Guest Post: Mae with The Life of a Compulsive Crafter

Today we're lucky enough to have one of our good friends and one of our favorite bloggers grace us with her presence. Mae is from The Life of a Compulsive Crafter where she shares her amazing talent and cool style with the rest of us.  She also has an Etsy shop, Mae & Co., full of hip clothing for the littles in your life.  Check her out!  Thanks, Mae, for letting us show you off!

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Warm weather is finally here! This project couldn't have been finished at a better time - with winter over we were swept quickly into swimsuit season. Last years suit is good and all... if you like wedgies. I guess my long & lean girl has grown a few inches lengthwise since last year.  It's been a goal for the last couple of years to sew her a swimsuit, but each year I'm caught off guard + intimidated by the idea of creating swimwear.

I will be intimidated no longer!
I made my first swimsuit and there's truly no reason to fear. 

My 6 yr old daughter Lily chose the fabric for her suit. She wavered between black with metallic silver polka dots and this one, eventually deciding that pink and purple "animal skin" (as she called it) was the way to go. 

I chose to use the Peekaboo Pattern called the Santa Monica Sweetheart Tankini pattern that had separates because being tall and skinny means many suits in her size are either too wide or not long enough (again - wedgie). I won the pattern a few years ago but this was my first time putting it together.

When cutting out the pattern I used the measurement chart to choose a size 3t in width and a size 6t in length. Sheesh, no wonder RTW swimwear wasn't meeting her needs. 

I chose to fully line the suit. I feel like it adds to the quality and longevity of it and I had issues understanding the patterns directions about lining the crotch portion.  Plus, who wants to take their kid to the pool and find out their swimsuit is see through? (YIKES!) I chose to be cautious.

Heads up though: I'm pretty confident in my ability to construct a pattern and this really helped me understand the directions. If you're new or unsure of your construction skills, you may need to either consider a different pattern for your first suit or get acquainted via online tips and tutorials before trying it out. It took me extra time to consider the sizing adjustments when cutting the pieces too, so this is especially so if you have a child who requires custom sizing (Ex: my 3t width paired with 6t length).

Details:

I purchased the fabric at Joann's in the swimwear/dance fabric section. They didn't have a large range to choose from, but since it was for a child it wasn't a big deal. I used both my serger and sewing machine during construction. Although many instructions say to sandwich the raw edges in by the binding then sew it on all at once, I always attach the binding to the wrong side (with my zig zag stitch) first, then fold it over and tuck the raw edge under. Then I topstitch with another zig zag stitch. I find it much easier to do that way. 

Thanks for inviting me back to share ladies!