Raspberry Creek Fabrics Swimsuit Tour 2021

Hi friends! I’m so excited to be back for the Raspberry Creek Fabrics Swim Tour Of 2021!

DISCLAIMER: If you’re looking to see cute swimsuits sewn up in beautiful RCF swim fabrics- you won’t find them here. BUT– you will see lots of cute dresses!

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First and foremost— swim fabric is not just for swimsuits! The fact that Raspberry Creek Swim fabric is UPF 50+ makes it great for any day/activity out in the sun.

My all-time favorite thing to make with RCF swim is what I refer to as my kayaking dress. I made one last year and wore it so often that I knew I needed a second one. I just love all the prints in the Earthtone Tropical Collection, but this Palm Leaf Floral one just called out to me!

We vacation in New England from the spring through the fall. (My husband was born and raised there.) We spend a lot of time in and on the water, and it’s cold! I have a lot of kayaking appropriate clothing- but I was always reaching for the kayak dress I made last year. So I knew my first make for the Swim Tour would be another kayak dress (and I’ll probably make a third!)

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I used the Made For Mermaids Jordan dress pattern. I shortened it to tunic length and it’s the perfect length to wear with neoprene for kayaking or paddle boarding. I made the 3/4 length sleeves for sun protection when out on the water. The only change I made was to tighten the sleeve so that water doesn’t run down the paddle inside my sleeve (did I mention how cold the water is in New England?).

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I love window-shopping on our little getaways. And I love all the adorable UPF50+ shift dresses that I see. What I don’t love is the $165 price tags and the fact that they never fit anyone with curves! But these dresses do inspire me to create my own.

This Fuchsia Tropical Floral Dress was inspired by the Coco dress from Sailor-Sailor. (Check it out here.)

I once again used my favorite Made For Mermaids Jordan dress pattern. To create a slightly lower neckline I used a binding instead of a neckband. To mimic my inspiration dress, I added ruffles to the bottom of the sleeves. If you notice—I also have a ruffle at the bottom, that was NOT part of my original plan.

But, we all make mistakes, right? I accidently cut this just a tad too short (forgetting it wasn’t for kayaking!). So I improvised and added a ruffle at the bottom too!

For the ruffles, I simply measured the bottom width of the piece I was putting the ruffle on (sleeve or hem) and multiplied that measurement by 1.75.

For example the bottom width of my sleeve was 16”.

16” X 1.75 = 28”. So I cut 2 ruffles 3.25” X 28” for the sleeve ruffles.

We had a beautiful 70 degree day last week that I took advantage of. It was a perfect day for a walk on the boardwalk in my new dress. It was just what I needed! Unfortunately my favorite custard stand hadn’t opened up yet!

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However, when we pulled into the driveway at home, Mister Softee was coming up the street! Who could resist!

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My last make was the popular Laundry Day Tee Dress from Love Notions. (If you join their Facebook Group you can get a code to get this pattern for free!). It’s cool, it’s comfy and who cares if it gets wet! It’s perfect for beachcombing or splash pads for you moms of young kids.

For this dress I made a sleeveless version (not the tank version) by adjusting the shoulder width. I wanted a bit more sun protection for my shoulders and this also assured me my bra straps would be covered.

This dress is perfect anytime I need to be cool. It will be great for watering all my flowers and plants every morning- somehow I always manage to get wet doing this. But my favorite time to wear it will be for morning walks on the beach.

I won’t have to worry about the waves and I can leave the beach and run errands or do lunch with my friends without worrying about what I have on!

I love this Abstract Ikat Print so much and I love it paired with my denim jacket! I’m sure I’ll be wearing this exact outfit out to lunch a few times this summer!

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Raspberry Creek Fabrics Swim is high quality and UPF 50+. It’s the perfect weight for dresses and isn’t too clingy. And of course- it’s perfect for swimsuits! The best thing about RCF Swim is that it is available in the cutest prints with coordinating checks, stripes, polka dots and solids!

Thanks for visiting my blog! I hope I’ve inspired you to sew up some swim fabrics for yourself! Be sure to follow me over on Instagram @sewmarymac to keep up with my retirement wardrobe!

Thanks to Raspberry Creek Fabrics for inviting me to be part of this tour again and for all these yummy Swim fabrics! As always, all thoughts and opinions are my own.

Thank you to @sewsophielynn and @paisleyroots for hosting this tour!

Be sure to check out all the amazing swim and board-short fabrics and enjoy 15% off swim with the code SWIMTOUR

Be sure to visit the other amazing bloggers on the tour today and every day this week for some great inspiration!

Make sure to look for Raspberry Creek Fabrics posts on Instagram this week – there will be a giveaway each day and a big grand prize on Friday!

A huge thank you to all our awesome pattern sponsors.

Sew Mary Mac  Merritts Makes  Wild + Wanderful  Call Ajaire

Made by Kates  Violet and Jewels  Sweet Mama Life  All Things Katy!

Intensely Distracted  Pins & Pinot  My Heart Will Sew On  The Petite Sewist

All My Spare Time  Kara Metta  Handcrafted by RED  Sincerely, Shantelle

Replicate Then Deviate  That’s Sew Kari  Desert Blooms  Boo + Lu

Titchy Threads  Sew A Little Seam  Simple Life Pattern Co.  Pattern for Pirates  Ellie and Mac  

Lowland Kids  Gingham Hive  Striped Swallow Designs  Honeydew Kisses  Little Lizard King  

Jennuine Designs  Greenstyle Creations  Made for Mermaids  Call Ajaire  Hey June  Boo Designs! 

  Sofiona Designs  Love Notions  Lil Luxe Collection  Jalie  Sweet Red Poppy