Skip to main content

Made by a Fabricista: Tween Swimwear and Tween Sewing

By

I have begun the adventure that is sewing for a "tween."  I knew it would come to this one day, and I knew that I would be just fine if my daughter no longer wanted anything made by Mom, after all that's just more sewing time for ME!!  However, my daughter still prefers that I make her a few special items that we are hard-pressed to find in a store.  As women we know that finding swimwear we love is a chore but for my tween, it seems as if the options are even more limited.



On a recent shopping excursion we found all sorts of impractical frilly swimwear for her age group but nothing that looked as if it might hold up to a long day of hard play on the beach.  In addition my daughter prefers more modest swimwear, none of which we could find.  Soooo Mom to the rescue.




I turned to Fabric Mart's great collection of Jalie patterns for this swimsuit and they did not disappoint.  The swim shorts pattern is really, really good.  I highly recommend it, I do have one important word of caution.  The last step in the instructions for these swim shorts is completely wrong and you'll need to go to the Jalie site to copy the correction- otherwise you'll be really lost.

These shorts turned out so perfectly for my daughter, the fit is just right.  There's a brief type lining with a great swimshort on top.  A side pocket is included which my daughter can't wait to use for collecting shells.  The construction hides the secure stitching that holds the elastic in place- clever!


The fabric is some I previously purchased from Fabric Mart, I love their end of summer mark downs on swimwear fabric and try to grab some before its quickly purchased by everyone else! This particular swimwear fabric (stripes) is thicker than the coral (lining)  and I love it.  



The top is a converted Julia bralette with added straps.  It turned out a bit snug on the elastic (which, warning cannot be altered after the fact) however she should be able to get a summers wear from it.

I believe just about any bralette can be converted to a swimsuit.  For this top I triple lined the front portion for my daughter's comfort.
 

Maybe you've never sewn swimwear and are unsure about tackling such a project.  I would definitely encourage you to go for it.  In my opinion its a really satisfying make since you spend a heck of a lot less than you would if you bought such a suit at a store or online.  You can get closer to your ideal swimsuit as well with grading and adjustments.

You really don't need any special equipment, I used a simply zig zag stitch for most construction and you can use it for all construction if you don't have a serger.  You will need a stretch needle so as not to snag or puncture the fabric.


I'm wondering if any of you are currently sewing for a tween and are discovering (as I have) that there are limited options for tweens?  If so I'd like to make a few recommendations for patterns.

  1. Jalie patterns include all sizes, one word of caution, I do find that they fit a little snug so be sure to check your measurements including finished measurements for a proper fit. 
  2. Hey June Handmade has a line of tween patterns that are really cute.  The Camden tee is a favorite in my house as well as the Morrison tee.
  3. New Look patterns have a few tween patterns that are even marked "tween." 
  4. McCalls and Simplicity have some tween fashions that are pretty cute and I ended up using McCalls 7680 for my daughter's Easter dress.  Admittedly some of these patterns are strange or definitely not to a tween's liking but if your tween is anything like mine she'll be quick to inform you which is which!
 I am also careful to get my daughter's input on fabric choices.  I want her to enjoy whatever I might make for her and since she is at an age where her self awareness is heightening I want to be collaborative in creating something she'll love wearing.  The last thing I ever want is for her to feel like that sad kid who's Mom insisted she wear some drab "homemade" concoction that is completely out of touch.  Ha ha, why be that person when I could use my valuable time sewing for myself!

I hope this post was helpful in encouraging you to sew swimwear and to have even more courage to dare to sew for a tween!

Thanks for reading!
Elizabeth

Comments

Post a Comment

Thanks for leaving a comment! All comments are reviewed before posting to help us eliminate spam. Your comment will be posted within 24 hours.

Recent Posts You Might Like

Made by a Fabricista: What to Make with Silk Taffeta

By
You may have noticed that Fabric Mart has a *HUGE* selection of silk taffeta right now.  A lot of it is either large plaid or large stripes.   I was curious about it, and not really sure what I could make with it, but I just knew it would be gorgeous fabric and had to play around with it.  Turns out, it's actually great for quite a range of projects!  The dress above is my third project. Let me show you the first two. My first was to make some queen size pillow shams.  They are the plaid ones in the back of the photo.  I also made the two printed ones in the center from another Fabric Mart home dec fabric special!  I wanted to make the covers removable with a zipper, and include a braided trim.  As luck would have it, I found a whole card of braided trim at an estate sale that worked with my taffeta for just $2! To start, I used a zipper foot to stitch down the braided trim all around one side of the pillow. Then I serged ...
8 comments
Continue Reading »

Made By A Fabricista: Mechanic Chic!

By
When it comes to buying ready-to-wear garments as a sewist, I only ever spend in three categories: heavy duty winter jackets (life in Maine!), bras… and jumpsuits! I love a good jumpsuit, but unfortunately the ones I used to buy have been impacted by the tariff situation and I can’t get them affordably anymore. This can only mean one thing, folks: it’s time to roll up my sleeves and sew my very first jumpsuit!  When I started planning for this project, I knew I wanted to use a heavyweight linen for cozy comfort in the fall and breathability in the summer. I wanted something that would wear beautifully and soften with age, and something with neutral tones that could go with everything. Naturally, when I came across this 100% linen canvas on Fabric Mart, my heart skipped a beat! I love the ikat-inspired geometry and something about it reminds me of leopard spots too. Bold yet wearable! I am pretty sure this fabric was intended for home decor which I don’t mind at all and in fact of...
7 comments
Continue Reading »

Made By A Fabricista: Tried and true summer basics that fit.

By
Happy Summer Friends! As I am writing this, we are headed into a nasty heat wave…so the timing could not be better to share two of my favorite summer patterns and fabrics.  But first, let me tell you about the fail I had heading into this month’s blog… As Fabricista’s, we get to pick out fabric for each of our blog submissions. I fell in love with this gorgeous lilac jacquard knit that I thought would be perfect for a pop of color in my summer wardrobe. But I made a fatal error - I grabbed a pattern I haven’t made for years, quickly went up one size to account for a few new pounds, and sewed them up. And they don’t fit, will NEVER fit, and will never be worn. Sigh…when will I learn?? Here’s a flat lay pic so we can at least look at the lovely fabric: The lesson I learned (relearned!) is that just like with off the rack clothes, the things that worked well for me years ago don’t work well for me today.  And that’s the case with both tops and bottoms. So I went back to two patt...
1 comment
Continue Reading »

A Yard And Change

By
Do you have a fabric that you love and has been hanging around but is too small to use? Maybe you found a wonderful fabric with a super cute print but there's only a yard left.  I've got a few projects I worked on all with roughly a yard of fabric. And I have a few tips for making that yard and change go further! Cutting Layout: You can get a lot more mileage out of a yard of fabric if you can get creative with how you lay out your fabric. Cutting things single layer will give you the most control. My favorite thing to do is unfold the fabric and fold the selvages in to meet in the middle. That gives me two folded edges to work with. I had to overlap these to get enough width for the tank top. Just make sure that your pattern pieces don't also overlap!  This one was especially fun for me because I really loved the print on this swimwear knit but am not yet up to sewing swimwear. But a nice flowy hiking tank is perfect for this! In the future I'd love to experiment with...
1 comment
Continue Reading »