Welcome to the SwimAlong!
Katie over at Kadiddlehopper and I are co-hosting a swimwear sewalong. We aren’t providing you with a pattern to make. Rather, we’ll be setting things up for you so you have the smoothest of times sewing your first swimsuit, swimmer, bather- so many great names to call these water bound garments.
When you see this banner above, you’ll know you’re in SwimAlong territory. I’ll also make sure to let you know when Katie has a SwimAlong post on her blog only, but really, you just need to follow her blog. She sews all the time and has some great tutorials you might find interesting.
For the SwimAlong, we’ll have guest posts on both our blogs as well as our own tips and inspiration for you. In two months, May and June, we can cover a lot but we can’t cover everything- hey, just like a swimsuit. If you aren’t seeing a topic you wish we’d talk about, leave a comment and we’ll see what we can do.
Here’s the schedule and what you can expect:
May 1 Katie & Leila Swimalong Welcome
May 3 Leila- Inspiration: Vintage look, 30s
May 8 Katie- Inspiration: Vintage look, 50s
May 10 Leila- Inspiration: Victorian swimsuits
May 15 Katie- Inspiration: Scuba Chic
May 17 Leila- Inspiration: Geek it out
May 22 Katie- Inspiration: Kid’s Stuff
May 24 Katie- Choosing patterns and swim construction resources
May 29 Katie- Choosing fabrics and where to shop
May 31 Katie- Notions
June 5 Guest Post! Brooke from CustomStyle: Process Guide for Creating a One of a Kind Suit (on Leila’s blog)
June 7 Leila- Flattering a full bust
June 12 Guest Post! Norma from Orange Lingerie: Adding Support to your Swimsuit (on Leila’s blog)
June 14 Leila- How to choose and insert Swim Cups
June 19 Guest Post! Sarah from Musings of a Seamstress: Pro tips (on Katie’s blog)
June 21 Guest Post! LadyKatza from PeanutButterMacrame Swim Coverup (on Katie’s blog)
June 26 Show and Tell! (only if you wanna)
June 28 Wrapping up
At the end of the Swimalong, all these topics will have links to the appropriate blog post for your convenience. You can also visit my blog and us
We’ll be going from today till the end of June, which is when we hope to parade your makes. You don’t want to pose in your suit for the internet? We completely understand. We welcome all photos. Put your suit on your double or on a bed or on your head. We do have a private Flickr group you are welcome to post in. Why private? We thought it would help with fitting and showing off our work without the stress some might feel when posting swim pictures online. To join, leave me your Flickr ID and Katie or I will send you an invite. We value everyone’s privacy.
So, join in the fun. Grab the code below for your blog button and enjoy!
Yay! I’m really excited to see all of this roll out! You two have done a lot of planning! 🙂
Thanks. I’m glad you’re playing. 🙂
I’m in! I’ve got two yards of spandex, lining and elastics all ready. Can’t wait to see some of the inspiration you’ve both gathered. My flickr is @boldgoods
Awesome! I just sent you an invite to your flickr mail. I’m glad you could join us.
Damn, look at you guys, planning and junk! 🙂
Ah, we impress you, eh? Well, excellent /\
Oh, wow – just look at that great schedule! Thanks for making me a part of all the fun! =)
I’m so glad you agreed to join in as a guest poster. 🙂
Oh, Looks Like Fun Leila! Congrats and also good luck with the co-hosting! Can’t wait to go swimming with summer.
Thanks! I’m really excited about this- yeah, I get really excited about most sewing, but still. This co-hosting is new and Katie is so awesome.
I really need to get to a beach soon. I’m twitchy.
I found your blog through your recent review on hourglassy.com and I’m looking forward to following the swimwear series. Do you think it will be appropriate for a sewing beginner?
Yay. I’m so glad you’re game for swimwear. I personally think anyone can sew anything with good instructions…and a sewalong. 🙂 Please try it. There will be lots of people to help here and in the Flickr group. If you’d like to join, just let me know your Flickr ID and I’ll send you an invite. I hope you do.
I would love to come play if I may : ) Ms. Tempest told me about this and I have a Mrs. Depeuw (sp?) pattern that needs to be made. I’m Loran_W on flickr.
Yay! Please join. I’m sending you a group invite and you should see it in your flickrmail tonight. Awesome!
I’d love to have a nice suit when swimming lesson season starts. This is just the thing!
Awesome. I’m so glad you’re joining up. Would you like me to send you an invite to the private flickr group? If so, leave me your flickr ID. yay
One of my stash busting project ideas was a swimsuit, so this is fantastic! Thank you for reading my mind.
