Getting Prepared

I've been sewing up a storm this last week making swimsuits for my 5 year old granddaughter and having a lot of fun designing each one so it would be a little different. Using a great KwikSew 3785 pattern for a racer-back suit, it was just like one I used to make her mom's swimsuits some 30 years ago. At the stage of getting 4 all sewn up I made a visit to my doctor to complain about a bout with a painful elbow, golfer's elbow to be exact. Fifteen years ago I used a piece of workout equipment improperly and got tennis elbow that took a year of rest with a brace, exercises, and cortisone shots before it went away. This time it was on the underside of my elbow and has been flaring up when I knit and carry anything heavy. It's not all knitting and not every sewing machine but it seems to be the right combination of events that brings it on. After a cortisone shot, I went home with a nifty brace:

It's just me and my brace: ain't she cute?

The brace keeps me from twisting my arm, one of the more painful movements, so it can actually rest. After only a few days of wearing it my arm does feel better but it has put a considerable crimp in my activities. Like sewing.

So Emma was only going to get 4 swimsuits, not six (she loves to wear them every day in the summer). But I just had to try one last suit so I cut it out, sewed up the seams on the serger, and finished up with the elastic on my Viking #1. Cutting, or using scissors of any kind, is difficult, but the sewing was fine until I had to stretch the elastic. All in all, they turned out cute:

Bottoms up!

The pattern called for a fully lined front, a very nice touch. Here they are so you can see the different neckline finishes:

One has buttons, one has rosebud stitches, two have elastic zigzag stitch, and one is straight stretch stitch. My Kenmore never liked sewing elastic, especially on knits, but the Viking #1 was a champ, sewing all of the layers with relative ease. This was a keeper pattern.

Emma came over this afternoon after a trip to Como Zoo and she was a little speechless but did try one swimsuit on and didn't take it off when she went home. See? She loves to wear swimsuits!

I did manage to mow my yard with a break between front and back so by now my arms are tired and typing isn't the best of activities for my elbow. Yup, growing old isn't for sissies but I'm glad I'm feeling results from the inconvenience of wearing a brace. My posts might be shorter but there's still much happening in Sewing Machine Mavin's life: next up, the story of the two Steve's.