Girls Swimwear: Inspiration, Patterns and Fabric

Inspiration

How do you design?  For me the process always starts with inspiration. Sometimes I'll see an outfit in a movie or while browsing at the store. Other times I'll go looking for it. When I am looking for inspiration, I look for shapes, colors, and interesting details that appeal to me. 

Here are a few of the most inspiring swimsuits that I have found so far.

Patterns

The next step in my design process is the pattern. Most of the time my pattern choice will be based on the overall shape, but a pattern that can teach me something new is also a great find.

My favorite swimsuit patterns

Santa Monica Sweetheart Tankini                                                              Hang Ten Rash Guard

Kwik Sew Girls Swimsuits and Cover Ups

Fabric

The final stage of my design process, and my favorite part, is choosing the fabric. This step always takes the longest because I tend to get easily distracted in the huge selection of fabrics that are available. I can find something that I love in all of them.

Follow the links to some of my favorite swimsuit fabrics. 

Animal Print Swimsuit Fabric        Polka Dot Swimsuit Fabric        Floral Swimsuit fabric 

Tell me in a comment about your design process.

How One Extra Step Changes A Pattern From Elastic Waistband To Drawstring Waist

The goal of my second pattern flip was to make a pair of shorts to be donated to Haiti. The village that they are being sent to has requested drawstring shorts for children as well as pillowcase dresses.

For those who haven't heard yet, June's flip this pattern sew along project is Elegance and Elephants bubble pocket shorts, which features an elastic waistband.

Switching things up to make it work with a drawstring is a simple task that will only take an extra minute or two.

The Incredibly Simple Extra Step

Buttonholes. That's It. Sew two small buttonholes a few inches apart centered over the front of the waistband. Then finish the waistband as you normally would and string the drawstring through instead of elastic. Pull the ends through the buttonholes and your all finished.

I hope others will be inspired to sew for the children in Haiti. Shorts and Pillowcase dresses can be sent in until then end of June, and if you happen to use the Bubble Pocket Shorts like I did, be sure to add it to the Flip This Pattern Linkie before June 20th.

If you missed my first flip of this pattern you can see it here.

A Simple Summer Alternative to a Dress That is Perfect For Tomboys

My daughter hustled me out of 20 bucks last picture day. That’s what it costs to get her to wear a dress.

I want my children to love their clothes. I want them to feel free to express themselves. But from time to time an occasion comes up where jeans and a t shirt just aren't appropriate. 

Say hi to our new kitten Tigress!

Dresses and Skirts are out of the question. I just can't afford to bribe her, and I'm unwilling to force her to wear something that she hates. Dress Pants are always nice, but not very interesting, and they can be a little bit to warm for summer.

Shorts are a great alternative. With the right details they can easily fit into any semi formal setting. 

That was my inspiration for the Elegance and Elephants Bubble Pocket Shorts Pattern and my first entry into the June Flip this Pattern Sew Along. 

The details that took this beautiful pattern to boutique style shorts:

• Replaced the leg binding with a double ruffle
• Used large brightly colored buttons
• Michael Miller Cotton Couture Fabric

Another thing I loved about this pattern was the adjustable waist band, one of the most useful features in both ready to wear and hand-made clothes.

Come back tomorrow to see my second flip of the same pattern.

If you have young girls do they love or hate to get dressed up? If not tell me how you feel about dressing up yourself. 

12 Reversible Sewing Projects To Save You Space

Apparently Somebody in my house thinks that my sewing takes up to much space. And that very same somebody doesn't seem to think that their bajillion (or at least 15) gagety gizmos are taking up just as much space.

But I'm a fair woman. I am willing to compromise. 

Com - pro - mise 
Noun - An incredibly oppressive technique to end an argument, in which both spouses agree to end up a little bit unhappy, also a required element in any marriage that is going to last longer than 3 days.

So our compromise was that we could keep anything that we had room to put away. There are all kinds of ways that "put away" can be interpreted. But in the interest of peace, I'm try to sew up much of my stash before I start "interpreting" the agreement. 

My favorite stash busting projects are reversible because they use up twice as much fabric, but the finished product only takes up the space of one. 

I thought I'd share some of my favorite reversible stash busting projects with you, just in case you ever need to ... compromise.

Free Sewing Projects

1. Sleep Mask  2. Doll Skirt (See my version here) 3.Free Online Reversible Quilting Class 4. Clutch  5. Patio Chair Cushions 6. Apron 7. Free Online Reversible Tote Class 8. Baby Dress (See my version here)

Reversible Sewing Projects - Not Free
(contains affiliate links)

1. Reversible Catipillar Butterfly Toy Indie Pattern  2. Girls Reversible Jacket and Hat 3.Sewing with Nancy: Fold & Finish Reversible Quilts 4. Girls Reversible Wrap Skirt

More Scrappy Doll Clothes

I finished this month's doll clothes sew along on time for a change, instead of waiting until the last possible second like I did last month. The great news is that I had already downloaded this month's free pattern.

Remember how I made the tank top to match last month's skirt sew along. Well imagine my surprise when that same tank top was announced as June's project the very next day. 

Of course I had to step things up a notch, this being the second time that I'm showing off a tank top in the sew along. This twisted flower detail that I learned in my Craftsy class (yes, it is the same class that I use to make the quilt) seemed perfect. Eventually I will make enough of these sweet little flowers to finish an entire pillow, which is another project for the class. 

Bonus: I used up more fabric scraps. However, my scrap pile doesn't seem to be getting any smaller. I think I'm adding more scraps to it, faster than I'm sewing them up!