>A Sarong Bathing Suit, Circa 1960

>This week has been so hot here in Southern California.  It seems the summer is making up for the awkward rainy spell we had last week.  Of course, I have images of a million different dresses from all different decades dancing around in my head and telling me to make them, but I called a time out these last few days while I sewed up something that’s been in my to-sew pile over a few summers now.  I bought the fabric a while ago while visiting my best friend in Chicago over a Fourth of July when her Hancock’s fabric store was closing down.  At first I saw it and thought it was wretched, but then in an “ah ha!” moment I realized it would be PERFECT for something late 50s or early 60s, and preferably a sarong.  When this pattern, McCall’s 5455 from 1960, found it’s way into my stash a few years ago I knew it was a match made in sewing heaven.  Or, so it would seem…

When I saw this in my head I thought I would magically be transformed into she-who’s-waist-size-equals-her-head-measurement like in the illustration.  Nope! Despite the oh-so-Barbie-looking model, my swimsuit didn’t come with a spell that would make my bust-waist-hip ratio equal to those if the gal on the left.  I do *like* the suit, but it does look rather frump-tastic on me (the one above was the only pic my hubby snapped that didn’t make me look like a pin-headed rectangle).  I don’t have a very curvy figure (which may be the understatement of the year), so even though my heart thrills at 1950s and early 60s clothing, my figure does not.  I had to do quite a bit of tweaking to this suit to make it fit.  Let me just say, if your cup size is on the small side save yourself a headache and do a muslin to make sure it fits.  I know, I know, this should be common sense, but my laziness meant I did lots of little  “hmm, I can tuck it here and nip it there and it’s not *that* noticeable”.  Bwahaha.  But I like it and even if I don’t wear it to the pool or beach I’ll sure as heck wear it around the house when the weather here reaches the temperatures we get in late summer.