Day: 14 August 2016

children's clothing, kids clothing, sewing, tween

Nantucket One-Piece swimsuit

One pair of bathers apparently wasn’t enough for our FNQ holiday – Clare needed a one-piece as well!

Nantucket Swimsuit by Peekaboo Patterns in Rathdowne Fabrics print

Okay, I have a confession – Clare wasn’t the one pushing the “I need more bathers” barrow – it was me wanting to sew more of the lovely swimwear fabric that was in my stash! This fabric came from Rathdowne Fabrics. Those butterflies and flowers are so pretty! This was such a pretty fabric that it called for a fairly simple pattern. And I found the Peekaboo Patterns Nantucket One-Piece swimsuit pattern in my stash. I think I’d originally bought it as part of a pattern bundle.

Nantucket Swimsuit by Peekaboo Patterns in Rathdowne Fabrics print

Of course, the back is the highlight of these bathers. Such a lovely low scoop, highlighted with cross-over straps. The description from the website is as follows:  Get ready for a trip to the seashore with the Nantucket One-Piece Swimsuit! The Nantucket features a gathered front neckline and cross-back straps finished in a darling bow. With excellent bum coverage your little one will be comfortable playing all day long in a suit that’s sure to please. Check the Ultimate Swimsuit Fabric Shopping Guide for help finding the perfect fabric for your project 🙂 Tutorial includes tips for sewing on swimsuit fabric and achieving a professional finish. No serger required. Includes instructions for an optional lining.  Pattern comes with a full tutorial and color photos in an easy to print PDF. Pattern pieces are computer generated and color coded for easy cutting. 

Nantucket Swimsuit by Peekaboo Patterns in Rathdowne Fabrics print

This pattern ranges in size from 3 months to size 12.  I used a combination of sizes 10 and 12 for Clare, grading up to the 12 for her hips.  I fully lined the bathers, then zig-zagged the edges together and treating them as one.  The edging was all done with fold-over elastic, so I had to depart from the instructions a little bit there. These were faster to sew than I had anticipated, and once again all the sewing was done on the sewing machine. That zig-zag stitch really earned its place!

Nantucket Swimsuit by Peekaboo Patterns in Rathdowne Fabrics print

If anything, the upper chest is a little wide and bags a fraction. The pattern has a casing here, with the ties threaded through it, which would gather it in a little. I could have probably pulled the elastic tighter when applying it to the upper front, which would have had the same effect. However, we’re both happy with these bathers overall.

adult's clothing, sewing

Style Arc Dahlia tunic

When I bought the Daphne Duo patterns, the Dahlia tunic was one of the free patterns for the month.  I buy Style Arc patterns in pdf format via Etsy or Gumroad, but prefer to buy the hard copy via the Style Arc website – and there is also a free pattern on offer with every purchase.  This one was right up my alley.

Style Arc Dahlia tunic in Indian block printed cotton

From the Style Arc website: DAHLIA TUNIC:  Three different looks in one – Boxy top + Singlet top + Layered Tunic. The trendy boxy top can be worn alone or as a layered piece with the attached singlet, of course the singlet can be made separately as a basic for your wardrobe. So many alternatives, different colours, textures, prints – the choice is yours.  FABRIC SUGGESTION: Crepe, Silk, Rayon.

dahlia-tunic

Once again I scrabbled through my stash.  It is a rather deep stash!  I came up with this beautiful soft block printed Indian cotton that was a gift my sister-in-law brought back for me after a holiday.  I love getting fabric gifts!  I thought that it would be perfect for the overlayer.  For the underlayer I dug even further into the stash and found some navy fabric of indistinct origin.

Style Arc Dahlia tunic in Indian block printed cotton

I was able to cut the fabric to take advantage of the border print across the front. I also cut bias strips to use for binding the armholes of the underlayer.

Style Arc Dahlia tunic in Indian block printed cotton

The sleeveless top underneath is sewn to the overlayer at the neckline, but that’s all. You can sort of see it in these photos.

Style Arc Dahlia tunic in Indian block printed cotton

The small darts coming from the armholes provide lovely bust shaping, and fit my C cup quite well. They’d be easy to alter for different sizes.

Style Arc Dahlia tunic in Indian block printed cotton

The overlayer is much larger than the top underneath, and floats quite nicely over it. Style Arc suggest that both pieces could be made independently, and that is definitely the case. I can envisage this top made up with a lace overlayer and a contrasting fabric for the sleeveless top underneath. You could play with fabric combinations quite a lot.

Style Arc Dahlia tunic in Indian block printed cotton

I am rather drawn to patterns that have a looser layer over a more fitted one at the moment, and have identified quite a few that are already in my stash. These include Style Arc Tammy, Style Arc Kylie (already sewn once but as yet unblogged) and Butterick 6048. I can see a bit of experimentation with this silhouette ahead of me.

Style Arc Dahlia tunic in Indian block printed cotton

By the way, the pants are vintage McCalls 8149 and were blogged here.