I can fully admit that I never ever thought I would sew a swim suit for myself. Not because I don’t like to swim or because of being self-conscious, but because I was a competitive swimmer and I couldn’t imagine myself making something that would be quality enough to actually swim in. I grew up in a swim suit. I spent hours every day swimming and every weekend at a swim meet through college. But when the Megan Nielsen suit (Cottesloe) kept showing up in my Instagram feed I couldn’t help but be curious. I loved every version I saw. And then mid summer when we finally booked our beach vacation I knew I had to make it happen. I loved the idea of being able to control how it fit. Making it just right so I felt covered enough was a big thing. I feel like there are tons of store-bought bikinis available that are just not quite modest enough for something I’d want to wear in public. Plus I almost always wear a one piece, body surfing anyone?! I love being active in the water, so a bikini wasn’t something I had much experience with.

My supplies came in and I got to work. It was definitely not as hard as I thought it would be. The construction itself was quite straightforward. Megan has a full sew-along on her blog as well, which is what I referenced while attaching the elastic. So if you’ve sewn a t-shirt I definitely think that you’d do great making this suit!

I loved wearing this on the beach. I was comfy and I felt good wearing it. Plus it was kind of fun knowing I made it! I did manage to do some body surfing in it. The straps came down a few times, but the waves were pretty strong, but other than that it was perfect for swimming in! I love how the straps are wide and the back is open feeling. I’m used to a different style back, but I found this one to be soooo comfortable. I was surprised!

The only change I made was to use View D but lower the waistline down on the bottoms. I just moved the waistline down by 2″.

I’ve got a couple more cuts of swim suit fabric that I ordered from Spoonflower (Sport Lycra basecloth). My kids are even asking me to make them a suit, so maybe I’ll sneak in making another before summer is officially over here!

Pattern: Cottesloe Swim Suit (View D)
Fabric and lining are both from Cloth Story
Elastics and padded cups are from Fabric Fairy