Suit Up For Summer with Raspberry Creek

I am SO excited that I get to be a part of the third annual blog tour featuring Raspberry Creek’s amazing swim fabric. There are so many great swim prints to choose from and a bunch of amazing bloggers to help inspire you on the Suit Up For Summer Blog Tour. The thought of summer and sunshine is a nice pick-me-up to all the craze that’s going on in the world these days. I hope everyone is staying safe and staying sane!

I love sewing swim. Weird right?! And I have been busy! I was fortunate enough to suit up for summer early this year and it was much needed. Last year, I sewed up way too many maternity swimsuits and all my other swimsuits are a little bit snug… so 3 swim tops and 4 bottoms later, I have 12 swimsuit combinations! I am SO pumped. I love them all! Mixing and matching is so much fun and I am excited that I have a swim capsule. All I need now is a swim coverup and I’m ready to head to the beach—or the pool—although I don’t live by the beach and I don’t have a pool…ha!

When I saw all the new swim designs for the 2020 swim line, I was instantly drawn to these prints in coral, grey, black and white. I’m loving the pop of color! The black and white micro stripes, palm leave and black and white leopard are all from the new 2020 CLUB line and the coral check gingham is one of the swim basics. Of course I needed at least one solid color, so I went with the black matte. I got a half yard of each print.

For all my swim tops this time around, I decided to make all the swim cups removable instead of sewing them in. You can easily do that to just about any bikini swim pattern or swimsuit with a shelf bra. You can see the quick tutorial HERE.

I get all my swim notions (swim elastic, swim cups, clips, etc.) from Sew Sassy HERE and don’t forget about your swim lining!

If you are jumping on board the projector craze and your swim pattern doesn’t have an A0, copyshop or projector file, you can easily convert your pattern by following my tutorial HERE.

KEY WEST BIKINI TOP – 5 OUT OF 4 PATTERNS

I almost forgot how much I love the Key West Bikini Top from 5 out of 4. I helped test it last year and it’s definitely a favorite of mine. I sewed up the plain bikini option in the Black Matte swim fabric in a size XS with the back pieces graded to a Sm at the top. I LOVE the strappy back of this swimsuit. You can crisscross the back or keep them straight. (Convenient if you are trying to avoid tan lines!) The next Key West top I make will definitely have the keyhole in the front. I was SO close to adding it to this suit but then changed my mind at the last minute.

Probably the worst part about this swimsuit is turning the strap! Goodness, that felt like it took longer than sewing the whole suit! Okay, maybe not quite but still. The strap is REALLY long, like the width of fabric long, so don’t be like me and cut it after all your other swimsuits pieces have been cut. I barely had enough scraps left that were long enough to only splice it once! So my strap seam is secretly hidden in the center front of the suit. I chose to sew my clear elastic directly to my strap when sewing the long ends together. (Make sure you have a good amount of 1/4” clear elastic on hand! I almost ran out!) After finally turning the strap right-side out, it got a little curly (I’m totally not complaining!), which you will notice on some of the photos below.

HELLO SAILOR SWIM BOTTOMS – PATTERNS FOR PIRATES

I haven’t sewn up the Hello Sailor swim bottoms in years! I really wanted a color blocked bottom and I love P4P, so I had to sew this up again. This is my first time sewing the colorblocked version and it did not disappoint! I used the Black and White Micro Stripes paired with the Solid Black Matte swim fabric. I sewed up the XS graded up to Sm at the top. Grading was a little tricky on the color blocked version, so not all the pieces were totally graded properly up to size small, or maybe they were but it was hard to tell. Nonetheless, they fit great!

Note: Today is the last day to get 30% off patterns for the P4P Spring Sale!

When sewing stripes that are TEENY tiny, I don’t bother trying to cut my fabric, so the stripes will match up. When I sewed the back to the front at the crotch seam, I was pleasantly surprised that the stripes actually lined up! No one will probably ever notice, but I’m going to go ahead and celebrate my small win.

MAIRIN SWIMSUIT – SEW A LITTLE SEAM

I absolutely love the Mairin. It’s probably one of my favorite swimsuit patterns and there are endless options. It’s like having a bunch of different patterns for the price of one! You can easily have a handful of suits without them being exactly the same. The remaining swim pieces in my little swim capsule are all made from the Mairin.

