Hey boo! Thanks for stopping by! Today I’m talking about crochet swimwear! I made this swimsuit a while ago but I just recently got to wear it and test it out in the pool. It seems the crochet community is split 50/50 on what yarns work best for crochet swimwear. There are a lot of mixed reviews out there and it can be hard to determine what textile yarn is best for crochet swimwear. I don’t recommend skipping doing your research on this part as yarn type is the most important factor to consider when you are making a swimsuit. When I first started my research on what yarns were best for crochet swimsuits a lot of blogs and crochet designers said cotton yarn was the best if you want a natural fiber, so that’s what I went with…. I have a 2 piece swimsuit and a 1 piece crochet swimsuit made out of cotton yarn. Upon further research I saw more designers say cotton yarn should not be used; mainly because it absorbs water, can sag when wet, and it does not stretch. However, I also see reviews saying you can add elastic and/or lining to cotton crochet swimsuits to prevent sagging or stretching out of place.

The alternative to cotton yarns are yarns are those made from synthetic fibers or blends. These are synthetic acrylic yarns and blended with bamboo, silk, and/or elastic materials. Acrylic blends are mentioned as being the best for swimwear because they do not absorb too much water and they dry fast. I did see that acrylic yarn was a popular choice for swimwear, however since the swimsuit is against my naked body I wanted the most natural textile possible and that is cotton or a cotton/bamboo blend.

Besides cotton, the other most popular choice for swimsuits seems to be the Alize Diva Stretch yarn. This is a microfiber acrylic yarn. Its made with acrylic and elastic. This is a sport weight yarn and may be very thin, but you can crochet with multiple strands at once to use it for patterns that call for thicker yarn.

Overall, there are some pros and cons to crochet swimsuits. There are always new yarns coming out and you just have to test out different yarns to determine what you like best. To answer the question are crochet swimsuits functional? I say yes and no.

Yes you can get them wet but they are not meant for swimming laps or for being in the water for long amounts of time. Sun, chlorine, saltwater, stitch type, and yarn choice, can all affect the longevity of your swimsuit. I think crochet swimsuits are best for chilling poolside, taking cute pics, or taking a quick dip. My swimsuit held up great in the water, it did not get heavy or stretch out of place while worn but it did take forever to dry.. Lets get into some of the pros and cons of crochet swimsuits..

PROS

VISUALLY ATTRACTIVE- There is no denying crochet swimsuits are sexy.. The style options are endless and I feel like no matter what style you go with it’s a showstopper..

INEXPENSIVE- If you crochet your own swimsuit it can be very inexpensive. I’m talking under $10 if you just use cotton yarn and nothing else. Some people add lining, elastic, and/or pads, but I personally didn’t add any of that on my swimsuits.

WORK UP QUICKLY- Depending on the type of swimsuit you are making it can work up pretty quickly.. A simple triangle bra top can be made in a few hours.

ADD SUPPORT- As mentioned you can also add elastic, bra cups, and lining to make your swimsuit more durable and possibly last longer.

CONS

NOT FOR THE MODEST- Most crochet swimsuits are kind of slinky. If you prefer to have a more modest swimsuit I would not opt for crochet. I think crochet swimsuits work best when made in 2 piece styles, thong types, or lacy designs. This allows you to use a small amount of yarn therefore you may not have to worry about sagging or adding elastic.  

TESTING OUT YARN TYPES- As mentioned, choosing the type of yarn is probably the hardest part about making a crochet swimsuit. You will have to test out different yarns to see what you like best.

TAN LINES- If you plan on sunbathing in your crochet swimsuit, be mindful of the tan lines your swimsuit will leave. If you have a fancy design or use a loose stitch you may be left with weird tan lines.

To summarize…  I think I’m satisfied having made a couple swimsuits. I don’t think I would crochet more swimsuits, I would stick to sewing swimsuits and crocheting the coverups!

What about you? Are you a fan of crochet swimsuits?

