Oh My Gosh, I Made (and Wore!) a Bikini

Why yes, his beard IS french braided!

Mexico was awesome!  We were a little restricted in activities because of Darryl's foot injury.  The brat hurt it a week before we left when he got into an argument with his dirtbike - guess who won.  While there's a lot you can still do on crutches, his stamina on them wasn't that great so no exploring or walking tours.

 Luckily we were on a resort and that our villa was pretty close to everything.  Everyone was fantastic too, helping us out where ever we went and getting us through the short lines when possible.  Every single Mexican we met were warm and friendly, and I'd love to go back again!  Especially with a whole and hale partner so we can explore and do more fun excursions!

We did get out on one, but I'll share that later when I get the photos developed.

Anyways, you might have caught on that I was sewing myself a bathingsuit (especially after this rant).  I'd hoped to sew a couple suits actually, but it just didn't happen.  A bikini set did though!

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Here's the top part, and I made it out of a favourite bra whose strap tore not long after I got it.  An easy fix, but wasn't that comfortable for daily wear afterward.  It was perfect for a bathingsuit conversion though!  I used this tutorial here, and it was...alright.  It's pretty haphazard and leaves everything unfinished inside.  But it worked out alright for one vacation, and I doubt there's a more supportive bikini out there (or at least, out here in the Yukon)! 

I really liked the way the cups and all of the straps turned out.  So glad I crossed over the arm straps, as you'll see below.

I ordered these little G-hooks from Bra-Makers Supply, and those suckers didn't hold up at all.  The second time I wore it the damn thing snapped.  I probably had the strap a little too tight for the plastic, but I'll definitely try to find metal ones next time.  Nothing against the supplier!  Just the wrong tool for the job of holding up my mamas.  I wound up just sewing the ends of the straps together and slipping it over my head (with a lot of struggling).  Amazingly, this method was a lot easier to get in and out of...

And this is the only photo you're getting of these, besides the next.  I was EXTREMELY last minute on these, so picture taking got kiboshed pretty quick.

For the bottoms, I modified my me-made pantie pattern at the last minute (erm, the night before and the morning that we left) and they turned out..okay.  With the lining, they were a little too tight, and I really need to work on attaching elastic to stretchy fabric.  But oh well, they served as well as my bikini top, and I had a back up RTW black pair that matched the top to trade off.

I loved the back of this bikini!  The front is very...supported, let's just say.  I will definitely play with using a real bra in bathingsuits in the future.

And here is your one modeled shot.  I had wanted to get a picture in Mexico, but my camera battery was dead for the first few days and by the time I got it charged, it had started to rain.  And kept raining - harder than I've ever seen - for the last 3 days we were there.  :(

That didn't keep us out of the pool (nor out of the tropical drinks) at all!

Sorry, only a back-yard picture.  I didn't get ANY photos of me-made things in Mexico.  :(

Oh hey, here's another project I took on for Mexico.  The day before we left.  I bought a white lacy cover-up dress at Superstore and dyed the thing this lovely purple while my Mom laughed and gave me advice over the phone.  (On a side note - I think I have to admit that this is my current favourite colour.  Hell, even my luggage is this colour.  That snuck up on me big time).  No, I didn't sew the dress but now I want to dye all the things.  You can sort of see my bikini top under it, along with a truly unflattering pair of shorts holy crap.  Anywho, the dress worked really well over my bikini for the walk to and from the pool on the days that I was brave enough to wear my me-made bikini.

Which, after the first day, was every single day afterward.  I'm proud of myself, that took a lot more confidence than I thought I had.  Plus it was too damn hot for my RTW bathing suit.  :)

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Ack, this post sort of sucks.  Sorry for the rambling and crummy photos.  I've been dragging my heels writing this, and I just want to get it out of the way so I can get onto better and less revealing topics!   Better posts to come!