“Research“

Tbh, I looked up so many swimsuits but I ended up adjusting the pattern and changing some details of a swimsuit I already had because the fit was good.

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Flatlays / Printmaking

In this version I’ve already made the prints but you should actually start off with the plain tech sketch then the actual patterns and grading. Then scale the patterns digitally before you make the prints. Esp if the prints you’re making are figures/art like Sandra Dee. If you don’t, if you start off with the prints you’ll end up rescaling your work and possible deforming it.

Luckily for me, this is a swimsuit so the patterns are fairly simple– it’s stretch which is a pain but sublimation-wise it’s good.

I also suggest separating them into elements so that when you scale-to-print you can rearrange to what looks best. And in case you need to edit it’s easy. See this:

I miscalculated how long the crotch is so thank heavens for layers because otherwise it would be pain to add on the rest of her torso. By the way, this sketch is the fashion sketch figure: 9-head, so laying it out here is more for reference for the manufacturer and my prof.

Scaling the Prints for Sublimation

As you can see, unfortunately, I still didn’t add enough of her torso to cover the swimsuit but c’est la vie, there’s allowance anyway and it’s not like that area is obvious.

Another mistake and why you should scale first before making the print: Sandra’s hair got cut off :((

Also I forgot to add the necklines for these two oml

Another note: you can choose to keep those lines for when the suit is printed as a guide for the sewer but I wouldn’t– the lines are thicker irl, there’s no guarantee you scaled it properly so if it’s smaller than the actual pattern you’re dead, fabric sometimes shrinks during printing, and it’s just not necessary. Make sure you provide a guide lang.

Final Product

Yay!

IMPORTANT NOTE: sublimation can fade and in the case of swimsuits it probably will. Mine still looked great but the color did fade a little bit because it’s stretch and I think we got the wrong fiber content.

Have fun!