Swimwear sewing!

       

Levi needed new swimwear (again) and I found a good deal on fabric so bought a bunch.  I was also offered the opportunity to test a couple sewing patterns from Made By Jack's Mum, one of my favorite pattern designers.   I used the Sunshine Romper for the one-piece suits and the Reef Beach Rashie  for the tops.    For the jammers, I used a pattern from Ottobre, from the Summer 2016 issue.  And lastly, for the speedos, I used a free pattern from Boo! Designs.


This is the Sunshine Romper with some modifications as requested by Levi.   First I chopped off the sleeves and hemmed the arm opening, making it sleeveless.   I used the regular neck band piece to make the neck band and brought the zip right up to the top of it.   I used a fold over method on the zip guard to protect his chin from the toggle.   I like this method best because it gives full coverage and a nice looking finish, and its not difficult or fiddly to do.

This is the basic version of the Reef Beach Rashie and Ottobre jammers.   I appliqued "swim" and added a freezer paper stencil for the shadow, because I can't leave anything plain! 

Super basic ottobre jammers, I got rid of the side stripe here and made them extra tight "so they don't fall off when I dive mom".    

This is the Sunshine romper with a little bit of modification for the zipper.  I added a chin guard at the top of the zip guard by lengthening it a little bit and folding it over the top of the zipper.  This keeps the "stopper" from rubbing his chin.   I also used the pattern piece for the non-zip style giving it square edges at the opening of the zip.     He picked this fabric, and its awfully crazy but I will easily be able to spot him on the beach!     I love that its full coverage for minimal sunscreen use, but the pattern also comes in 3/4 and short lengths for sleeves and legs.

These are the Boo! Design speedos, perfect for swim team (and using scraps) 

This is the Reef Beach Rashie and Ottobre jammers.   Here I mostly stuck with the pattern for the construction of the neckline, but did add the fold over zip guard.    The patterns curved neck piece makes it a bit tricky to get things even.   This is my favorite fabric, but not great for the ocean because blue is hard to see in the water!  

I still have more fabric to use, but this should keep him swimming for a while!