Preparing for Summer 2022 and Tips on Sewing with Swim with Jasmine of Sewing with CWay

March 21, 2022 1 Comment

I really can’t believe it is March already, ugh! This year seems like Summer is coming waaaayy too fast. Before we know it, we will be headed to the beach, water parks, rivers and lakes. How do you prepare for warm weather plans?  I know many of us have been hunkering down trying our best to stay healthy and this year seems to be the year that many of us are taking a step from our life of hermitry (is that a word? Hahaha!) 

This year my family and I are READY for the Summer sun, warm weather, and activities that we’ve put on hold for the last couple of years. Of course, one of those activities is being by or in the water. Last year was my first year sewing swim suits and it was definitely a learning curve. Swim material is NOTORIOUS for being slippery, easily stretched out and overall can be difficult to work with, especially  as a first-timer. 

Here are a few tips that have helped me sew swim:

• Use ballpoint, stretch or microtext needles. 
• Ball point and stretch needs are specifically designed for stretchy fabrics, they have a rounded edge that glides between the stitched and stead of trying to punch their way through. 
• Microtext needles are SUPER sharp and thin, so they can precisely stitchthrough the swim material, minimizing the fabric from sliding into your bobbin plate and causing nesting.
• Use a serger. You can pretty much construct an entire swim suit on a serger; its stitches allow for material to stretch but also cuts excess material while giving you a nice professional finish to your seams.
• If you don’t have a serger, invest in a walking foot for your sewing machine. These devices help feed the material evenly through the machine to minimize over stretching an uneven seams. I love mine and it works well with non-stretch material too!

Since I’ve gotten my techniques down,  I have been cranking out the suits left and right, and, of course, I am always on the lookout for some unique swim prints that fit my kids’ personalities. For my youngest two, they are so alike it’s kind of scary (in looks and likes)! There’s a three year difference between them, but they typically like the same things;  cars and dinosaurs. So this dino print (link here)was perfect to make a brother sister set. I used Raspberry Creek Fabrics regular swim fabric (stretchy) with their swim lining (link here) for my daughter’s bikini and I used their boardshort fabric (non-stretch) for my son’s swim shorts.

Parents, you know how matching sets work…someone always feels left out >_<.  Which in this case, it was my oldest who felt a little slighted LOL. Cue the mommy and me set. The set works because our styles are very similar, we tend to like more organic prints but also love bold colors. Plus, tie dye has been making a huge comeback the past year or so. For our swim I used Raspberry Creek Fabrics Navy Blossom and Peacock Teal Tie Dye Stripe (link here) for our sets!

I’m so excited for Summer this year and more importantly that my kids and I will be swimming in style!

Until next time 😉

Jasmine

Swimsuit details:

Kids Bikini (Dinos and Tie Dye): Lowland Kids Reversible Swim Top (link here) and Lowland Kids Reversible Swim Bottoms (link here)

Swim Trunks (Dinos): Colours for Baby Boy Swim Shorts (link here)

Adult Bikini (Tie Dye): Ellie and Mac Oasis Swimsuit Pattern (link here) 

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