Schools out for most and summer is fast approaching. Here in the high desert, we are already expecting temperatures in the 100s, and its barely June. My sewing room just got a fresh update with a fresh coat of paint and wood laminate flooring (previously carpet) and it feels good to say the least. The pool is going up in the back yard and that means I need a new swim suit. In comes Phee Fabrics Tricot! Ever since I got it, I have absolutely adored the Neon Coral Tricot. Its so vibrant in color, and such a soft material for swim suits or sports bras! Have you seen all of the new colors that have been stocked in the last couple months? That Berry Tricot is on my list for my next swim suit. For the first though, I will be sticking to my first Tricot love, Neon Coral.
Now the hard part, finding the perfect pattern. I scrolled through my folder of patterns (not nearly as many are used as they should be) and came across the Riptide Reversible Shorties by 5 out of 4 Patterns. I had made these before, but skimped out on my effort level and didn’t actually put the side drawstrings in. The pattern itself has great coverage and has the option for reversible or not. I decided to challenge myself, and not take short cuts here (as I am really trying to do in my sewing these days-this will be a constant theme for these bottoms). Making them reversible I chose the Navy Tricot as my secondary color. 
The pattern went together very well until I got to the dreaded ‘channels’ for the drawstrings. I marked them and then contemplated skipping them and just attaching the waist band. Luckily, I had the self discipline to just put the project down and come back to it when I felt like doing the channels. That turned out to be 2 days later. I marked the channels with a chalk line and sewed it with a straight stitch on my sewing machine. Afterwards, the pattern recommends to cut a hole in the channel, instead I just seam ripped between my two channels.
My turner made turning the ties easy, and also aided in pulling them through their channels! After putting all of the ties in and basting, it was time for the waist band. The pattern calls for wonder tape, but I don’t like wonder tape, so I didn’t have any to use. I went back and forth on hem tape, but decided to just pin it because that former sounded like a mess.
I started out with top stitching the top part of the waist band so that I would know where the inner seam should be. Then, I folded up the unsewn edge towards the inside of the waist band. I continued around and this this ‘false hem’ on the whole waist band. After that I folded the hem and band down and replaced the pins to pin this to the shorts (with the inner serged edge on the inside facing up. Then I was ready to top stitch and my shorties were done!
I put together a Key West with the Navy Powernet as the inner bra for some added support. Now I am ready to hit the pool and cool down in the summer!
This post contains affiliated links. At no cost to you, I get an earning that helps support my hobby of sewing and blogging to show you my makes (= Thanks for your support! Links to fabric: Navy Powernet,Navy Tricot, Neon Coral Tricot
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