The Sew and Tell Project

Do I have a treat for you today! The PDF sewing world went wild for the release of the Rocky Mountain Raglan a short while ago. I know that my husband was thrilled with his new set of shirts that I shared with you here.

If your husband now can’t get enough of your sewing, or you are just in need of a fun Father’s Day gift like I am, the Long Beach Board Shorts are the perfect answer! I made my  husband’s board shorts with affordable boardshort material from the Peek-a-Boo Fabric Shop. You can shop their wide range of boardshort swim fabrics here.

My husband was very happy with the fit of the boardshorts. The boardshorts feature a side zip pocket, velcro fly, and lace-up tabs. You can assemble the tabs either with grommets, or buttonholes. I chose the buttonhole method and was very happy with the results.

My husband is a very active, hands-on dad, and I wanted him to have some extra sun protection when he takes the kids canoeing this summer or joins us at the splash pad. I also used the Rocky Mountain Raglan to make a rash guard with the UPF 50 swim knit fabric available from the shop. I made him a basic black raglan rashguard with no modifications for easy pairing with his new gray and aqua trunks as well as his RTW board shorts for swimming.

The Long Beach Men’s Boardshorts include sizes XS-XXL (waist size 28″-48″ and hip size 35-51″). The size chart also includes rise measurements to help you choose your size. My husband’s hip measurement put him in an XL while his waist measurement put him in a L. I sewed a straight XL, and then took it in an extra 1/2″ on each side seam. I also needed to shorten my waistband before attaching to accommodate this adjustment.

I chose to leave the pocket off to check fit so I wouldn’t have to unpick as many stitches if it didn’t work. While the instructions have you apply the pocket before sewing the inseams (so much easier to do it this way!) it was possible to sew on the pocket after like I did if you are uncertain of fit or in between sizes.

The pattern also includes nice features like grommets in the side zip pocket to let out water, grommeted, lace up tabs, bar tacks on the fly and seat seams for reinforcement, and a nice cord sunglass loop optional detail. There is also a fully attached optional liner which I skipped per my husband’s request.

Eleri has another suit done in this summer’s swimsuit challenge? Are you going to make a suit?