The Birdie One Piece is a sexy, skimpy one piece with adjustable ties. It is so high on the hips it never actually touches your hips! It's a gorgeous style with 80's vibes.
You can find the video tutorial for the Birdie One Piece at the link below:
Birdie One Piece Written Directions
MATERIALS
-1 yard of swimwear fabric
-Swimwear elastic (recommended for the best fit)
-Seam ripper
-Loop turner OR safety pin
-Overlock machine
-Regular sewing machine
You will need both a regular sewing machine as well as an overlock machine for this tutorial. If you don't have an overlock machine, you can use a zig zag stitch on a regular sewing machine. Make sure you at least have a regular sewing machine, because we will be using a straight stitch in this tutorial.
Step 1
Assemble your pattern and cut your pieces. You'll cut two of the front piece (Piece 1) and two of the back piece (Piece 2). You will also cut your strap pieces according to the measurements provided in the pattern.
Step 2
Match your front pieces and back pieces together, each with right sides together. For the front piece, pin along the leg holes, armholes, and neckline. For the back piece, pin along the leg holes and top line.
Sew where you've pinned. If you plan on attaching elastic, attach it everywhere you've pinned EXCEPT for the top line on the back piece, because it will eventually become a strap channel and that will make it too bulky.
You're also going to fold your straps lengthwise, matching right sides together. Sew the raw edges together and attach your elastic onto each of the straps.
Step 3
Using a loop turner or safety pin, flip your straps to the right side. Set aside the waist strap for now, and grab your two shoulder straps.
With the front piece still inside out, insert each of the straps through the gusset and align them inside each of the strap openings. Sew each of the straps down while inside of the openings.
Step 4
Keep your front piece inside out, but flip your back piece all the way to the right side. Insert your back piece inside of your front piece. Align the back piece so its gusset is lined up with the gusset of the front piece. Pin down across all four layers of the gussets, and then sew. This will secure the front piece to the back piece.
Step 5
Seam rip a 1-2" hole in the shoulder area. Through this hole, you will take everything back out to the right side. If you prefer, you can put this hole somewhere else along the front piece.
Once you've taken the suit to the right side, finish off the hole with an invisible stitch or a top stitch.
Step 6
With your suit still right side out, locate the pointed edges of the front piece which are unfinished. Fold each one inside, and top stitch it down to create a strap channel. Then, thread your shoulder straps through each strap channel. You can either thread them straight down or criss-cross!
Step 7
Now take your back piece and straight stitch about 1/4-1/3" down from the top edge. This will become your strap channel for the waist strap. Afterwards, thread the remaining strap through the channel.
Step 8
Tie the waist strap across the front, and that finishes the Birdie One Piece!
Thank you for reading this tutorial, if you have any additional questions you may email customer service hello@edgewaterave.com. Additionally, we'd invite you to join our Facebook group, "Learning to Sew Swimwear with Edgewater Avenue" where over 1,000 members with all kinds of experience share advice, answer questions, and talk about all things DIY swimwear. You can join here: https://facebook.com/groups/edgewaterave