Sew Cucio

I immediately fell in love with the infinity leotard from BOO! Designs . It would be great for a swimsuit or a leotard for dance classes. I decided to first make a swimsuit for our eldest and I wanted to finish it before we went on our holiday to Italy. Now that the eldest is done with swimming lessons she will not use a swimsuit as often anymore. But of course during our holiday she would use it a lot. So I finished it the day before we went on holiday. Since her last bikini had a skirted bottom, I asked whether she wanted a skirt again or not. And of course she still wanted a skirt on her bikini. The pattern didn't include a skirt so I just added a rectangular piece of lycra, twice the width of the waist and gathered this. Then I attached the skirt to the bottom before attaching the waist band. The skirt ends halfway the bottom of the bikini. I didn't finish the edge of the skirt.  She loves her new swimsuit, the loves the back and the skirt the most. The back is indeed the...

I always find it hard to find great swimsuits for our girls. Either the fit is not so good or the design is not what we both like. I have sewed several swimsuits mostly for our eldest and I always love the result. Now our middle daughter wanted a bikini as well so I sewed up the Bahari swimsuit from Bella Sunshine Designs * for her, which is released today. It is a great pattern for when you haven't sewn many swimsuits before and you can add a flounce or skirt if you like. Since I made a skirted bottom last year for our middle one I sewed one without a skirt. I did add a flounce, which everybody here at home thought would end up as a skirt. Blending for different width and lengths for the sizes might be tricky, but Bella Sunshine Designs has a very clear video explaining how to blend for the Bahari. Be sure to check that out. Making photos of a swimsuit without a swim pool or nice water close-by was a new challenge. I tried to create a watery feel wit...

I found a new joy, sewing swimsuits (see  this swimsuit  and  this swimsuit  which I sewed before). Our eldest swims every week so sewing a swimsuit will be used every week, not only during summer. But it all started when I wanted to sew a bikini bottom for our middle daughter. During summer our girls mostly wear UV shirts when they swim outside so they mostly need bikini bottoms. So I started looking for swim bottoms with a skirt attached, because of course our girls wanted skirts on their bikini bottoms. Our middle daughter is very small in her hips so I had to find a bikini bottom that had a size 6M-9M hips size (without a diaper) and needed to have the option of a skirt. It took me quite some time. Either I did find a great looking bikini pattern but it started at 2Y or 12M and was still not the right size for our girl, or I did find a pattern with the right size but without the right options. In the end I found the  Children's Mairin Swims...

Ever since I sewed my first swimsuit I have overcome my fear for sewing swimwear. Nevertheless, I have not sewed one since then. Then I saw a tester call for the Moonbean Swimsuit by Petite Stitchery *, wow, I loved the cut-out version right away! I was one of the lucky testers to be chosen to test the Moonbeam Swimsuit .   I sewed two swimsuits during the test because there were small changes in the pattern. And now I just love sewing swimwear. You get to sew an original swimsuit (I love original one of a kind patterns) and you don't need much fabric. You do need some specific haberdasheries like swimelastic and swimsuit lining. I sewed the elastic with a regular zigzag stitch. I also have my coverlock, but I prefer my regular sewing machine. What I like about this pattern is that it uses the trunk length to adapt the pattern for different lengths and I really like that way of adapting a pattern for length.       The Moonbeam swimsuit has several o...

Are you afraid of sewing a swimsuit? I kind of was, although I did see the potential of sewing your own swimsuit (well for our girls at least). So when I saw a tester call for a super cute swimsuit, I jumped on the challenge and applied. The Honey Bee Swimsuit/Leotard * by Annelaine Patterns is a one piece swimsuit/leotard. What I love about the swimsuit are the straps on the back, although you can also omit these if you like (the straps will stay up). In total there are six straps, but you can add as many or few as you like. The fit of the swimsuit is perfect and comes in sizes 6M - 24M (babies) and 2 - 20. You can choose whether to sew in elastic in the arms or legs or add bands. Additionally, you can line the swimsuit or leotard or make an unlined version. Since I did not have any swimsuit fabric at home, (so much fabric in my stash, but not any swimsuit fabric), meant I had to do some shopping. I sewed two during testing, but I am only showing you the final version at t...