Do yall know that meme where the girl walks in the room and she’s like “Heyyyyy… How yall doin??” and it’s a really awkward silence and no one says anything back… That’s how I feel writing this blog post… LOL I knowwww it’s been a long time since I wrote a blog post and I’ve seriously missed it. I think I mentioned in the last post that I lost my sewjo for a REALLLY long time and as a result I started crocheting. It started with me crocheting an ear warmer and kind of just took off from there. So far I’ve made 3 swimsuits, a sarong, a coverup, 2 dresses, and I’m working on a sweater. Obsessed much… I know. This doesn’t mean I will never sew again, Im just exploring yarn right now. LOL

Anyway, as promised, this post is about my birthday dress. If you don’t know I have been making my birthday outfits for about 6 years now. This year I decided to go completely out of my comfort zone and try to crochet a dress instead of sewing something like I usually do. I did mention this was going to be a very detailed post so I’m going to start with the inspiration pic. This dress was inspired by @n00rvana on IG. I saw this dress on her page and fell in love with it! She is like a master “crocheter” I don’t know if that’s the proper term, but her work is amazing. You should definitely check her out page for some crochet inspiration.

Since I’ve crocheted a few projects, I felt semi confident going into this. This project is (kind of) beginner friendly. Because its literally just chains and single crochet its pretty easy, but I recommend you have a little bit of crochet experience before starting. This dress is worked from the bottom up, in rounds, until you reach the bust part, then it’s done in rows. I used a size 3.5 hook purchased from Amazon.

YARN– I knew I didn’t want an acrylic yarn because I thought it would be heavy and uncomfortable against my skin. I didn’t want cotton because that doesn’t really drape or have any stretch. Since I’m not that experienced, I was afraid to order yarn online. Luckily there is a cute little yarn shop in Atlanta called Needle Nook. I went there and the sweet ladies who work there helped me out. In the end I went with a DK weight yarn that is a cotton/rayon blend. It worked and the dress turned out great, but it was definitely a hassle to work with. If I made this dress again, I would have to find another yarn option. I was unaware that yarn sold in hanks had to be wound into balls before you can use it. There is a machine/apparatus you can use to speed up the process, but I didn’t want to add more gadgets to my home.

So before even starting the dress, I had to roll all 6 of these hanks into balls, by hand.  Super annoying. The next annoying part about this project was the fact that I had to use 2 strands of yarn at a time, so I had to crochet with one ball on my left and one on my right. I had to stop to untangle yarn A LOT and that was super annoying… If I could have used a cotton/rayon blend yarn that is slightly thicker than DK weight, that would have been ideal for this project. The rayon does make the yarn a bit softer and have a bit of drape, but the winding and using 2 balls of yarn really made this project take a long time.

PATTERNS– If you know how to read crochet patterns then you can just use this pattern I found on Etsy and turn it into a maxi dress. That was my plan, however I don’t understand crochet patterns just yet. So luckily I found this tutorial on Youtube. That tutorial is super helpful if you don’t know how to read crochet patterns.

*UPDATE* Unfortunately the written crochet pattern is now sold out on Etsy, but the tutorial is still up on Youtube!

MISTAKES– Although you can’t tell from the pics this dress has one MAJOR flaw. Lol I didnt make the bottom wide enough, so unless I hold the dress up above my knees, I can only take small steps in it.. LMAOOO

Now, I knew that I wouldn’t really be able to walk in it when I was done, but the only way to fix anything in crochet is to take it out and do it all over again and I wasn’t willing to do that. So, I finessed it the night of my birthday, but if you are making a maxi length dress and you are following the tutorial, DO NOT start with 45 chains… lol If you are my size I would start with at least 60-70 chains in each section to have the bottom of the dress be wide enough to walk in and put on! Lol Which brings me to the other flaw this dress has… Since I didn’t make the bottom wide enough it’s hard to take on and off.

Lastly, you will have to count the ENTIRE time you are making this dress. Each section in the round needs to be even so for example if you are doing 60 chains per section you are basically counting to 60 over and over and over again. I tried to watch something interesting while making this and kept losing my place while counting or just forgetting to count and that was also annoying! LOL!

