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The Reese Swimsuit Sewalong is a step-by-step video series designed to guide you through sewing the Reese, from choosing your size to finishing the final details.
In this sewalong, we walk you through each stage of the process in short, focused lessons. You can move through the videos at your own pace, pause as needed, or skip ahead if you’re already comfortable with certain steps.
The Reese is a sleek and timeless one-piece swimsuit, designed for elegance and comfort. This swimsuit features a wide scoop neck at the front and a deep scoop neck at the back, creating a stunning silhouette.
Tip: You can easily convert Reese to a bodysuit by sewing it up in your favorite regular knit fabric and adding optional crotch snaps.
To follow along, you’ll need the Reese Pattern. Seamwork members can download it as part of their membership, and non-members can purchase it individually in the shop.
Here’s what we’ll cover in this sewalong:
Getting Started
Fabric recommendations: Look for nylon Lycra swimwear fabrics with 4-way stretch and 60% - 80% stretch. Fabrics with 2-way stretch will not work for this pattern.
For the lining, look for swimwear lining fabric with 4-way stretch and 60% - 80% stretch. Lining fabrics with 2-way stretch will also not work for this pattern.
Seamwork members, take advantage of your member deals this month! You can save up to 20% off your order here.
Prepare to Sew
This lesson covers all the basic things you need to know to get started with this sewalong. If you’re a beginner, this will be really helpful to watch!
If you feel like you already know how to get your pattern and fabric ready for sewing, go ahead and skip to the next lesson and you'll learn to do some helpful fitting adjustments.
You're going to learn how to:
- Select a pattern and reference its skill level
- Select a size
- Prepare patterns and fabric
- Cut and mark fabric
Fitting Adjustments
And here are some additional fitting resources if you need them:
- Follow this tutorial to lengthen and shorten a sewing pattern
- If you need to adjust the armhole depth, use this tutorial.
- If you want to blend between sizes, use this video tutorial.
- Here are tutorials for small bust adjustments and full bust adjustments.
- If you prefer videos, there are bust adjustment videos in the Hansie sewalong here
We created a free downloadable PDF called the Four Height Zones to help you gather the information you need to make adjustments to your pattern where you need it. We recommend printing it out and writing your height measurements on it to keep in your sewing journal.
Compare these measurements to the corresponding landmarks on your pattern pieces, and you'll know how much you need to shorten or lengthen that part of the pattern.
Sewing Instructions
The PDF instructions will be your main guide as you work through this pattern, but we've created this video to walk you through the trickiest steps in detail. If you need help on a step not shown in this video, check out the Community Group Sew, where other Seamworkers and staff are ready to help out!
The trickiest steps for this pattern are:
Learn Swimwear Basics
Check out this video on our YouTube channel to learn lots of helpful swimwear tips!
