Anime pattern #1092 - working with Spandex

The bodysuit part of these costumes is made with Lycra Spandex 4-way stretch. If you have never worked with this fabric before I am going to give you some tips that, I hope, will make your first Spandex outfit a success. AND, then you can make your own bathing suit someday, because, this is constructed like a swim suit.

These are my two favorite machine stitches when I sew Spandex.

I drew them out, so you could see better what they are. Most machines have the 3 step zig-zag. Newer machines have the lightening bolt stretch stitch. My older machines had a similar stitch that did the two forward and one back, but in a perfectly straight line (not slightly off set like the lighten bolt stitch), which is thick and inflexible because, when it takes the one stitch back, the machine needle stitches through the thread of the stitches behind. I don't like this stitch AT ALL. So, if your machine does not have the lighten bolt version, a tiny regular zig-zag is the next best choice.

The front panels and front and back panties are lined with 4-way stretch swim suit lining.  This is particularly important for white and light colored fabrics. The back panel is not lined because even though the lining fabric stretches as much as the outer fashion fabric, the two layers reduce the overall stretch, making it more difficult to pull the garment on and off. Which is made even more difficult because of the skirts sewn into the low waist seam.  

I sewed a facing of the outer fabric over the lining fabric. This makes the lining fabric that is under the facing act as interfacing to stabilize the edge and prevents the lining fabric from showing along the upper edge.

I used the 3 step zig-zag to sew the lower edge of the facing to the lining fabric.

This photo shows the front and back pantie section assembled with it's lining with the facing sewn in for the front and back crotch section which will have snaps and hooks.

The leg openings are finished by folding a single layer hem over stretched elastic. This is swim suit construction. I experimented with two different kinds of swimsuit elastic, the off white braided cotton kind and the transparent narrow sheet of rubber kind.  I thought the transparent kind would be better (meaning less bulky), but I ended up liking the cotton woven kind. It pulls in better after sewing over it made a smoother hem. Do not use regular elastic, it does not stretch enough and even more important, does not pull back tight after stretching.

Cut the amount of elastic indicated on the pattern. I think should be elastic guide patterns.
Then the elastic and the leg edge have to be stretched together to evenly distribute the elastic to the fabric. I used a sturdy push pin into my table to anchor the one end of the leg opening while stretching it.

I pinned the fabric all along the elastic while it was stretched. Then stitched it down with a 3 step zig-zag in the middle of the elastic while stretching it just enough to make the leg edge fabric lie smooth without folds. DO NOT OVER STRETCH ... YOU WILL BE SORRY!

This photo shows the clear elastic ready to stitch.

The upper back edge is hemmed the same way as the leg openings. This photo shows the backs for two different bodysuits with the elastic pinned and ready to sew. I am trying the two different elastics, as you can see. You can also see that the back panels are not lined.

Stretched elastic also needs to be stitched right on the seam allowance of the front neck edge. Because this neck edge has a curved dip in it, the seam allowance needs clipping, like any other curved seam allowance, even though it is getting elastic.

This photo shows the upper front edge seam allowance with elastic sewn on it. See the 3 step zig-zag on the elastic. The garment is inside out, so you can see the 3 step stitch used for the lower edge of the facing and just next to the elastic, see the lightening bolt stretch stitch I used when sewing the outer fabric to the lining with the facing sewn to it.

Every time when I sit down to write a blog about working on this or that pattern, I THEN find out the photos I should have taken ... grrrr.

I don't have a good photo of the finished hems, but you can see at the bottom of this photo one of the leg openings all finished.  I used a 3 step zig-zag to sew the slightly stretched elastic to the edge of the fabric and then folded the hem the width of the elastic and stitch it down with the same 3 step zig-zag.

Here are photos from another Spandex project where I used the 3 step zig-zag to sew the elastic down, but then the lighten bolt stitch for the final hem. Either way works, but ...

My last words on this subject are DO LOTS OF PRACTICE SEWING ON SCRAPS!!!
so see what stitches work best for you.