Hello Sewing Friends!
It’s Tamar from Tamar Hope Designs, and I’m so excited that it's officially beach season! I’m so ready for it and super excited to sew all the custom swim for my kids! It’s so fun to get to pick the exact style and fabric that they love. And I am a big fan of good coverage, so I don’t have to worry so much about sun screen!!!! Sewing swimsuits allows me to make them exactly how I and my kids want them! This year I wanted to make a color blocked rash guard. So, I set out to color block the Arbor top and make it a rash guard. I love how it turned out, so I’ll share the deets with you so you can make your own! It’s really a very easy hack!
Cutting
First, you have to color block your pattern pieces. This is easier than it might seem. First cut a strip off the outer edge of your front and back pattern pieces. I cut 2.5 inches off.
Flip your back pattern pieces over. Tape the two cut off portions together at the side seam. This piece becomes your accent piece. If you want to maintain the ease of Arbor, you will need to add ⅜” between the two side pieces. I wanted to reduce the ease since it is a swim top, so I did not add the extra seam allowance. This reduces the ease of the top by ¾”.
Sewing
The side accents make the piece come together a little differently than the Arbor tutorial. First you will need to sew the accent pieces to each side of the front piece right sides together.
Press the seams toward the center piece and topstitch. Tip: if your topstitching ends up making the fabric wavy, iron with lots of steam.
Attach the side accents to the back center piece right sides together. This will create a continuous loop.
Turn and press the seams toward the center back and topstitch.
Fold the sleeves in half right sides together and sew the arm seam with a ¾” seam allowance (this accounts for the reducing the ease by ⅜” on each side of the body of the top).
Slide the sleeve into the sleeve opening right sides together and sew to attach.
Since you sewed the sleeve with a ¾” seam allowance, you also need to sew the cuffs together with a ¾” seam allowance.
Finish the top following the Arbor tutorial.
And that’s all there is to it!
For the swim skirt, I used the palm skort. I attached the Orchid bottoms to the skort instead of the shorts and added the Orchid waist elastic to the Palm waistband. I love this new option for swim bottoms!!!! It’s so cute!
Enjoy sewing all the swim this season!!!
-Tamar