Welcome to Anne's sewing blog!

I started this blog in 2012 in an attempt to keep better track of all the little things I make. I have found it fun to 'catalog' what I make so I'll continue to post my finished projects as they appear.

Its mostly for my personal use, but also gives me a way to share cute stuff with my craft-oriented friends and family. Enjoy!

Monday, August 5, 2013

Kids Modest Swimwear for 2013

I've continued to make swimsuits for my girls.  Now that I've got my own working pattern(s) and have a little practice sewing on super-stretchy lycra they are pretty quick to work up.

Leah requested a bodysuit style this year - so she could look like Rebecca Soni and all the other Olympic swimmers.  Cute, huh?   I took her sloper and drafted a shirt.  I used a rub-off technique found in this book to copy the armholes and sleeves from a leotard we have that happens to fit well.  It worked pretty well - I found the rub-off fast and easy to do and the resulting armhole and sleeve on the suit work great.  The lycra is pretty forgiving so I don't know how it may or may not transfer to a regular set-in sleeve but its good for this application.  The leggings pattern I had already and is one of my standbys.  Its good for swimsuit shorts and I've used it for full length leggings/tights for school as well.

Here is Leah's Olympic bodysuit.  Convincing her to stop dancing long enough to take the photo was an issue so it looks a bit twisted and uneven - its really not.  :) (Also, the matching of her suit and her crocs was a happy accident.)




I ended up needing to add a band to the bottom of her shirt.  
It was too short otherwise.  If I make another one I'll make the shirt longer.  



"Can I make a diving pose Mom?"


Grace's suit this year was a piece of cake because I could use the exact same pattern I made for Leah two years ago.  That is a handy bonus now that I've been making suits for three years - I can start reusing things. Her suit is the swimdress pattern I made up, with lengthened sleeves.  





"Mommy can I do a pose too?"  


I was pleased with how this neckline turned out.  
Better yet, I wrote down how I did it so I can repeat the process later.  


The sleeve hem and bottom of the dress hem are simple turn-under-and-multi-step-zig-zag.


Here are the little shorts that go underneath.  They are completely separate from the dress.  



Swimming lessons, here we come!  



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