I am back from vacation and finally able to write about the newest bathing suits I made! There is a new collection of swimsuits from Made For Mermaids called the "Mermaid Shores" Collection, and it includes 3 girl's swimsuits, a women's suit and a girl's cover-up skirt. I tested 4 out of the 5 patterns, opting out of the girls' Calypso bikini just because I have a personal preference not to put my daughter in bikinis at her age. But it is a super cute, high-waisted bikini with a flounce top. Will definitely be added to our sewing pattern stash in due time! The Lainey suit is a one shoulder bikini or tankini with optional waist and neckline ruffles. I sewed up a tankini version with the ruffles and it is ADORABLE. The Camila and Mama Camila are one piece suits with a flounce that can be worn off the shoulder or under the arms. It has halter straps or tie strap options. This suit is also super easy to hack into a two-piece... which of course I had to do! Lastly there is an adorable mermaid tail inspired cover-up skirt called the Pearl cover-up. The skirt is a super quick sew and an adorable addition to any of the suits!
The first suit I made up was the Lainey. I used a bright poly/spandex print from Joann's for the main suit, and accented it with a orange solid nylon/spandex swim knit, also from Joanns. The suit is the original version of the pattern before final tweaks were made, so it stands away just slightly from her shoulder, but this issue was fixed during testing! I opted for the tankini length mostly for some modesty, but also for our active girl's lifestyle! She is a fish, or should I say mermaid ;), and spends a ton of time going off the diving board and swimming at our pool. This suit has already logged several hours at our country club pool and most recently at the beach on our recent vacation. Definitely passes the cute but super functional test!
Next I sewed up our one piece (matching) Camila and Mama Camila suits. I used a solid navy nylon/spandex swim knit from Cali Fabrics for the main suit and straps, and for the flounce I used some left over purple and navy paisley print I had from my Taking the Plunge swimsuit test. I went with the under the arm flounce and halter straps as that is most practical for us as we do a lot of swimming at the pool. There is some slight ruching on the bodice at the waist area, and its a subtle but flattering detail! The coverage on this suit is spot on for me, and I felt so comfortable and confident jumping the waves with my kids on the beach last week!
I also made a separates version of the Camila and Mama Camila for me and my daughter. This is one of the hacks featured on the Made for Mermaids Blog. Its a very easy hack and can easily be customized for your most flattering fit! I chose a mid rise on my bottoms as high rise doesn't work well for my shape. By doing the separates, I left out the ruching, but if you chose a high rise bottom you could easily add the ruching to that!
Lastly is the Pearl cover-up. This is a super fast sew, but does require a fair amount of fabric due to the flounce at the bottom. I played pattern tetris though and was able to just squeeze my daughter's Camila two-piece and this skirt out of just 3/4 of a yard of performance fabric! I went with Ariel inspired colors because my daughter is obsessed! This skirt may become my new go-to birthday gift for my daughter's friends as its such a quick sew and is a big crowd pleaser! My girl wore her mermaid outfit with the Camila two-piece and Pearl skirt on the beach one day last week and just splashed in the waves for HOURS. Everyone that walked by commented on her adorable mermaid outfit!
I took all of our recently sewn suits with us on our vacation last week to Ocean Isle Beach, NC. I also packed a couple store bought suits but I never wore a single one of mine, and my daughter only wore hers that had rash-guards a couple of days to keep the sun off her shoulders. Otherwise it was all handmade suits for us! I think its safe to say we both loved our handmade pieces! Below are a few of the pics I snapped while we were on the beach!
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