The Tarlee T-Shirt is the latest pattern release from Muna and Broad, and when I saw it I realised that with a mock-neck, it would make a great swim-shirt or rashvest for beach swimming this summer!

Get 15% off the Tarlee with the code TURTLENECK until the 7th of January.

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I hoped that this bronze fold-over elastic which I ordered for my side-business ChChSews.com would be a great match for my gingernut-coloured swim fabric, which came from The Fabric Store.

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I made a matching swimwear set with the Banksia Bralette, Kapunda Undies and the Tarlee T-Shirt. Because I mostly swim in the ocean (or in non-chlorinated pools), I decided to skip the swimwear elastic (which I find really uncomfortable), and I’d use FOE like I did on my last matching set!

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What did I do?

I made two pairs of Kapunda Undies and joined them together, with the seams facing inside- this was so that I could skip the swim lining.

I lined the front piece of the Banksia Bralette with an extra layer of swim fabric. The reason for avoiding using powermesh or swimwear lining in either the undies or bralette is because I find that fabric with little holes lets sand in, which can be really difficult to get rid of. It also means that I get extra sandy, even if I take a shower at the beach before heading home.

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For the Tarlee T-Shirt, I took an existing Tarlee and measured how far down I wanted my rashvest to go, and I cut the top to that length. I knew I wouldn’t both hemming the tee (my sewing machine HATES) swimwear fabric, and decided that I’d just serge the edges to tidy them up (I could have just left the raw edges). The rash vest hits at where my undies start- although it would have looked cute to have it a touch shorter, it wouldn’t have been as practical for sun protection.

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Fabric consumption:

I bought 2 metres of this 152cm wide swimwear fabric, and I had enough to cut 2 pairs of Kapunda Undies, a Banksia Bralette with a double-layer of fabric at the front, and the long-sleeve Tarlee with a mockneck (half a turtleneck).