Blinded by the light

First of all.  Check the farmers tanning goin' on up in here.  Like check it.  Superman and I are raising legit Idahoans.  ;)

Second.  Happy June 1st.  May all your summery dreams come true.

And third.  Swimsuits.  This is like straight up scruffy nerf herder of me, but I really dig making swimsuits for my girls.  I like to customize them.  My girls like picking out their own material and they get all tickled when they get their own one of a kind suit.  That being said, I don't know that I'll do this swimsuit making stuff every year, but it's a great option when you missed last year's swimsuit sale and you can get the fabric at a discount price.  Plus you have all the swimsuit elastic from last year.

#talesofamiserlymom

The best part about a swimsuit is that while it's not the easiest thing to sew, I'm discovering that it's definitely not the hardest.  So what I'm saying is that it's attempt-able.

I love peplums and I'm a huge fan of the Pretty in Peplum pattern, so I  did a little hack and turned it into a swimsuit.

Plus another swimsuit.  

I made a few notes on each one that I thought I'd record.  For posterity....but really just for me next year when I'm sure to forget what I did.

• Sew using a double needle or a stretch needle with a zigzag stitch.  I used a simple zigzag on these.
• Take off 1-2 inches from both sides of the shirt so that it fits tighter like a swimsuit.
• Don't do a facing, just turn the neckline wrong sides together and zig zag around the neckline.
• Omit sleeves.  Simply turn the arm holes under wrong sides together and zig zag around
• Use the dress length of the shirt for a higher peplum top. (like the bright coral suit)
• or leave the the shirt length for a longer suit top (like the light pink/purple suit) 
• Use swimsuit elastic for the neckline and clear elastic for the arm/leg holes.  Gently pull the elastic while you sew.  Don't pull so tight that you ruffle the fabric, just pull it enough to make the opening a little smaller.  You still want it to have a little "give" so that it will lay nicely.  You can tell that Lila's top wasn't pulled enough so it's a little loose.  I unpicked and re-did that after pictures.  :)

I drafted the bottoms myself and while they don't look amazing in the pictures since they're covering a lumpy diaper, they actually turned out pretty well.

These are tankini style so potty trips/diaper changes will be a breeze....I mean as easy as potty trips and diaper changes can be, right?

Right.

Happy swimming!  My little girlies will be blinding all other pool goers for the rest of the summer.