Raspberry Creek Swim Tour

I rarely pass up an opportunity to sew swimwear, so when Paisley Roots invited me to participate in the Raspberry Creek Swim Tour, I said yes! I love any time I get to use Raspberry Creek Fabric – they have great customer service, the shipping is fast, and their custom prints are so cute! The other plus is that their custom prints come a very affordable price point, and RCF releases a new collection every season, with solids to match!

Last spring/summer RCF began printing on swim fabric and they have just released their swim collection for 2019! This collection features 9 different solids, 39 swim prints, and 26 different board short prints. There is something for everyone in the family!

**Read to the end for the s and SALE codes from our sponsors!!

I recently got a gym membership at the Y, which is great, but the pool water is soooo cold. This new rashguard was made using the Jalie Patterns Valerie Swim Shirt/Rashguard pattern. I’m really hoping it will help keep me a bit warmer so I can enjoy swimming with my family. The print is called ‘Seaweed’. It is a little watercolor print with cheerful paisleys, droplets of water, and tiny little fish.

The top is fairly straightforward…I did add a shelf bra to the front and popped in a couple of bra pads (these are my absolute fabric swim bra pads – they provide a small bit of oomph and shape). I topstitched using a narrow reverse coverstitch. Good thing Joann’s had their serger thread on sale a couple weeks ago…I just happened to pick up this turquoise and it matched perfectly with this swim print!

I paired the swim shirt with the Womens’ Boardshorts by 5 out of 4 Patterns. I don’t usually wear swim shorts, but when I do I want them in a neutral color to match many of my swimsuits. This board short fabric is so very soft and was easy to work with. I recommend using a lightweight all-purpose needle or a microtex needle 70/10 or 80/12 (very sharp!) to avoid snagging your fabric.

I seem to gravitate (mostly) towards blues in my swimwear, so this navy will be perfect. I made a 3″ inseam (I added an inch to the shortest length). I could have graded down a size for my skinny thighs but I like the extra room for movement.

I love adding pockets to my garments! I drafted this special pocket and added a bit of flat hoodie string (it’s the same 100% polyester string from the front tie) as a fun detail.

Need to attach velcro in a snap? I used this Iron-On Velcro and it was sooo easy! No more fighting with my machine to get those suckers attached to my fabric! One downside is that if you’re on the low end of your size range and need to cinch up those laces (like I did) you may notice some gaping at the crotch. I’m okay with that. I like the ease of getting in and out of these shorts.

About ready to sew some swimwear? Check out my post ‘The 10 Best Secrets for Sewing Swimwear’ before you get started, and feel free to visit my other swimwear posts here.

You’ll want to check out all the other amazing blogs on the tour, see below for all of the details!