I’ll start with the tops: my new favorite option has got to be the mid V front with narrow crisscross straps. I sewed that in the Black and White Leopard print. The V takes a little longer to sew than the scoop front, but the extra time taken is SO worth it. I’m pretty sure the next suit I make is going to be some version of the mid V front with narrow straps. It’s instant love. The only change I made was widening the back strap placement by about an inch on each side. The notches are just a guide, so make sure you try it on before using permanent stitches!

The other top I made was the high scoop front bikini with the wide strap halter sewn in Black and White Micro Stripes. This was my first time sewing this version and it’s another instant love! I am seriously loving the look of the high scoop neck right now. I have so many inspiration photos saved to my pinterest sewing inspiration board with the high neck.

I am a sucker for the boy short cut legs on the Mairin. I love the fit and the coverage it provides. So naturally 2 of the 3 Mairin bottoms I made have the boy short cut legs. The first bottom is the high waisted with boys short legs sewn in Coral Black Grey and White Palm Leaves. The only thing I did differently was use slightly longer elastic to account for my thighs being one size up.

I made a second pair of high waisted bottoms with boy short legs sewn in the Black and White Leopard print but instead of using elastic at the top, I made a thick band in the Solid Black Matte swim fabric for a little bit higher waist and some contrast. I love how it turned out.

I like to minimize tan lines so I had to also sew up at least one low waist version with mid cut legs sewn in the Coral and White Check Gingham. Even though I LOVE the lower leg cut, I think the mid leg/low rise version is my favorite. I have plans to make a crop top version to go with this particular pair of bottoms as well. All these suits should get me by for at least half of the summer…!

Here’s a collage of all the combos I can make with this swim capsule (click to enlarge). I think my favorite combo has got to be the leopard top with the coral gingham bottom, but they are all so good! A big shout out to my hubby for helping me take these collage photos!

PALM EURO SUIT – SEW LIKE MY MOM

I couldn’t leave out my kids; they were in need of new swimsuits too, especially with how quick kids grow. My go-to swimsuit for Max is the the Palm Euro Suit from Sew Like My Mom. I prefer the suits made from swim knit rather than board short fabric for my boy mainly for personal preference. Since he is on the smaller side, I easily was able to cut out some suits for him without needing any extra fabric. This is a super quick sew. You don’t need any elastic and you can sew it up almost as quick as you can cut it out. Although Max is almost 3, I sewed up the 18m size in the Trunk length and it’s a perfect fit. For reference, he has a 19” hip and I did not adjust any for height. Max loves that we have matching swimsuits…as he would say, ”We’re the same!”

If you want to get really fancy, you can make your Palm Euro Suit reversible! I wrote up a little tutorial on how to do so HERE.

ROCKET RAGLAN – 5 OUT OF 4

All kids need a rashguard if they are going to be in the sun a LOT; it’s a great and easy way to protect their precious skin from the harsh rays of the sun. The best thing about rashguards is you don’t even need a sewing pattern specific for one. You mainly need a raglan pattern, fitted or sized down, (okay, you don’t technically have to use a raglan) and sew it up in some swim knit. I really like the fit of the Rocket Raglan from 5 out of 4 and used that for Brooklyn’s rashguard. It has a separate front/back piece and the sleeves are not cut on the fold. It also has a v neck option! I still need to sew one up for Max, but my leftover scraps aren’t quite big enough for the front and back of the top. Oops! So his won’t be as matchy matchy, but I have enough for some sleeves! He’s almost 3 but skinny, so I have the 18-24m printed out for him (he has a 20” chest). I’ll just add a little bit of length to account for his height. I love when patterns have a tunic length cut line since that’s usually the perfect amount of length needed for him.

Brooklyn is on the smaller side like her brother (except for her thick little legs!). She’s almost 8 months old and still has a 16.5” chest measurement, which puts her in size 3m in just about every pattern, including this one. She is bound to have a growth spurt soon and since the Rocket Raglan is more of a fitted top already, I decided to sew up size 3-6m for her. It should easily last through the whole summer. I used the Coral Black Grey and White Palm Leaves with the Coral and White Check Gingham. It turned out SO cute! All she needs now is a matching floppy hat, which would be perfect made out of the CLUB woven board short fabric! <3

CHILDREN’S MAIRIN – SEW A LITTLE SEAM

If you didn’t know by now, there’s a children’s Mairin! It’s time to make all your swim dreams come true! Just like the women’s version, it’s like getting loads of different swimsuit patterns in one. The one bad thing about that many options…it’s so hard to pick what to make. (Or you end up with a gazillion swimsuits!) If you want to match your little, there’s a bundle!

