a swimsuit for me

I was planning to make myself a few swimsuits this year, so when Heather released the new Bombshell Swimsuit pattern I was ready.

 (It was also love at first sight!) I made view A, the blue one, this time. I'm pretty sure my next one will be view B in white with gold dots.  I love this pattern! If you make this, follow the directions exactly. If you read all the way through the instructions first, you will understand. If not, you might be scratching your head, but trust her. She won't steer you wrong.

Here is mine!

Swimsuits!

Summer starts early here. We opened the pool for the season during Spring Break, at the end of March. It wasn't really that hot here, yet- we heated the pool. With a pool in our backyard and temperatures in the triple digits (we hit 115 this weekend), we plan to spend most days in the pool. This means we all need swimsuits, and more than just 1 each. It was perfect timing, because Katie and Leila were hosting SwimAlong2013. I had never sewn a swimsuit before- there had really been no need when we lived in Oregon. It proved to be really quite easy and quick!

I started with a swimsuit for Ashley. We used her old swimsuit, the one that was too small, as a guide. This did not go so well. It was too tight in the hips. I cut the bottom off of it, and decided to make a tankini.  After cutting a new, bigger bottom for the swimsuit, I realized I wasn't getting the leg opening right. I pulled out my Jalie underwear pattern and used that to fix it. I should have started with this pattern to begin with! The fabric was purchased at lowpricefabric.com.

I made a swimsuit for myself next, but don't have good pictures yet. They are all blurry. It will get it's own blog post someday soon. 

Natalie was begging for hers to be made next, so I picked out an Ottobre pattern and got to work. I used Ottobre 3/2009 #38 with #39 for the top. She and Alona loved this pink camo fabric.

Alona's swimsuit was so quick. Hers was my 4th swimsuit in 2 weeks and the same pattern as Natalie. She has the same size chest and waist as Natalie, so I just added a bit to the hips for hers.

My girls all love their new swimsuits! Can you tell? I wonder how tan they will be by the end of summer...