Summer Swim Sewing
I’ve been sewing my kids swimsuits again… I do it every year. I don’t know why, but I enjoy it almost as much as sewing their underwear, lol.
We’re spending a lot of time in the Florida sun lately, so I decided to make rash guard shirts for my two kids that are most likely to burn.
I considered adapting a raglan tee shirt pattern that I’d used before, but then I’d have to experiment with raising the neckline and making it more tight-fitting. I bought a new pattern instead, the Hang-Ten Rash Guard from Peekaboo Patterns. This pattern is extremely easy to follow, and you can sew the shirt with or without the side stripe (and with or without a serger). I only had one small issue – I wish she had made the ends of the stripe that meet at the armpit more curved instead of v-shaped. You’ll see this if you try the pattern. The v-shape was tricky to get through my serger and I had to sew most armpit seams twice because the first time left a hole. This was a minor issue, but I thought I’d warn you.
I had some other swim patterns from Peekaboo Patterns on hand, so I also made Connor the Monaco Swim Trunks – with the legs lengthened by 3”. Now these shorts look just like the ‘jammers’ that, according to Connor, ‘all the fast swimmer wear.’
You can also make these with or without the stripe. And Amy obviously planned these two patterns to work together because the stripe on both is the same width. They look matching, don’t they? My husband was pretty surprised when he found out that this outfit didn’t come from the store.
Cadie’s little swim bottoms were sewn from the Santa Monica Tankini Pattern. She’s wearing them backwards, lol! I didn’t notice until she had been swimming for quite some time. Not that the shape is weird. The bottoms offer great coverage in the front and the back.
And in case you’re wondering, all of these swim fabrics came from The Fabric Fairy. The solids are pretty easy to find, and that cute pink and purple flower print is here.
I stitched up all these pieces yesterday, yay! I love sewing something that my kids need and will use right away.
{By the way, you can see the swimsuits I made last year here.}
So, what have you been sewing up this week? Did you make something with one of my free sewing tutorials or patterns? I would love to see! Tag me on Instagram @sewcanshe.
Happy Sewing!
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