I sewed up Brooklyn’s bikini in the Black and White Leopard print. Brooklyn has a 16.5” chest, so she fits in size 3m but with a 6m length. Since the Mairin has 2” of negative ease, I decided to sew up a straight 6m for her. It should easily fit the whole summer and it means I don’t have to grade. Win/win! Good thing too because let me tell you…tiny swimsuit are a beast to sew! Oh so small. Now I’m really glad I didn’t make the 3m size because it would have been even smaller! I made the regular narrow strap bikini with the peplum skirt. I don’t particularly enjoy sewing binding, especially in swim, but it turned out SO cute! I already have another suit planned!

*A quick tip when attaching the skirt (or any of the gathering portions of the suit), it is SO much easier to gather with 2 basting stitches. I usually always use 2 rows (one inside and one outside of the seam allowance) when gathering, but I was trying to be quick and finish up to snap a few photos before running out of sunlight, so I only did one per the instructions. I ended up loosening the gathers to add one more row and it was a lot easier. The fabric just lays down nicer. You probably can get away with 1 row with non swim fabric, but mine kept curling and it was such a pain! You just have to remove the bottom row of basting stitches after attaching.

The peplum skirt option does not require elastic, but I highly suggest at least topstitching! I didn’t topstitch before taking a few photos of Brooklyn (remember, running out of daylight!) and the skirt kept flipping up! Though, that might not have happened if I made the 3m size. Nonetheless! Since I did size up, I decided to add elastic to the seam allowance after attaching the skirt and topstitching that up to the bodice.

For the bottoms, I originally was planning on making Brooklyn the mid rise boy short version, but let me tell you…that girl has some legs! There’s no way she can wear the boy cut leg version right now. Imagine this…a 3m baby with 9m legs, give or take. (It really doesn’t seem like she has thick legs, but they definitely are compared to her waist and chest!) There is just no way. I’ll just have to make her that version when she’s older because it just looks so silly on her current physique. Luckily, tiny swim bottoms don’t take up much fabric, so I was able to cut out another pair of bottoms in the same fabric, this time in the high rise bikini cut legs. I tried it on her before adding any elastic and it is SO much better. It was a little big (to be expected) but will be perfect once all the elastic is in and it will fit her all summer long.

The only slightly unfortunate thing with this suit is the waist elastic is only 3/8” instead of the 1/2” elastic the pattern calls for. With all the craze that’s going on right now, I took a quick trip to Joann’s because I needed 1/2” elastic and to restock my sewing machine thread in case they temporarily closed up shop. Thankfully, they had elastic! Little did I know, it was in the wrong packaging! So annoying. I didn’t even think to verify that it was actually 1/2”. (it was in one of those dritz packaging where the elastic is wrapped in the little paper thing and not enclosed in hard plastic.) I was a little disappointed. I already have so much 3/8” elastic and I still need more 1/2”. It still works though. I might go back and make the elastic casing smaller, so the elastic fits inside better, but it’s all sewn up now and wearable. I did place an order for more 1/2” elastic, so I’ll be ready for my next set of swimsuits whenever it arrives!

A huge shoutout goes to my amazing friend Annie Shelley Photography for taking all these stunning photos!

Don’t forget to check out all the other amazing bloggers in the swim tour! Links are below. During this crazy time in the world, let’s inspire and uplift each other!

Raspberry Creek Fabrics

Hosted by:
Sew Sophie Lynn and Paisley Roots

Sincerely, Shantelle / Merritts Makes / Sew Mary Mac

Phat Quarters Sewing / Sew Haute Blog / My Sew Bliss / Kainara Stitches

Made By Kates / Sewing and Things / Desert Blooms / Sweet Mama

Margarita on the Ross /Auschick Sews / Hazelnut Handmade / Call Ajaire

It’s Liesel / House of Curves / Stitching and Making / Replicate then Deviate

A HUGE thank you to all our pattern sponsors!!!

Remember, for this week you can use the code: SWIMTOUR for 15% off swim fabrics only over at Raspberry Creek Fabrics
And don’t forget to check out instagram for some giveaways!