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How to Create Matching Family Swimwear: Your Guide to DIY Summer Style
There’s nothing more fun (or photogenic) than a family in matching swimwear. Whether you're planning a beach vacation, poolside weekend, or just love coordinating your makes, sewing your own matching family swimsuits is the perfect way to combine creativity, comfort, and style.
At Fabric + Flow, we make it easy with coordinating swim fabrics and boardshort fabric options, so you can create custom swimwear for everyone — from the littlest swimmers to the grown-ups.
Why Sew Matching Family Swimwear?
Besides the obvious cuteness factor, sewing your own swimwear lets you:✔ Choose high-quality materials✔ Customize fit and support✔ Express your style as a family✔ Avoid mass-produced sizing headaches
Whether you're going for playful and bold, or sleek and minimal, creating matching swimsuits for the whole family is easier than you think — especially with the right supplies and patterns.
What You’ll Need
To make matching family swimwear, you’ll need:
Swim fabric: Choose from our bold prints like Groovy Lavender or Great Barrier Reef
Boardshort fabric: Ideal for kids’ and men’s trunks
Swim lining: For comfort and coverage
Rubber elastic: 8mm or 19mm, depending on the pattern
Thread & notions: Matching Gütermann thread, foam cups or power mesh if needed
You can shop all of these individually in our Swim Collection — or do yourself a favour and grab one of our Kits. We make it easy to create your own swimwear with our curated Swim Kits and Boardshort Kits — designed to give you everything you need in one go.
Our Swim Kits include high-quality swim fabric, swim lining, rubber elastic, matching Gütermann thread, and a sew-in label.
Our Boardshort Kits come in two sizes and include boardshort fabric, soft mesh lining, knit and rubber elastics, thread, drawstring, interfacing, grommets, and a sew-in label — all the essentials to make professional-quality trunks.
All you have to do is bring the patterns. We’ve taken care of the rest.
Pattern Ideas for Matching Family Swimwear
Looking for patterns that work across sizes and ages? Here are some of our favourite family swimwear sewing patterns:
🩱 Adults + Kids One-Piece or Bikini
Cottesloe Swimsuit – Megan Nielsen(Available in adult and kids sizes. Classic lines, great for all body types.)
Mairin Swimsuit – Sew a Little Seam(Kids and adult options, perfect for sporty styles.)
Petite Stichery – Wide range of swim styles for all ages
🩳 Boardshorts for All Ages
Malia Shorts – 5 out of 4 (women), they also have a Family Bundle of more standard Boardshort style
Jalie 2678 – Men’s and boys’ boardshorts
Pair any of our Groovy Swim Prints for the suit with the matching Groovy Boardshort fabric for the trunks and you're set for picture-perfect coordination. FYI - we offer our Groovy print in FOUR colours!
Tips for Success
Pre-wash your fabrics to prevent surprises
Use a stretch needle and a stretch stitch or serger
Test your elastic tension before sewing final seams
Mix and match prints within a colourway for a playful but cohesive look
Ready to Sew?
Our swim kits are designed to make matching easier than ever — and with coordinating boardshort fabrics, creating matching family swimwear is just a few stitches away.
Create summer memories in handmade style.
➡️ Shop Swim Kits Now
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