5 out of 4 Kids' Classic Swimsuit Sewing Pattern

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I hope you're lucky enough to be reading this from a part of the world that is NOT going through the same heat wave as the Midwest. Temps have been hitting 100 this week without even factoring in our extra special humidity. Blech.

We recently purchased a membership to our county YMCA, which means we've been able to beat the heat by escaping to their indoor pool. Swimming multiple times a week is a new thing for us, and it meant my kids needed more swimsuits (oh darn...j/k! I love making swimsuits!)

I have long been on the hunt for a TNT girls swimsuit pattern. Last year I had some epic failures with the Megan Nielsen Mini Cottesloe (weird, because the adult version was a big success). I've been sewing for 10 years but somehow haven't landed on a TNT...until now!

This is the 5 Out Of 4 Patterns Kids' Classic Swimsuit (sold alone or you can get it in a bundle with the women's suit as well). There are extra frills included (this IS a 5oo4 pattern after all!) but I wanted to try it out plain Jane and see how it went. 

I made two suits, one for my skinny 7 year old, and one for my chunkier almost 6 year old. Their measurements were sort of all over (the 7 year old's waist measurement put her at a size 3), but this particular pattern included a measurement I'd never seen before--girth. In this case, "girth" referred to the distance from the point of the shoulder, down the front of the body, between the legs, and up the back to the shoulder again. 

Length and girth for both girls corresponded to their straight sizes, so I ended up cutting a 6 for the 6 year old and a 7 for the 7 year old. I made no adjustments to the 6 year old's suit, but for the 7 year old's I did have to take in the side seams. That was a change consistent with her measurements, so I wasn't mad at it. After that change, the fit was perfect.

The 6 year old's suit...well...notice she's not pictured here. *I* think her suit fit great, but she threw a total fit the second she put it on, saying it was too tight. When I compared it with her RTW suit that she likes, my suit wasn't smaller, but the elastic in the legs was definitely tighter. If you have a picky kiddo, you may need looser elastic than what the pattern recommends.

I used a variety of bright threads for the topstitching

Aside from the fit, the reason this jumped to the top of my faves list is the construction. It's drafted so that you do NOT have to use binding on the openings. There are directions for binding if you WANT to go that route, but I have NEVER been able to make swim binding look good. It always ends up wavy, or far too stretched out.

I loved being able to sew the elastic to the raw edges (outer+lining) and then simply turning it under and topstitching. I used my coverstitch for topstitching and my serger for construction. If you are going to make a swimsuit without a serger (totally possible!) this pattern would be a good candidate. The seam allowances are 3/8", so not too narrow to deal with on a regular sewing machine.

This amazing rainbow "zepard" print swim is from The Fabric Fairy (unfortunately it's sold out!). I also used this black swim for the lining, it's nice and thick and could easily do as an outer fabric too. Follow The Fabric Fairy on Facebook or Instagram to be notified first about new fabrics, sometimes great prints like this one sell out quickly!

I'm so happy I have a girls' swimsuit sewing pattern that I can turn to with confidence! I'm sure I'll be grabbing it again for my 10 year old, especially since it comes with a shelf bra option in the upper sizes.

Grab your Kids' Classic Swimsuit pattern and let me know how it works out for you!

I received this pattern for free as part of the 5 Out of 4 Patterns Promo Team. All views are my own, I truly do love this pattern! I received the fabric for free as part of The Fabric Fairy Promo Team, though I was purchasing fabric from them long before I joined the team!