Suit Up for Summer!

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I LOVE SEWING SWIMWEAR!!! I love how little fabric it takes. I got both of my girls suits out of 1 yard, with a huge “scrap” left over. I love how easy the fabric is to work with. It’s generally fairly stable, and a lot of it doesn’t curl at all! I love that you don’t have to iron after every step 🙂 I love that it’s generally quick, maybe because the garments are small? Anyway, it’s one of my favorite things to make, and I am happy to be joining this “Suit Up for Summer” blog tour. I am so excited to check out everyone’s makes!

I made one suit for each of my kids. I will share details, and then photo spam you.

My oldest is in the Jordyn from Mountain Ash Designs. This was my first pattern from her shop, and I am really happy with it. The directions were simple, and I had to read them a few times to figure out exactly what to do, but it came together perfectly. There is an option to use fold over elastic instead of cutting your own binding for all the criss-crosses in the back and that made it so easy and quick! Hobby Lobby has a great selection of FOE, and it’s $2.99 for a roll, so 1.50 if you go when the ribbon is half off.

My next is in the free bikini pattern from My Childhood Treasures. This is also a new to me company, and I loved having this freebie to try it out. I have heard rave reviews about them, so I wasn’t too worried, and of course it fits great! They have plenty of measurements to help you pick your size, including the rise measurement. She’s also wearing the Sommer top from Made for Mermaids, using the swim hack posted on their blog. I cut the bodice at the natural waist, and cut the ruffle at 5″, then I did attach it with a 1/4″ seam allowance, for reference.

Jalie graciously provided their board short pattern for this tour, and I sewed up two of them for my boys! I am a huge fan of Jalie. Their patterns come in a huge size range (like from child 2 – adult plus size). They have a perpetual promo of 20% off when you buy 3 or more pdf patterns, and the prices are in CAD, so it’s cheaper if you’re in the US 🙂 Plus, they are professionally done. They always fit well, and the directions take you through step by step. I do have a little bit of a love/hate relationship with their directions. They come listed on a page, all text, and the illustrations are on a separate page, numbered. So it’s very minimal pages, which means I don’t feel bad printing it out to keep at the sewing machine, but the first time I sew something, it does take a bit of extra time to scan back and forth between the text, and illustration pages. My second pair of board shorts went much faster, maybe half the time, because I was familiar with the steps.

I struggled finding the perfect fabric for the board shorts too. My favorite local shop only had a very few colors of the nylon fabric that I was looking for, and nothing neutral. I was hoping for charcoal or black for the main part of the shorts. But I did pick up the yellow I used on the side for the color blocking. I also grabbed the white mesh there because I thought that would be a fun change of texture. I didn’t really want to shop online for the black or grey because I only needed a bit, and didn’t want to wait, or pay for shipping. Joann’s didn’t have anything good either, and the sales associate was unaware of anything they had that would work for board shorts. So I shopped all over, and finally picked this fabric up in the lining section. I hope it works ok! Anyway, if anyone has any good sources, fabric types, etc… for board shorts, let me know!

Here’s my photo spam. I hope you will try sewing swimwear if you haven’t, or if you’ve been a little scared to try, and don’t forget to browse all the other blogs sharing makes on this tour!

Thank you to Karly and Tami for hosting, and getting us all ready for summer, and thank you to the companies that sponsored this tour.

 

Please go stop at all the other blogs on the tour, you can find the list below! Our hosts are holding some giveaways, so be sure to check those out too!

Hosted by Sew Sophie Lynn & Paisley Roots

Pear Berry Lane / Inspinration / It’s Liesel / Sewing For Four

Harper Lu / Call Ajaire / Stylin Stacy / Skirt Fixation

Sewing By Ti / Sewing With Sarah / Sew & Tell /  Me Made

Made By Melli / Life Sew Savory / That’s What She Crafted / Auschick

Rebel & Malice / EYMM / Stitching & Making / Lilliepawillie

Patterns I used:

Jordyn

Sommer

Free bikini bottoms

Jalie Board Shorts