Sewing – Bathing Suit Top Redo

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I made this bathing suit top a year ago using McCalls 3566 pattern.  I have had the pattern several years so I am not sure if it is still current.  It was simple to make but I never wore it due to the fact it needed more support.  I had tried various bra inserts you buy at JoAnns or Hancock Fabrics but none of them seemed to work out well.  So, the top got set aside in a sewing to-do pile meaning I intended to figure out a way to fix it one day.

Then, about a month or two ago I was on pinterest – doing some daily pinning – and found this pin on making a bathing suit top from a bra.  It was intriguing to me and also something I had considered doing before and even had set aside a couple of older bras with the bathing suit top I had made.  I had just not had the proper motivation to fix my top until I saw this on pinterest.  Of course I pinned it to my sewing board and also immediately went to the site to see how to make this work.

So finally, a few weeks ago, I got my project out and went to work with my sewing machine.  This is what it looks like finished:

bathing suit top front view     www.kimberleeskorner.com/blog
bathing suit top front view www.kimberleeskorner.com/blog

Since I was working with an already made bathing suit top I had to rip out some of the top stitching.  I hate having to do that because it is a pain but it had to be done.  I had an old strapless bra that I had kind of wore out in the back but it worked great for this project.  I cut it off at the side seams – figured out where the center of the bathing suit top was and centered the bra in there.  I had to do lots of pinning and stretch the top elastic area over when I sewed it in.  I used a narrow zigzag stitch to sew the top elastic casing area to the top of the bra.   The bottom area I stitched mainly by hand to the underwire area – wrapping the elastic area that I ripped out over the under wire bra.

inside view of how bra was sewn in to the top and bottom of the existing bathing suit top for support    www.kimberleeskorner.com
inside view of how bra was sewn in to the top and bottom of the existing bathing suit top for support www.kimberleeskorner.com

I had a little of this fabric left so I made a 3 to 4 inch long tube about 2 inches wide and sewed it right sides together then turned it right side out.  I wrapped this piece over the center of the bra-top to create the cute gathered front area.  I stitched this down and tacked it to the bra by hand.

I am so pleased with how this turned out and glad I finally have a top to wear with the bottoms that fits well and has support.  The first time I wore it my husband asked “Where did you get that bathing suit?”  I told him I made it and he seemed impressed.  The photo below is of me wearing it – this is after I have been swimming in it and done my water workout.   It held up just fine in the water.

photo of me wearing my new bathing suit top
photo of me wearing my new bathing suit top

So, what sewing projects have you done lately?  Let me know by leaving a reply.

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