Back in October of 2022, I talked about finishing the blouse of a 1906 Beach Suit pattern I’d bought on Etsy in July of 2021. The pattern has four elements; a blouse, a belt, a skirt and a jacket. I have now managed to complete one of each element!
The original plan was to make the fun leafy blouse and make the rest of the suit in a dark fabric. However, after cutting out all the pieces from the black fabric, it turned out to be a wrong fabric choice. It was too stiff and there were sun marks all over is, so it looked faded in places. In the end, those pieces ended up in the bin because there was no point in continuing. I’d never be happy with the end result. So I pivoted, and found a red fabric in my stash.
It’s a strange, probably quite synthetic material that’s soft on the outside but almost crunchy (?) on the inside. I can’t really explain it. It’s not very thick, but there was enough of it to cut the other pieces of the suit. Based on a picture from April 2023, I had already cut the skirt, jacket and probably most of the belt some time after finishing the blouse.
The skirt was the piece I believe I finished next. I added pockets, because without pockets a skirt is not useful. They are quite large and can hold some stuff. I also wanted to make it somewhat adjustable. The aim was to make it wearable with or without a corset, so I added some extra thread loops to the back for closure. Since it was supposed to be worn with a belt, I figured that could be hidden effectively enough. I think this skirt was finished sometime in April 2023.
The belt however, took another half a year. I wanted it to be stable enough so there is something that I believe might be horsehair in it for stiffening. It’s also got a few bones and it’s almost entirely handsewn, because I kept messing up. As with the skirt, I wanted this to also be adjustable, so I added lacing. And then I decided to make my life a lot harder and added hooks and eyes to allow it to open without having to undo all the laces. My brain took so long to figure out how to get this to work, and it think it mostly does now. A message to a friend indicates that I finished it in September 2023.
That jacket has been hanging, mostly finished over one or the other mannequin in my living room since at least April 2023, if not longer. I had tried sewing the facing in but it puckered like no tomorrow, so I gave up. Earlier this week, I finally got the courage to try again. In two fell swoops with some help from an iron and simple perseverance, I finally finished all the seams and it’s now done!
So that means that all four parts of the beach suit have been completed! It only took 3.5 years… And with the change in fabric, the blouse and the suit don’t really go together anymore. It’s very Christmassy in colours, not in amount of winter warmth. That’s a problem for another day though. The skirt does need a petticoat for wear, because it’s too thin otherwise and doesn’t fall correctly. I think the belt solution works, even if it’s possibly not the prettiest thing you’ve ever seen. I like the big sleeves of the jacket and how it hits. Now it’s just waiting for decent weather and taking it out to the beach!
In any case, happy holidays if you celebrate!
