HANDMADE Wardrobe // new swim

fabric: sport Lycra from Spoonflower, print is by Erin Kendal

Penny’s swimsuit: Megan Nielsen Mini Cottesloe swimsuit with added skirt (hack tutorial here)

my swim top: self drafted

my swim bottoms: Megan Nielsen Patterns Cottesloe swimsuit

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Its that time of year again, time for some new handmade swimsuits. As if I didn’t make enough last year. While I love all of my Cottesloes, I wanted to try something different this time- a bandeau style with long tie straps.

If you’re looking for a basic bandeau style sewing pattern, the Edgewater Avenue Flynn top is pretty much exactly the look I ended up with. I almost used the Flynn pattern, but I was lazy and didn’t want to get my computer out and print the pages. And I figured, it was a simple enough shape, I can self-draft that, right? So I did. And by self-draft, I mean not very technically. I basically just took some measurements and drew the shape I wanted by hand, and then went through a few trials for fit. It was my first time making a swim top without elastic (Cottesloe uses elastic along the neckline and armholes). So like I said, trial and error. The first one I made was way too tight, especially once the lining was in. The second one’s shape was funny, it dipped slightly in the front and drove me crazy. But the third was spot on!

For the straps, I just cut 4 long strips, sewed them in half wrong side together to create long tubes and then turned them right side out. I placed them 3.5” in from the side seam on each side, sandwiched in between the outer fabric and lining.

For the underbust band, I used the pattern piece from Cottesloe, just adjusted the length measurement to match this suit. And that’s it! It was actually pretty simple once I had the pattern figured out. I also sewed two layers of lining on the front of the top so I could add removable bust pads. This is something I do often, and I will have a tutorial for how to do it on a Cottesloe top (but applies to any swim or bra) up on Design Diary soon.

Penny’s swimsuit is my absolute favorite style to make her. It’s a mini Cottesloe with added skirt/peplum overlay at the waist. I wrote a tutorial for this last year (linked at the top of this post). It’s my favorite style on her, and she loves to twirl!

hanndmade wardrobe // mini cottelsoes

swimsuits: Megan Nielsen Patterns Cottesloe and mini Cottesloe

gingham fabric: Raspberry Creek Fabrics

pink monstera leaf fabric: Spoonflower

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Guys, I’m so excited to finally be able to share these with you of the newly released Mini Cottesloe swimsuit! I went a little crazy during testing and made P three new suits (you’ll see two in this post, I’ll show you the last one in another post).

You may recognize my suits and the fabrics from previous posts. Luckily I had saved all my leftover fabric after making mine, and had just enough to squeeze out Penny’s matching ones.

Just like with the mini Eucalypt, Penny fell just under the measurements for the smallest size 3. For the gingham one piece, I shortened the one piece by about 3/4”, but probably could’ve taken off a little bit more, too, or at least tightened up the elastic along the back neckline. See how there is a bit of gaping underneath the back ties? Thats where I would re-work it next time.

On the two piece, I left it as is, purposefully leaving it a little bit big. She only was going to wear this one a couple times this summer, so I wanted iit to fit her next year, too! Overall, I’m pretty happy with the coverage on her. I may add a little bit more width to the bum next time, though. Just my personal preference. The coverage is pretty good, but with a lot of movement (hello, toddler) it shifts a bit and rides up. Still not horrible, and shes not like, flashing everyone haha, but just thinking a small adjustment might help!