I made a Bikini!

Okay this is actually a bit of a tough one because LOL never been half naked on the Internet before. 

You see the thing is i have only recently started to embrace my body. Yes its a bit short and it jiggles a bit and I am fully aware that if I had any inclination for exercise I could look just like on of those girls on love island BUT I quite like it. 

Well at least I'm learning to like it. Which leads me to the bikini. Whilst I have found to confidence to wear a bikini if I'm say lounging by the pool, I was still having a struggle with the whole swimming and playing in the water. Which is literally my favourite thing to do! I love water slides and me and Rikki were splashing so much on our honey moon that the lifeguard came and told us off! 

The issue is that shop brought bikinis don't seem to actually be designed to swim in. The straps are tiny, my side boob falls out, the ties come undone, the bum part seems to get more and more thong like every year and the front foof covering part is going to same way. 

What I needed was a bikini that offered full coverage and didn't need to be completely adjusted after I'd been down the slide. 

So pattern wise I adapted a free pattern from madalynnes website  I used the noelle pattern and altered it to be a halterneck and to tie at the back. I didn't want to buy a pattern in case it turned out that I hated swimwear sewing. 

Construction wise I cut a few corners. I looked at my RTW bikinis and unpicked an old one and found that the cheaper ones didn't contain any elastic just power mesh and tops stitching. And well if its good enough for mass production its good enough for me. 

This was my first test version so I used some swim fabric I brought in the sale at abakhans and instead of lining it with power mesh or nude swimwear fabric I just lined it in the same stuff. Which I guess means the bikini is completely reversible. Which could be useful if you spill ice cream down your front or something. 

I really like the way the back fits but I wish the ties were a lot shorter. Although the length does mean I can get a good double knot in it so theirs no risk of it coming undone. There's no elastic in the top at all and everything stays in place very nicely.  I even popped it on and took a shower and then bounced around and everything still stayed in place!!

I also like the way the top fits from the front. the bottom band adds enough structure to keep the girls in place. Its high enough up that I don't need to worry about my boobs falling out of the sides or over the top. I can also lean forward in this without displaying the twins. 

Also on a very personal note the double layer of swimwear means that you don't get too chilly.... If you catch my drift..... You know things don't protrude..........

The bottoms are very flattering I think. I took about an inch off the top of the waist because they were nearly up to my belly button. So they are in that comfortable zone where they hide the pooch from lil man but aren't up to my armpits. I wish the leg was cut a bit higher because that might make my legs look longer but I'm very happy with the width of the crotch. I find it covers all my "business" very nicely and I even did a couple of lunges in front of the mirror to make sure nothing could be seen. 

Crotches are very personal though so if your making your own I suggest you keep trying on to make sure you get the right amount of coverage for you. 

   

Now on the bum side of things their is a cheeky bit of cheek. I'm very proud of my bum at the moment and well this is the best its going to be really isn't it? Unless I get into the habit of squatting every day which seems highly unlikely. 

Okay so as I said this is my first version. I have some mermaid fabric squirrelled away for another but here's some changes I'll make to the next. 

- Lower waist a little more

- shorten ties on back and neck

- line in nude swim fabric

- Make sure I get the pattern the right way around! [This ones got the pattern going both ways!]

- Raise the leg a bit.

I think that's it!

This was such a huge step out of my comfort zone but I really enjoyed making it! 

In fact it sort of inspired me to try and be nicer to my body and find more of the good points and less of the flaws. I've also declared this as the year I'm ditching the fake tan and embracing being pale. Every year I try to tan naturally which I can't because it just doesn't take, or I try fake tanning and end up a streaky orange mess that smells like a camel. So this year is the year of the pale. 

How are you embracing your body?

and

Have you ever made swim wear before? 

Much Love 

Frankie 

xxx