What do you do with the golf shirts your husband wants to get rid off but you think have so much potential? How about turning them into a swimsuit? That’s exactly what I did. I’ll tell you how.

Here’s the Shirt!

This golf shirt has been sitting on my “Refashion” shelf for nearly two years, just waiting to become something else. I knew I wanted to make a swimsuit, but had yet to figure out the style I wanted.

The Swimsuit that Inspired my Make!

While scolling throught instagram one night looking for some sewing inspiration, I came across an online boutique I have heard a lot about but never shopped at. I clicked on over to explore a little and found this cute puff sleeve two piece that I completely loved! The price was perfect but it only came in two colors, black and green, and I wanted something brighter. So I didn’t purchase the swimsuit. I decided I would use my husband’s golf shirt to make one instead.

The Patterns I used to Make my Inspo!

Right around this same time, Love Notions Patterns came out with a new pattern that included swimsuit options. The Clearwater Summer Essentials! I looked the pattern over and knew immediately that I could hack it into the cute swimsuit I had previously seen. My husband’s golf shirt would provide the perfect fabric for it too.

Since I use a lot of Love Notions patterns, I knew of a pattern they had that I could borrow the sleeve from for the swimsuit I wanted to make. So I used the Lenox puff sleeve. Because both patterns are from the same company I knew that mashing the two together would be pretty easy. And it really was.

Lets See if it All Fits the Shirt!

First I printed and assembled all the pattern pieces I needed. Then I laid them out on the shirt to make sure it would all fit. It just worked out that the fronts fit on the front, and the backs fit on the back of the shirt.

The lenox puff sleeve pattern piece was just a little too big for the sleeve of the shirt, but that’s because I didn’t undo the hem on the sleeve. These RTW coverstitch seams are really hard to remove so I left it in and cut the sleeve out. Before cutting it out I made sure that the bottom of the pattern was lined up evenly on both sides. I also transferred all the notches to help me differentiate the front from the back and know where the top of the shoulder is. 

Assemble the Swimsuit!

I assembled both the top and bottom and lined them with black power mesh. For the top, I sewed the liner and the outer fabric together first at the neckline, right sides together. Then I flipped the liner to the inside. The instructions for the Clearwater pattern have an optional step where you add elastic to the neckline for added support, but I didn’t need that. So I skipped that step. I also skipped the step where you add elastic to the armscye. Instead, I simply zig zag stitched the liner to the outer fabric. This would make adding the sleeve easier.

For the sleeve I was going to insert it “in the round.” So I sewed the sides and then did a basting stitch from the front to the back notches of the sleeve. I matched the notch at the top of the sleeve to the seam in the middle of the strap. Then I matched the seams that meet at the armpit. The excess fabric was then gathered to fit the armhole using the basting stitches.

I added elastic 1 inch elastic under the bust and 3/8 inch elastic to the legs of the bottoms per the instructions. I also added some 3/8 inch elastic to the middle of the waistband which the instructions do not call for. The waistband fabric is some black athletic knit I had after shortening and hemming some pants. I try to reuse anything I can when I sew because I hate wasting fabric.

The Finishing Touch!

The last thing I did was top stitch with a twin needle around the neckline of the top. Doing this makes it look really nice while also allowing it to still stretch.

I absolutely love how it turned out! I’m going to wear this all summer long! You can check my instgram reels to see this swimsuit make in action!

Let’s be friends!

If you are looking for a fun, new pattern to try, hopefully this post helps you figure out what will work best with your wardrobe needs. Let’s be friends on all the socials! Come follow along on Pinterest, Instagram, Facebook and TikTok so we can chat about all our sewing projects!