I made us some market totes (one shoulder 'plastic bag' like E's, only bigger...one reg 'plastic bag' and one 'paper bag' but a bit bigger) as we're overflowing with plastic bags here...it's too easy to run across the street to the grocery! Ours are from some old upholstery fabric I'd never used- no pics of those- they're boring old oatmeal colored bags but they're super strong and serve their purpose. They're quite roomy though and E had a hard time carrying them. So I sized the pattern down by 1/4 (good thing I didn't do 1/2 as the 1/4 was perfect for her). I stuck a pocket in there for her as well. I was all set to sell this fabric as she'd outgrown it for anything else but it's quite nice for a bag :)
Aaaand her new suit! I'm quite proud of this...I've heard horrid things about swim fabric, but with a few practice stitches on a scrap it went off without a hitch. Super easy and quite fast! The elastic takes the majority of the time for this...but I tend to putz :) I'm very happy with the fit as well...I cut the elastic down for all the edges and plan to cut it down another inch for the legs on the next suit. I used a triple stitch zigzag for all the elastic application, including the topstitching...I adjusted the tension a wee bit for the topstitching although now I can't remember if I tightened it or loosened it. I'll have to note that on my pattern so I don't forget! :P I decided to line the whole front section instead of the usual panty section...it goes in the same way. I bought a yard of the dot fabric and a yard of a pink checked fabric...since suits take so little, I plan to make a pink version of this for swim lessons, and then a 2pc for summer a bit later on. I'd gotten some of the nice matching green terry at the same time and plan to make a little hoodie and capri set for the beach as well...but I have some other things to catch up on first!
