I am a refashioning, sewing, crafting, thrifting, bargain hunting, goodwill lovin' diva with 2 kids, trying to make it all work together.

Monday, February 8, 2010

Ruffles in all the right places: Bathing Suit Refashion Tutorial

Drastic times call for drastic measures! I am leaving for Miami in a few days with my husband and sadly, all my bathing suit tops are now too big!!!! Breastfeeding 2 babies in 3 years has either a) made me forget how small I really was.... or b) really shrunk all the wrong places...if you know what I mean. :) So, I need all the help I can get.
I found a bathing suit at Target that ruffles in all the right places... and, seriously, it added at least a cup size, and honey, we all know I need it. So, I succumbed to the illusion of a bigger tatas and paid well over $30 for the darn bathing suit. Not to mention that it was the color of a freaking hard hat. Not good. But, hey I was willing to make a few sacrifices.

Then it came to me: I can do this myself! So here's what I did:

Old bathing suit top; not bad...but accentuated my boyish figure. Sad, sniff sniff.

Above: TA-DAAAA.... Oh, sorry, I mean, TA-TAAAAS!

Tutorial:

Materials: I used an old bathing suit top and a pair of old workout pants with holes and paint all over them. (made of spandex or lycra or something... I am not sure what they are made of, but it looked and felt like the same material the suit was made out of...)

Step 1: Cut the pant legs into strips, mine were about 3/4inch wide. I used about 12-14 ruffled strips. The fabric won't fray, so don't worry about that.

Step 2: Set your machine to the longest stitch length and highest tension, and ruffle each strip right up.
Step 3: Pin one ruffled strip at a time to the suit, and sew it on. Start at the bottom of the suit and work your way up.
That's it. Keep ruffling and sewing until the suit is covered. There ya go... instant boobs! Thank you very much! Turned out cute, huh???

*disclaimer: Haven't tried this in the water yet, so all those ruffles may very well water log me... but hey, sometimes you just have to put on your big girl panties and deal with it, ya know?

4 comments:

  1. Jamie you are so creative, I wish my brain worked like yours!!! I hope you & Chris have a blast in Miami; you should post a picture of yourself in the suit so we can see for ourselves!!!

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  2. OK sweetie, you are the best at knowing how to look great for a lot less money. Be sure Chris knows how much you have saved him on a boob job ! So cute. iz

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  3. Jamie-enjoy the fact that you are cute and petite! I HATE BATHING SUITS! Your suit is DARLING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You are awesome. Maybe someday when Condo and I have kids we can sew together. You may have to step down to a basic level and teach me how to do some simple stuff!

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  4. I can't tell you how jealous I am that you can wear ruffles on your chest. If I attempted that feat, I would look like Dolly Parton gone bad. Sigh... I suppose the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence. Or, the ta-tas are more terrific? Boobs are more beautiful? Ok, I need to go. :)

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