It's swimsuit season! (Or so I've heard.....we DID just get another dumping of snow earlier this week.) Last year we didn't actually have a new swim pattern and it felt a little weird so this year we decided to make two: The Minnow and the Pike! You can read more about the Pike Swimsuit on the blog post HERE. Or keep reading below to learn a bit more about Minnow.

I first drafted and muslined Minnow as a one piece suit; but in the back of my mind was the hope that I could make it work as a two piece as well because who doesn't love options!?!?!? I had to tweak a couple things from the original design but in the end it worked and I'm really happy with the final look and function of having both options.

The front of the suit can be made in one solid fabric, or pieced together with an elegant curved design.

The two piece suit features a good coverage bikini bottom (with either a solid or pieced back) as well as either a cropped top or a cropped top with added flounce for more coverage.

Both the one and two piece versions can be made as a one shoulder suit with a fun statement strap in the back, or with the statement strap as well as an optional skinny strap over the opposite shoulder.

This suit does use a number of different pieces of elastic for the various straps and openings, so to help keep things straight I've included a labelled drawing to go with the cut chart. (It didn't fit on the same page, so make sure you don't miss it on the page right before the cut chart.)

Both our Narwhal and Pike swimsuits feature a higher waist bottom so I decided to make the Minnow bottoms with a lower rise. I'm absolutely loving the idea of mix-and-matching the various tops and bottoms of these suits for a whole swim-capsule though. Throw in a Rasberry Cover-Up and you're set for a beachy/pool-y(?) summer!

We hope to have you join us and share your own swim creations over in our Facebook "Sofiona Sewing Group". Or tag us on Instagram @sofionadesigns . We love seeing what you create!