2021 Suit Up for Summer with Raspberry Creek Fabrics

What an amazing week it has been! I have been incredibly inspired by all of the talented sewists that contributed to the blog tour. Raspberry Creek Fabrics has so many amazing swim prints this year in summer collection, and I want to make them all!

But before I start making all the plans and buying all of the fabric, let’s talk about the suits I already did sew up 🙂 For the first time ever I made 4 coordinating swimsuits for my 4 youngest kids!! I am sure they will never all 4 wear them at the same time again, so I had to be sure to grab several group pictures!

My kids definitely each have their own style, so I tried to pick a suit/fabric combo that suited each child. In the end, they each loved their suits, so I think I did pretty good.

First up is Braelyn! Braelyn is 12 years old and she is my competitive swimmer. For some reason, I never sew suits for her since she has specific suits she needs to wear for swim meets and practice. However, when she saw the Teal Peacock Tie Dye Print, she told me that she had to have it! The print is perfectly on trend!

As a side note, Braelyn cannot get over how great the fabric feels. Braelyn wears a lot of swimsuits and she is in love with the silky softness of the fabric. It really is great quality!

For Braelyn’s suit we went with the Panama Suit Pattern by Striped Swallow Designs in a size 12. I love that little scooped out detail in the front, but I will be honest, the back has my heart! I have never made this pattern before and all in all it went together really well. However, next time I will make sure I do a quick fit check before I top-stitch the back straps in place. My daughter was at school, so I just used the measurements provided in the tutorial. At first it was gapping just slightly on the sides under the arms, so I just needed to take out the tacked stitches holding the straps in place and make them a little shorter. Not the end of the world, but next time I will make time for a quick fit-check try on.

Also, I wanted to add that I did line this suit with white swim fabric. Given that the coloring of the fabric is so light and my daughter is 12, I wanted to make sure she was comfortable wearing it and not nervous about anything being see through, especially because I did not put any pads in the chest area.

For Landon, I used the Kayak Boardshorts pattern by Love Notions in a size 10, I have used this pattern before and he loves it! I paired it with the Aqua Blue Magenta Yellow and Green Tropical, which gives him a true tropical feel 🙂

I kept this pattern pretty simple; I omitted the pockets and the waist tie. But, I do want to add, that the fact the pattern has in-seam pockets is a great option, but since Landon is 10 and is usually just swimming at home, he didn’t think he would need the pockets. The only thing I changed about the pattern is the waistband. The pattern calls for a knit waistband, but I opted to keep it consistent with the same fabric. I just made the waistband the same size as the top of the pants and sewed a casing. I also did 2 rows of topstitching along the waistband to reduce bulk and make it look more polished.

That brings us to Peyton. Peyton is my fairest-skin child and she is always burning her shoulders. She is 8 and and very active. She loves to dance, any time, any place. As soon as I saw the Antibes from the Little Lizard King, I knew that was the suit for Peyton. The Rashard top will help protect her shoulders and she can easily move around in it, since it feels like a workout shirt 🙂 I paired it with the Navy Blue and White Tie Dye Stripe Print for the top and the solid navy blue for the bikini bottom.

The Antibes was the easiest swimsuit that I made (out of the girls anyway). The Rashard top just goes together like a regular t-shirt, and the bikini bottoms went together so quickly. I know that many people just use a regular t-shirt pattern for their Rashard’s, but I loved having a pattern that was designed to fit as a Rashard so I did not need to make any alterations. The only other thing to note was I did line the front of the shirt with swim lining. I probably did not need it, but I figured I would rather be safe than sorry. I just basted the swim lining to the front main fabric piece. Once the lining was basted to the fabric, I just treated it like one piece of fabric.

And finally, the baby of the family, Everly. She loves to dress up and is always looking for a good twirl factor. I knew the Made for Mermaids pattern, the Calypso pattern was just what I needed! I used the solid navy blue for the top and paired it with the Colorful Animal Print for the high waisted bottoms. I am totally and completely in love with this one!! I will definitely be making more for Everly, and probably for her 8 year-old sister.

Everly is 6 (turning 7 in August). I sewed a size 6 top and a size 7 bottom. They fit perfectly! I love the high waisted bottoms, even though she keeps pulling them down. So I guess it works both ways 🙂

This is the first time I ever sewed the Calypso, even though I bought it when it was first released. I was nervous about sewing all of those layers around the top, but really did sew beautifully. I honestly think that is just another testament to the great quality of Raspberry Creek Fabrics. It all sewed so beautifully!

I am obsessed with how they all look together!

Oh, and in case anyone was wondering… it was 68 degrees and cloudy when we took these pictures, and yet the girls still needed to test out the water.

Thank you Raspberry Creek Fabrics for yet another Amazing Blog Tour. It has been a fun and inspiring week!!

You can use the code SWIMTOUR for 15% off all swim fabrics this week during the tour and through the weekend. And of course, be sure to check out all the amazing bloggers on the Swim Tour this year!

Sew Mary Mac Merritts Makes Wild + Wanderful Call Ajaire

Made by Kates Violet and Jewels Sweet Mama Life All Things Katy!

Intensely Distracted Pins & Pinot My Heart Will Sew On The Petite Sewist

All My Spare Time Kara Metta Handcrafted by RED Sincerely, Shantelle

Replicate Then Deviate That’s Sew Kari Desert Blooms Boo + Lu

A huge thank you to our sponsors and don’t forget to check out today’s giveaway!!
Again, you can find the tour on Instagram with the hashtag: #suitupforsummer2021