Dare I venture into the world of swimwear…?
This swim top is another something I love love, but don’t wear anymore. The stripes are to die for, and I’m all about the bandeau top. But, the neck strap has always just confused me (I usually just wrap it around the top of the suit and go strapless) and I’m growing up and thinking I like suits with a bit more coverage (audible gasp from my father!)
Flouncy bouncy bows can be cute, but I don’t love them here. I also have slight issues with the boning along the side seams. I took them out the week I bought this-back in 2006- but then there was just some bunchy, extra fabric along the sides. All in all, this suit was in need of some tender repurposing time. Which it got. This morning.
Well, hello there new bathing suit! Shall we take a dip? What a difference it made to remove the silly keyhole strap and replace it this way, into a wide halter. I first placed just the outer strap, but the top needed a bit more support, so I added the second strap and really love the detail. I simply measured the length of the top from side seam to side seam to build the tank. I added a length of elastic thread to give it that tiny bit of ruching.
(bottoms are simply the simple black bottoms from the original suit. Just wanted you to see the length of the top:)
I wanted the back strap to still fulfill it’s purpose, so I cut the back panels down lower. Using white thread was mainly laziness, because I didn’t want to do a full switch to black on both serger and sewing machine, so I figured I’d let it add some contrast, and actually don’t mind it at all. I cut the extra length off of the straps so they are short knots instead of flouncy bows.
I loved taking this suit from a rocker beach party in the 1980’s to a community pool the 1950’s. And all in a couple hours. Without spending any money. Pretty cool.