Cool! I’m excited that you’re joining the swimalong. Hey, if you’d like me to send you a flickr group invite, let me know your ID. I’m trying to stashbust but I don’t think I really get the concept…meaning, I keep buying fabric. haha
On flickr, I am FabricAlchemist
Hi there! I just found your blog recently (although I can’t remember where from) so I haven’t commented before, but I thought you might be interested to know that in New Zealand swimsuits are commonly called togs!
Looking forward to seeing the sewalong!
Wait, I remember! Someone somewhere linked to your TNG skant and I loved it!
Oh, cool! I love my skant like nothing else I’ve made. I’m so glad you’re going to be around for the swimalong.
I think I heard the term togs when I was in Australia. I’m from South America and the same thing happens in Spanish. You can put 5 people in a room, from different Spanish-speaking countries, and you get 5 different names for the same fruit. I love it.
I’m not going to participate, but I was invited here by my friend Brooke. I’m a long-time collector of vintage bathing suits so I’d be happy to help with any historical questions if anyone cares to ask. I also have lots of photos that may help if anyone has any specific needs.
Lizzie
Hi Lizzie! Thanks for making yourself available. Thank you so much. I’d love for you to chime in on our historical posts.
This is awesome! I love making swimsuits. Sign me up – my Flickr ID is dixiediy
Thanks!
Awesome! I just sent you a flickr invite. Should be in your flickrmail. Let me know if you need anything. 🙂
I just linked over to your blog from twitter, and WHOA! First, I think I can commit to this SAL! GREAT idea. Second, your profile picture is AMAZING! LOVE the Trek dress!
yay! So glad you can join the SAL. Send me your flickr ID so I can invite you to the private flickr group. It’s private so more people will feel comfortable sharing pics of themselves in their bathing suits.
And thanks for the Trek dress love. it’s one of my favorite creations. I put up a tutorial on how to make it if you’re a Trek fan.
This is perfect timing. I saw this amazing top on Zulily this weekend but it only came in orange. Orange is just not my color! So, I thought I wonder if I could recreate that… I still have no idea how to do it but I have some motivation!
Btw this is the top if anyone has some good ideas. I am loving it with the high waisted bottoms but I just don’t get the two different color things… luckily if I diy I can do it my way!
http://kooey.com/products1.php?productID=KTB8L03
That swimsuit is so cute! Send me your flickrID so I can invite you to the flickr group and you can start a discussion on how to re-create this top.
If you have a wrap top already, I’d say go 2 sizes down, cut the wrap so it’s bra like and trim the ties so they tie in back.
Or, you could take a camisole you own and use the top half and extend lines out so to create ties.
I’ll sketch this out for you in the next couple of days. K?
You are amazing! My flickrID is “I AM Meg”.
I was trying to find the back of that suit but since it isn’t on Zulily anymore the link doesn’t work. I did find this suit though, the back is a little different but still another good example: http://www.zulily.com/p/royal-purple-tie-bikini-46339-3285642.html?s=1&pos=2147483647
cool. Yeah, I think that’s what I pictured it as. Let me get on that drawing for you. I have an idea for starting with this cami I own. Let me see what I can figure out. Oh, and I sent you a flickrmail with the invite. 🙂
Oh yes! Great idea for a sew-along… I’ve just made a beach-cover-up playsuit so I’m in full swing for holiday sewing. I best get searching out my ideal swimsuit pattern and fabric inspiration.
It might be already planned for pro tips… but I know I’ll need some guidance on sewing the elastic in – I’ve noticed most of the patterns require elastic around the leg holes. I know I’m going to struggle with this because I always feel like I’m fighting with my machine to zig-zag sew elastic when stretched. Some tips would be good for me on this topic.
I’m so glad you can join us. If you’d like you can send me your Flickr ID so I can invite you to the private group we’ve started. Y’know, so we don’t get flickr pervs looking at our swimsuit pics. 🙂
Oh, and we’ll totally have posts on construction. But if we don’t cover something fully enough, let me know.
I hope it is not too late I am mamemimo on Flickr.
I love sewing swimsuits, I make one or two for me and my daughter every year but I would love to improve and learn new techniques 😉
M
It’s never too late. 🙂 I’ll send you the flickr invite in a bit. You’ve made some really nice swimsuits! I hope you learn something from this sewalong. 🙂 En serio, lindos tus trajes.
I missed participating in the swim sew along, but enjoyed the posts and inspiration. I am currently working on drafting a tankini pattern for myself. I have made a few different styles of “test” bottoms, one from my TNT Ottobre Woman panty pattern tweaked to fit me, some drafted as clones from my RTW suits. I decided to work from the bottom up, and will most likely make my tankini based on a bra pattern, adding tummy coverage. So far I have one completed bottom and three more bottoms awaiting elastic attachment to finish up and try on. Sewing swimsuits is so much fun and so rewarding once I get the fit down… I have significant adjustments to make, and recent weight loss means I had to start from scratch on the fitting.