SUMMERTIME!!!! Time to break out the swimsuits!!! If you're like me, you constantly feel like you're buying new swimsuits! I especially LOVE rash guards since the coastal waters here get a bit frigid!

Well! If you up for a bit of summer sewing, there's a new rash guard pattern on the block you should get!!!!! I made 3, one for each kiddo, as part of the Summer Swimwear Tour, hosted by Call Ajaire!
I had the most incredible time photographing the girls and they rock those rad swimsuits LIKE. A BOSS!

Yowzers, has it been a relaxing one for you so far? Ours has been craaaaaaaazy hectic, filled with lots of life changes!  We did manage to sneak in our annual beach trip which was magical as usual but went by too fast!

Just Keep Swimming Pattern!

While we were there, I got invited to be a part of Ajaire's Summer Swimwear Tour featuring designers such as herself, Gracious Threads, and the Wolf and the Tree, {affiliate links} as well as fabrics courtesy of Imaginegnats {affiliate link}.  Man, I wish I could have planned another beach trip to take pictures but the coast is over 2 hours away!  BOOOOOOO!  We ended just having a backyard {kiddie} pool party and had a blast!  I had so much fun taking pictures... Guess how many you think I took:  100? 200? nope.  Try 300 pictures!!!  Try whittling down from 320 pictures... It is quite the daunting task! 

Ready for some irony?  I had just bought rash guard swimwear for the girls right before the trip (the coast is known for being frigid here), managing to accommodate everyone except for me having to make some bottoms for Azriella.  Oh, well, now they have a bevy of swimsuits lol!

That being said, I bee-lined for the Wolf and the Tree rash guard suit pattern called Just Keep Swimming!  I used some lycra from my stash for Akira's suit, and I used a remnant I had from my Tangram Xmas Dress fabric that I designed myself for Azriella's top.  I decided to indulge and order some fabric from Imaginegnats for Azriella's bottoms and another fabric I hadn't made a plan for at the time. 

Some tidbits of info about the pattern:

• It comes in a wide range of sizes and customizations.

• For the best fit, don't necessarily just pick one size for both the top and bottom. I found that out by my last suit, wishing that I would have taken that into account for the others. Not a big deal because I love them all but just something to keep in mind ;-)

• Love that it has a lined option which is great for lighter colored fabrics.

I chose to do basically the same cut for them all but different sleeve lengths and swapping briefs for boyshorts for Akira (and I added a tuxedo stripe for a better fit over her swim diaper butt).

Akira

(2T, long sleeve, boy-shorts)

So, all of their tops are the non-color-blocked version with the bikini top length. 

Azriella

(5, 6, 7 blended sizing, medium length sleeve, high waist brief)

Azriella's and Akira's are lined, while Sephira's is not.

Sephira

(4T, 5 blend, short sleeves, high waist brief)

And speaking of Sephira, I hadn't planned on making her one, up until the day of the photoshoot, even.  I told her if she helped clean up the back yard she would get a swimsuit, which, secretly had to happen because I didn't want to avoid taking pictures of one child during such a fun shoot, that would be so mean!  And hers fits the best of all!  Go figure!  It's that old adage: third times a charm, I suppose!

Sephira is such a boss and posing these days!  We cranked up the David Bowie and they sang along while I spent my time crouched on the ground, dealing with trying to shoot manual on a very "actively cloudy" and sunny day.  My f-stops were all over the place! 

The pool seemed like it would be the epicenter of the day until I turned on the sprinkler! Then the yard became very divided!  Azriella and Akira darting back and forth in the ice cold water from the sprinkler.  Sephira flattened out in the warm kiddie pool, squealing every time the cold water hit her!!

She was the first to call "All done!" while the other two spent another hour outside in the pool!  It was a very relaxing shoot (as long as I kept my camera out of the way of the sprinkler, which wasn't always an easy feat!)

Deck time!

Pool time!

Sprinkler time!

I managed to score some pretty sweet profile shots. 

As well as some adorable shots of all of them together!  Sweet!  They're normally running around in opposite directions of each other!

My bestie, Max, is also on the tour and Eddie is just unreal with cuteness.  I mean, it's the dead of winter there and she couldn't look more made in the shade!  Go check it out now! 

And make sure to stop by Ajaire to enter the giveaway, plus some coupon codes for a lot of the patterns! 

What are your favorite swimming patterns? I'd love to know what you've sewn up! 

hugs + stitches + many many smooches,

kat

Derp time!