Y’all. Y’ALL! Everything I have sewn up to this point–all my swimsuits and underwear and bras and dresses and jeans–it was all leading up to this point. This is the best bikini ever made, I am done sewing bikinis for good, and if you ever see me in or around a body of water in the future, you can expect that there is a 99% chance I will be wearing this bikini.
I recently (okay, a few months ago) went to the beach with my in-laws and decided to sew a few new bikinis to celebrate. That’s a lie. More accurately, I recently decided to sew a few new bikinis and when my in-laws asked if I wanted to go to the beach, I thought “oh thank goodness, I’ll have somewhere to wear all these bikinis I keep sewing for no reason because I hate the beach, the pool, being hot, and being wet.” Honestly, for me, the whole trip was just an excuse to wear this singular bikini, and the fact that the girls got to meet their cousin for the first time was just a bonus.
This is the swimsuit that my Black Beauty Bikini was the “wearable muslin” for–having never made the Black Beauty bra as a bikini before I needed to run through my technique (which I detailed in that post) before cutting into my very precious leopard swim fabric. I ordered this all the way from Tessuti in Australia a few years ago, paying a ludicrous amount for shipping, because it is so hard to find a good leopard print on any substrate, let alone swim fabric, and I knew if I let it slip by just because it was going to cost me thirty Australian dollars of shipping, I would always look back and regret it. And guess what? I don’t miss those $30AUS at all. I don’t even know how many USD that is, and I don’t care, because this is the best bikini I have ever owned and it would be worth any amount of (probably fake, I don’t know) Australian currency.
(I will tell my American readers, however, that this fabric is sold out and NOT to click on the link to Tessuti Fabrics unless you are prepared to spend $30AUS on shipping, because they have a gorgeous collection and it is nearly impossible to browse without falling in love and making the same choice I did.)
Just like the black version, the top of this suit is the Black Beauty bra pattern, from Emerald Erin. It is just the same as the black one, except I used the Orange underwires from Erin and lengthened the back strap by an inch and a half (I think–maybe it was two inches) to account for the switch from bra closure to G-hook. The bottoms are the Evie La Luve Maxine, which I have made as swim bottoms a few times now (here’s the tutorial on making swim bottoms using a panties pattern, from Ohhh Lulu). For this pair, I added about 1/2″ to the front rise and removed the same from the back rise for an improved fit.
I am thrilled with how this bikini turned out–it is the sexy retro leopard bikini of my DREAMS. Now I just have to work on enjoying sand, sun, and summer.
Sea you later!