against the sea-and-sky blues and sandy whites of summer. It’s a bit Uluru actually, a very Australian colour.
Cassie chose well, very well indeed 🙂

Pattern is ye old fave; McCalls 2772; a halter neck bikini which I have modified to be a tankini, and with the matching bikini bottoms. I was thinking; one day I should write for myself a little tute on how to do this. Each time I do it I kind of have to think back through first principles. Good for my brain, yes, but what if I stuff it up one year?

Details:
Bathers; McCalls 2772, bikini pattern modified to be a tankini
Hat; Country Road (from many years ago)
Location; Leighton Dog Beach

*just to explain; my Mum reads my blog sometimes, and I would get ticked off if I finished that there saying… yes, even at my age!

Posted in: Uncategorized \ Tagged: bathers, McCalls 2772, Sienna

Lace-y bralette + undies

10/09/2015 1:59 am \ 28 Comments \ Carolyn

I’ve made a new lingerie set and I think it turned out quite noice.
This little soft bralette design has been bouncing around in my mental wish-to-make-list for yonks. It’s more of a pull over the head, lacy camisole than a bra really; and is a near-copy of a Lovable bralette I used to wear donkey’s years ago. I’ve even kept the original one tucked away in a drawer, just to try to reproduce it one day. That day has come, weeeee! I’m very happy with my copy, even though the lace I used is a bit too wide. It’s such extraordinarily pretty lace though, so that’s an ok compromise in my book.
The reason I wanted to make another one for myself is that the original one really was such a nice thing to wear under big loose tops or something a little sheer. The lace shoulder straps look really pretty if they happen to peep out and don’t really look too much like a “bra”.
Also I wear a lot of white/ivory in summer, so white/beige underthings are always very handy.

It’s super comfortable, and although it doesn’t look particularly supportive, it actually is. Pictured above on poor long-suffering Bessie, that joining seam appears to cut right across her bust in a most uncomfortable way; however Bessie is actually bigger than me. On me the shoulder strap lace comes down and around and sits perfectly moulded underneath my bust and so it’s actually does give a surprisingly good amount of support. I’m fairly fortunate I guess in that I don’t need much, hehehe… well, hey; there’s got to be some advantages!!

I made the usual two pairs of matching undies to wear with it; at bottom is my old favourite McCalls 2772; above it is the cloth habit Watson knickers, which I also like a lot. They’re very similar designs, I like wearing both. The Watson sits lower on the hip and is thus a touch broader in the beam; the McCalls sits at high hip and is is actually cut a bit slimmer. I added some lace scraps to the fronts for decoration and bravely snipped away the poly-knit from behind; something I haven’t done before.

Fabric notes: Clotted cream poly-knit and gold satin ribbon from Spotlight; my hand hovered over the ivory ribbon but on the spur of the moment I honed in on gold! I love how it gleams quietly and luxuriously against cream and ivory.
Ivory stretch lace and lingerie elastic from Fabulous Fabrics. This lace is 8cm wide, and yes; it works fine and is super pretty. I mean, no way was I going to walk away and leave that in the store!!! However my original bralette had considerably narrower lace, 5cm. I still need to keep my eye out for some 5cm lace so I can someday have another go at that perfect reproduction. I think the ideal combination would be 5cm wide lace for the straps and 8cm lace for the cups. But it’s hard enough finding lovely stretch lace even in plain black and/or white/ivory here, let alone specific widths, and in matching colours! The search continues… 🙂

bralette; copied from an old Lovable design

Posted in: Uncategorized \ Tagged: cloth habit, lingerie, McCalls 2772, own design, watson

Orange is the new Black

27/05/2015 3:06 am \ 24 Comments \ Carolyn

We don’t even get that show on TV here, but I’ve heard the name bandied about and thought it remarkably apt for my newest creations!
Now, is everyone else joining in the latest pretty underthingies making-fest?
Haha, sorry, of course it really goes by a far more lovely and grammatical name; “Everyone Deserves Pretty Knickers”, and is the brainchild of Susan of Measure Twice Cut Once. It’s on its second year and I sadly missed last year. Well, partly because I didn’t know about it then. Which is a bit sad because I love making underthings! it’s fun! and also I’m an any-excuse kind of a seamster, as y’know. Anyway, as soon as I read Susan’s IG post I signed up. Couldn’t resist!
The sweet nothings extravaganza starts 31st May running until 6th June. So, I’m sorry to jump the gun, but I have a few things coming up on my plate at that time and if I was going to join in and make something I knew I had to get onto it right away 🙂
My new set is a re-cycling of an old thing… some tights!

I think I used the pair on the left.. no, the right.. no, the left…. no, wait, maybe the right…

A few years ago I made two pairs of deep orange tights, and wore one pair a bunch until it sprouted holes in the toes. I even gave them a 6 different ways post, that’s how useful they proved to be in my wardrobe. Anyhow, one pair were finally on their last legs (haha) and I considered cutting the feet off to make leggings from them, stretch a bit more wear out of them. But the second pair was still hole-free and going strong, and instead I thought I could re-cycle the fabric from the worn-out pair into something different instead. I managed to cut out the pieces for a new lingerie set, avoiding the areas of highest wear from the tights which were the knees and soles of the feet.
Paprika poly stretch originally from Spotlight, black stretch lace from Fabulous Fabrics. Sliders, rings, hook/eye tape, black ribbon for bows, shoulder strap elastic and knicker lingerie elastic from Spotlight, bra foam and other remanding bra findings from MakeBra. Some of the findings were recycled themselves from older bras that have bitten the dust too.

Patterns; I used MakeBra 2610, a balconette style bra pattern and my old McCalls 2772 bikini pattern for the two pairs of matching knickers. I know right?, same old patterns, like a broken record, story of my ~~life~~ underwear drawer. Well, when a thing works, etc etc…

black lace, and I made black ribbon bows

Sometimes I used red topstitching thread, sometimes black

Shown here on Cassie’s dummy Clarissa. Confession time; my bras, while they fit me, are an awfully tight squeeze on my own dummy Bessie. Whenever I’ve used her to model bras in the past I’ve had to stretch the bejeezus out of them, or pin them open at the back. She is a wee bit, ahem, broader in the chest than I!