Swimsuit Sewing Patterns

Newspaper dresses win blue ribbon

THOMPSON - A 4-H member can take almost anything and turn it into a fair project.

For the past few years that has really held true for Winnebago County 4-H-er Hallie Erdahl, a member of the Logan Loganeers 4-H club.

Erdahl has been making unusual clothing creations for the past three years and showing her best of the collection at the Winnebago County Fair, which ends Sunday.

This year, Erdahl took dresses created from newspaper to the fair, earning a blue ribbon and consideration for the Iowa State Fair.

Each dress had its own style from a strapless, short formal, a sundress and a wide strapped dress with buttons and ribbon. She also created a matching clutch purse of newspaper and added a little color with flowers constructed from magazine pages.           

"Each of them is totally wearable and has buttons," the Lake Mills teen said. "Each of them has a different inspiration, a different design aspect and each was made differently."

At home, Erdahl experiments with different designs and types of clothing all year, she said. She has done a few sewing projects, but prefers to keep her creations a little more out of the ordinary.

"I've done some sewing, but didn't bring those projects to fair" she said. "These are just more special. It takes about four to five hours per dress to make them."

Erdahl has a mannequin in her bedroom which she uses to drape the paper or materials she is using and create a pattern and design for the clothing she wants to create.

Fabric is more expensive, so I started designing things from paper," she said.  

She has considered the possibility of making her own formal occasion dress from paper and has even made a long dress, but decided it was too fragile to bring to the fair.

Her collection at home is far more extensive, with at least 20 different articles of clothing she has created from paper.

Of all of the clothing she has made, Erdahl said the most unique is a paper swimsuit.

"I have probably 20 more things at home," she said.

"They're all mostly made of newspaper or catalogs. It's sort of a pastime for me. If I get bored I go work on something new."

Emilie Nelson is a reporter for the Forest City Summit and Britt News Tribune, Lee Enterprises newspapers.

DIY Your Swimsuit – Sewing Blog | BurdaStyle.com

Now onto the tips— The color, fabric and style of your swimwear is totally up to you, and have fun personalizing your swimming costumes. I know that Spandex can be tricky to sew with, so sometimes I’ll opt to use rayon or cotton jersey for variety. Below I’ve put together some mood boards to share my favorite three swimsuit patterns and inspiring ways to interpret them. Here are some of our top tips for sewing swimwear: : A stretch needle in your sewing machine to sew Nylon Spandex or similar materials is a must. Not to be confused with a ball point needle, which may not have quite enough of a scarf for stretch knits. A scarf is the indentation at back of needle. A long scarf helps eliminate skipped stitches by allowing bobbin hook to loop thread more easily. A shorter scarf requires a more perfectly timed machine.

The Complete Photo Guide to Sewing, 1200 Full-Color How-To Photos

Everything about sewing ... from Vogue patterns

Sew & Go Baby, A Collection of Practical Baby Gear Projects/With Pattern

Sew Any Fabric, A Quick Reference to Fabrics from A to Z

Everything about sewing swimwear from Vogue patterns