With summer coming, I wanted to talk to you about swimsuits and swimsuits mean stretchy materials and lycra... A very specific material that can be intimidating. 

So, let's see together how to tame this material!

What is lycra

Lycra fabric belongs to the family of knit fabrics like jersey. It has the particularity of being very stretchy to fit closely to the body. It follows movements which is why it is most often used for swimwear but also leotards, dance bodysuits, yoga pants, leggings... originally lycra was designed to meet the needs of sportswear. 

Lycra is most often made of synthetic materials (polyester, nylon, polyamide...) and always contains a certain percentage of elastane (spandex); this is the material that allows its stretchability. 

For example, the Lise Tailor lycra selected in the shop is composed of 78% recycled polyester and 22% elastane. 

Note that the word lycra is a brand name that categorizes a fabric made from elastane fibers. 

Characteristics of lycra

Prepare your sewing kit

Before you start, make sure you have a pattern designed for stretch fabrics. Indeed, patterns designed for stretch fabrics are smaller than patterns for woven fabrics (due to the stretch of stretch fabrics); so these are patterns reserved for stretch fabrics. This should be clearly mentioned on your pattern. 

Before sewing, wash your fabric and iron it by choosing the iron temperature suitable for synthetics. Do not exceed these temperatures or you risk burning your beautiful lycra. 

Once your fabric is ready, identify the direction of the stretch (some lycra is bi-stretch) and make sure you position your pieces in the direction of the stretch; according to the instructions of your pattern.

 Cut your pattern pieces from the lycra

Preferably use fine pins, even extra-fine ones, to pin your pattern. It is also possible to use a erasable marker or Japanese chalk to mark the outlines of your pieces on the fabric. 

To cut, you can use a rotary cutter for more precision. Scissors also work well if you are careful. You must not lift the fabric during cutting to prevent it from moving. For this, always keep the lower blade of the scissors against the cutting table, this will allow you to be more stable when cutting. 

Sewing lycra

Lycra is preferably sewn with a serger but this is not essential. If your sewing machine has stretch / zigzag stitches you can very well manage without a serger to sew your swimsuit or leggings. Indeed, we will use the same stitches as for sewing jersey.

However, you will need to equip it with a special needle called "stretch" or "special stretch".
These needles have a slightly rounded tip which allows the needle to slide between the stitches of the lycra. This has the advantage of not breaking the stitch and its precious elastane fibers but also of obtaining a regular seam. The twin needle also gives excellent results for hems, do not hesitate to get one. 

For the thread choose a quality thread. You can use a polyester thread. If you wish, you can also use a foam thread as bobbin thread but this is not essential. 

To sew lycra, it is necessary to properly adjust the tension of your machine or serger. To do this, don't hesitate to do tests on scraps of your fabric. The sewing must be beautiful, without stretching and without "buckling". Do not pull on your fabric while sewing but guide it. 

Other tips and tricks for sewing:

• set your machine speed to minimum to gain precision
• adjust the machine differential (do some tests)

And there you go, all that's left is to choose your swimsuit pattern and get started! Would you like a review of swimsuit patterns? Let me know in the comments.