Suit Up For Summer Day Three

Welcome to Day 3!!  Please tell me you’ve been so inspired and are reading this while prepping to sew your very own swimsuit!  I’m really hoping that we can calm your fears and give you the confidence to tackle your family’s swimwear needs.

Today I faced one of my big fears- the dreaded sewing for a teenage boy!  I can’t wait to tell you all about it!

Before I was brave enough to sew for big brother I got to sew for a much easier critic!  This little man was dying for a swimsuit out of this cool shark boardshort fabric from Raspberry Creek Fabrics (one of our lovely tour sponsors!).

I used the Swim and Surf Shorts from Gracious Threads.  I hesitate to promote this pattern in my boy post since it’s drafted for girls in sizes 6 and up but I think these fit his little body well.  I absolutely love the construction and the bias goes on so smoothly.  I used store bought but there are directions to make your own.  I switched up the waistband to just be one wide casing after Brittney’s advice.  I also used swim mesh for the underwear liner inside- I might switch it up to regular swim fabric in the future just for more comfort.

You know I like to involve my kids in as much of the sewing as I can and with this suit I gave him a handful of drawstring choices.  He shocked me with this choice but was very adamant on the coral cord (a trimmed up shoelace!) because it glows in the dark.  I tried to tell him that at five-years-old he won’t be doing very much night swimming but he was very insistent!  I love it!

So little brother’s suit was a breeze- cut and done in about an hour.  This guys was a different story!  I used Jalie Boys/Mens Board Shorts pattern and am really proud and happy with the results.  He is too which is such a relief!  I love that I was able to easily modify these to his taste.  We cut about 4 inches from the hem (he’s almost 6′) and brought in the inner leg about an inch so the legs weren’t so wide.  He really likes the more retro fit and I think it suits him well!

I have such a love/hate relationship with Jalie patterns.  I love, love that they come with so many size options in one pattern.  I could use this same pattern on the 5-year-old and my XL husband- you really can’t get that anywhere else.  I love how well they go together, the end product is always amazing and the finishings are fantastic!  That being said they are usually not my standard quick afternoon projects.  I know I need to concentrate and take my time to achieve a great looking garment.  The instructions are pretty basic (you can preview them before you purchase a pattern to make sure it’s something you want to tackle).  This is where my love/hate comes in.  I love the conciseness.  I tend to read the instructions one or two times through before I start a project and then just go for it, referring back to the directions only occasionally.  With Jalie, you can print the directions on just a couple pages and have them right next to you as you sew.  With this pattern though, I could have used a little more hand holding.  I learned a lot and these were constructed different than I have done anything in the past.  Not bad obviously, just different.

Lucky for me, my sister came over and manned her coverstitch machine and I did the sewing and serging.  I don’t know what I would have done without her help and the coverstitch.   Almost all the seams are topstitched which can be done with a double needle on your regular machine too but that would mean a TON of switching back and forth between a double and single needle, or if you’re really precise, faking the look by running two single stitches side by side.    Even with the two of us, this project took a good few hours. Granted we were sewing with a lot of little helpers running around too 😉

This awesome fabric is also from Raspberry Creek Fabrics.  You can find the coordinating navy also.  I can’t wait to share with you all our fun CLUB line suits tomorrow!

Looking for more boys swim patterns?  Peek-a-Boo Pattern Shop, Titchy Threads, Life Sew Savory, and Made By Jack’s Mum all offer them!

Have you entered the link up yet?  I’m loving what I’m seeing so far! You won’t want to miss out on your chance at the fun giveaways! (Giveaways are now closed)

Now go check out all the other amazing bloggers joining in the swim party:

Hosted by Sew Sophie Lynn & Paisley Roots

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

Tuesday: Harper Lu / Call Ajaire / Stylin Stacy / Skirt Fixation

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

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

Friday: Rebel & Malice / EYMM / Stitching & Making / Lilliepawillie