Mama You Can Make It For Me: Summer of Swim (Lulu and Celeste, Sprouting Jube Jube Swimsuit Edition)

This is the summer of swim for my two water bugs. They literally get up, eat breakfast, and roll out into the backyard to play in the pool. It doesn’t even matter what time it is. I realized last month that they have both grown to the point that they don’t have any suits that fit them anymore, and my daughter HATES store bought swimsuits. It was right about this time that Snuggle My Baby Patterns released the Sunny Day Swimsuit (I did receive the pattern free from Jen Gunn as part of the testing group). It’s a two piece but still extremely modest, which was perfect for Nay because she’s so very conservative (I’m going to encourage that for as long as possible, to be honest). Just about this same time, Deb Zaleski posted a call for the swimwear blog tour! It was like the sewing fairies were lining the stars up just right so I threw my name in the hat to join the tour!

We live in Oklahoma, and summers are VERY HOT…I’ve seriously considered climbing in the freezer a few times to get away from the heat. We also live in Thunder country, and both my niece and my daughter are crazy for anything Thunder. When I took them to the store to pick out some swim fabrics, they both immediately beelined it to the orange and blue so Thunder suits it was!

The Sunny Day Swimsuit is such a great pattern because it offers the ease of a two piece while still covering up and keeping everything modest. The front of the top and the bottoms are lined so that there’s no worry about seethroughedness (real word…I’m vouching for it!) when the suit gets wet.

I was pretty excited that this pattern ranges from 2T to 16 so I’ll get a lot of mileage from this one. Nay is starting to hit the top of the size range for a lot of the patterns that I have for her so I’m always looking for some that will give me a little bit more use as she continues to grow up despite my attempts to stop the process.

I was a little worried when the girls started playing that they would get some creepage going on in the back, but there was solid coverage that stayed in place even while they were running around the yard. I added the basketball appliques to the front of the shirt to add a little fun to their suits (this is not part of the pattern).

As far as the pattern goes, I would definitely say this is an advanced beginner pattern due to the swim fabric and the lining. I think that an adventurous beginner could give it a go and do fine, but there might be a bit of trial and error with working with swim fabric. I really loved that this pattern includes layering so that I could only print the sizes that I needed/wanted. There were also photos for every step of the tutorial so that I could see what my suit SHOULD look like and catch anything that looked like it might be off before it became disastrous.

This was a very quick sew. I made four suits in two days, and I was able to add a little bit of fun to them with relatively no major work. After she got her Thunder suit, my daughter asked for a Star Trek suit (gold because that’s what the bosses wear. HA!) and a red Power Ranger suit. Challenge accepted so I made her a couple more.

My son was a bit put out that I didn't make him a suit so I snuck a quick sew in for him as well and made him the Dominic's Board Shorts, also from Snuggle My Baby Patterns. This pattern ranges from 2T-12 so, again, there's a large range of sizes! I used board short fabric for this pair, but I've also used Dominic's to make regular shorts as well. My son loves anything with pockets so he has a place to stuff his treasures so these work well as regular shorts. This is another very quick sew, and it also includes photos for every step of the tutorial. It's a little bit of an earlier pattern, and it was released prior to Jen's move to layered patterns. There aren't very many pages for the entire pattern so it's not really a show stopper. The pieces are also nested so you can still go through and cut the sizes you need pretty easily. My son couldn't give a toot about themed swim gear so he picked out some skull and cross bones for his shorts. I've had it in my stash for ages, and he finally decided this year that he wants to use it so I'm happy to oblige!

Alright, so as with all of the LL&C, SJJ tours, there are some awesome prizes and contests going on so let's get some info out there for you to get entered into some prize drawings!

Today's Rafflecopter giveaway prize pack is a PDF pattern of choice from Gracious Threads and a $50 (USD) gift card from Raspberry Creek Fabrics. You just need to click the link below to get yourself entered for the daily drawing:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

There's also a grand prize giveaway that you can enter! This is a pretty sweet prize pack as well: a $25 (USD) gift card to Phat Quarters, a $100 (AUD) gift card to Boo! Designs, a $20 (USD) gift card to Simply By Ti, AND the PDF swim bundle from Made By Jack's Mum (this is four patterns total):

a Rafflecopter giveaway

You can also enter the grand prize drawing by joining the Instagram contest! This is the first time LL&C, SJJ has done this type of contest, and it's a great way to join in and share some of your own swim creations! Here's how you can join in on Instagram:

1. Post your own creation on your Instagram account and use the hashtag #TheSwimsuitEditionTour. Also make sure to tag @luluandceleste and @deborahzaleski
2. REPOST the contest pic: Swimsuit Edition Contest Pic

AND for an extra entry, tag @phatquarters, @simplybyti, @boodesigns_kristie, and @madebyjacksmum on the pic of your creation!

If you do decide to join the Instagram contest, please take note of the following:

- Mark the photo public so that everyone can see your photos
- Make sure you share your photo on IG between June 26, 2017 at 12AM EST and July 2, 2017 at 1159PM EST only
- You must have sewn your suit in the month of June 2017.
- Can be any swimming item you WEAR...men, women, children, swimsuits, caps, coverups
- Can be something you've shared before (as long as it was sewn in June), but you need to repost it during the week of the contest with the hashtags and tags.
- Does not need to be modeled. You can post photos of flats if you prefer.

**The contest is in no way sponsored, endorsed or associated with Instagram. By entering, you are confirming you are 13 years of age or older, release IG of any responsibility, and agree to IG's terms of usage.

All contests are open worldwide. Please note when redeeming your fabric gift certificates that you are responsible for any purchase amount above the amount of the certificate, to include shipping costs. You are also responsible for customs/duty fees as applicable to your country of residence.

Now there are a lot of stops on this tour, so be sure to check out the other bloggers and see what wondermousness (another real word...) everyone has sewn up for the tour. There are some pretty amazing creations out there that you can read about:

Monday, June 26

Sprouting JubeJube - Call Ajaire - Kutti Couture - Tales of A Tester - Bellevi

Tuesday, June 27

Sprouting JubeJube - FABulous Home Sewn - Sew and Tell Project - Tales From A Southern Mom - My Heart Will Sew On

Wednesday, June 28

Lulu & Celeste - Adventures With Bubba and Bug - Momma You Can Make It - Marvelous Auntie M - Phat Quarters

Thursday, June 29

Lulu & Celeste - Filles à Maman & Jalie - Crazy Crafty Haute Mama - MeMade - 5 out of 4 Patterns - RikiPrints Custom Knit Fabrics

Friday, June 30

Lulu & Celeste - Little Heart Threads - Ronda B. Handmade - Bellevi - sewingbyti

Finally, thanks so much to the sponsors who provided prizes for some awesome giveaways and for providing patterns to bloggers on this tour! Please take some time to show them some love as you are visiting some of the stops along the tour!