I cannot tell you enough how excited I am to join the Raspberry Creek Fabrics Swimsuit Tour! This is my first experience with swim from Raspberry Creek Fabrics and I think it’s safe to say it’s love. I had the best experience and can’t wait to share these makes with you!

Prior to this project, my experience sewing swim was a couple of harrowing experiences sewing swimsuits for myself. Although the sewing itself isn’t too bad after some practice, I had the hardest time with sizing and had to take breaks due to frustration. With nearly a year since my last try, I felt ready to tackle swim again and originally planned on making two suits: one for me and one for Isabelle. I had such a great time that I ended up making two for myself!

*This fabric as well as one pattern was provided to me for free as a member of the Raspberry Creek Fabrics promo team. All views and opinions are my own.

Fabric

Raspberry Creek Fabrics prints all their custom fabrics in-house. They’re a local small business and I’ve loved working with them. I’ve never used their swim fabric before, but it lives up to the high standards I’ve come to expect. It was easy to sew with, the prints are beautiful, and the consistency between colors makes it easy to mix and match. The two prints I used were the Orange Pink and Black Leopard and the Tossed Fruit Floral. I also used swim lining from them.

I’m so surprised with how little fabric is needed for a swimsuit. With one yard, I was able to make two suits from the Tossed Fruit Floral, one for Isabelle and one for myself. I also had one yard of lining to work with and I still have plenty of it left after fully lining both of my swimsuits.

Isabelle’s Swimsuit

I’ve made a couple of leotards for Isabelle, but this is the first swimsuit I’ve made for her. She chose the Tossed Floral Fruit print as well as the pattern: Pattern for Pirates – Minute Maillot (which was gifted to me for this promo). Isabelle is starting to size out of a lot of kids’ patterns so it was actually a little difficult finding a pattern where she wasn’t at the top of their size range. The Minute Maillot was exactly what we were looking for. It has the functional look she wanted and has sizes up to 14 which means we’ll be able to get more use out of it. I made the high back version with the ruffle skirt option.

If you’re new to sewing swim, omit the ruffle for an easier version. Even without the ruffle, the different back options still gives this pattern a very timeless yet fun look.

My Swimsuits

For me, I wanted to give the Cottesloe Swimsuit from Megan Nielsen another go, but with the two piece option (view D with the high waisted bottoms) instead of the one piece for more flexibility with sizing. Doing the two piece definitely eased the sizing issues I had with my previous attempts and I had no problems this time around. The final result is a dream!

Sizing

For the top, I made size 0 graded to a size 4 at the underbust. View D uses a wider elastic (the same as the waistband) for the underbust and I didn’t want it to be too tight so I graded to a 4, keeping the 0 length, and then cut elastic and waistband for a size 4.

For the bottoms, I made a size 0 graded to a size 8 at the waist. My hips are ~34″ and my waist is ~28″ which puts me across several sizes often. The two piece option of this pattern gave me the flexibility to easily adjust to what I needed. It wasn’t a hard adjustment and simply involved drawing a straight line from the waist of a size 8 to the hips of the size 0. I cut out size 8 for the elastic and waistband.

Pattern note: This pattern does not have layered sizes, but it does list the pages needed for each view.

Overall Thoughts

I really didn’t expect to enjoy this project so much. After completing my first one and having it fit like a dream, I couldn’t wait to make the second one and then I had to stop myself from making more. It’s such a fun, quick sew with a rewarding result. It’s amazing to have a swimsuit that fits so well and I am fully converted to sewing swim for myself from now on. I can’t wait to mix and match once warmer weather hits! Even though I only made 2 swimsuits, it feels like I made 4 with the different combinations.

If you’re new to swim, you can definitely make either of these swim patterns on a regular sewing machine using a zig zag stitch. Just make sure you’re using a stretch needle and walking foot, if you have one. For me, I sewed the majority of these swimsuits on my regular sewing machine, finished the seams with my serger, and topstitched with my new coverstitch. Having these extra machines definitely gives it a more finished look, but I could have easily completed all the swimsuits on my regular machine too. If a regular sewing machine is what you have, you can definitely sew swim!

One of the best parts of this experience was going through the selection process with Isabelle. She’s a very practical person and doesn’t see the point in less than functional swimsuits (low backs, uncomfortable straps, etc). She doesn’t love the selection available at most big box stores, tends to shop more often in the boys or adults section, and has a hard time finding the right fit. Being able to design her own swimsuit means she gets exactly what she wants with a fit that’s literally made just for her.

Have you made a swimsuit yet? What are you waiting for? I hope this helps you dive into swim (pun intended), because it really isn’t as difficult as you might think. Check out all the stops on this week’s tour for more inspiration and don’t forget that you can get 15% off all swim fabrics from Raspberry Creek Fabrics this week only using code SWIMTOUR.

Check out the amazing makers and sponsors from the 2021 Swimsuit Tour below!

Sew Mary Mac  Merritts Makes  Wild + Wanderful  Call Ajaire

Made by Kates  Violet and Jewels  Sweet Mama Life  All Things Katy!

Intensely Distracted  Pins & Pinot  My Heart Will Sew On  The Petite Sewist

All My Spare Time  Kara Metta  Handcrafted by RED  Sincerely, Shantelle

Replicate Then Deviate  That’s Sew Kari  Desert Blooms  Boo + Lu

Titchy Threads  Sew A Little Seam  Simple Life Pattern Co.  Pattern for Pirates  Ellie and Mac  

Lowland Kids  Gingham Hive  Striped Swallow Designs  Honeydew Kisses  Little Lizard King  

Jennuine Designs  Greenstyle Creations  Made for Mermaids  Call Ajaire  Hey June  Boo Designs! 

  Sofiona Designs  Love Notions  Lil Luxe Collection  Jalie  Sweet Red Poppy