Since this dress is worked in the round, from the bottom up, it isn’t a complete fail. I plan to just turn it into a mini dress. I’m going to start taking it out from the bottom and stop at my desired length. Then it will be a mini dress that should fit perfect and I will be able to walk in! I do feel like at the point I turn it into a mini-dress, its more of a swimsuit cover up than an actual dress, but at least it will still be wearable.

So, overall this dress was a great challenge and a pain in my ass. Lol My number one tip if you want to learn how to crochet or make this dress is to be patient and keep checking the fit!!  

Leave your thoughts, comments, or questions about this dress below!

So as I mentioned in my last post I’ve been addicted to crochet lately. So far, I made the fishnet cover up, a top, a bralette, a mesh skirt, and 3 swimsuits! I haven’t gotten around to taking pictures of everything but as soon as I hit the beach you will see me in my crochet swim collection. I saw this swimsuit on IG and it was one of those “see it, like it, make it” moments. I loved the simplicity of it and I would say this is a beginner friendly project only if you have some experience with crochet.

The swimsuit is easy because it only uses one type of stitch (double crochet) but it was a little tricky (for me) to get the fit right! Even with the help of the tutorial I spent a lot of time second guessing if I was doing things correctly. Hence the reason it took me almost 2 weeks to make this. smh If you are an experienced crocheter this swimsuit would probably be a breeze to make.

In the end everything came out great and I only have 1 small tiny thing I wish I could change. I think I should have went up a few more rows in the back. It isn’t bad or even super noticeable but if I was being picky that is the only thing I would have done differently. I used “I love this” cotton yarn from Hobby Lobby to make this. I made the fishnet coverup out of the Sugar ‘n Creme yarn which was cool but I think the Hobby Lobby yarn is softer and the color selection is way better.

After making all those items I am truly done with crochet for now!! I came, I saw, I conquered… lol Major respect to the crochet artists out there. You all inspired me and I couldn’t have made any of these items without the help of your tutorials. I can imagine if you crochet a lot or for other people it can take a toll on your hands or neck from sitting still, looking down, and doing repetitive motions with your hands for long periods of time. Make sure you crochet artists take care of yourselves, your hands, and your body! If you want to see the tutorial I followed to make this swimsuit click here! She will walk you through the steps on how to make it but she is not making the swimsuit on camera, so it helps if you have some knowledge of crochet to understand it! Thanks so much for stopping by my blog! I appreciate you!

Hey boo!!! I miss you all! So much has been going on in the world lately I don’t even know where to start.. All Im going to say is that during these weird and somewhat trying times I hope you are still taking time to care for yourself! A form of self care for me was visiting my family in Maryland recently so that was great! Anyway I had quite a bit of thrifted clothing DIYs saved and I thought I would try this one out.

This idea and tutorial came from my girl @FashionWizadry on Instagram and Youtube. She is one of my favorite DIY bloggers! Pretty much every DIY from her page that I try turns out great, this button up shirt included. I followed her tutorial which can be found here. Now in this tutorial she did do some math calculations and she kinda lost me on that part. Lol Although I didn’t do the calculations I do recommend it so you will know exactly how big or small your tucks should be. My shirt was from Goodwill I believe, it had a pocket on it and I just seam ripped it off. Other than that I just followed the tutorial! Its amazing what you can do with a men’s button up shirt!

Hey loves! Im just going to skip over the fact that I haven’t wrote a blog post in months… LOL To sum it up… I had a crazy work schedule before Covid-19 sat us all down and I was simply too exhausted to sew anything let alone write a blog post.. I absolutely love blogging but it does not pay my bills… So it had to take a backseat for a while. I hope you all understand that and know I missed you dearly while I was away. lol

Ok on to the pants… This fabric is from Fabric Joint in Atlanta. I like the fabric shopping scene here in Georgia. It’s not like New York or LA fabric shopping but there are definitely options. I like Fabric joint for my solid colored fabrics. I feel like their print selection is kind of outdated, but that’s just me. I also like their prices I don’t think I’ve ever bought a fabric over $5 from there. This is actually a kind of heavy fabric, I think its sweatshirt material.

To create these pants I used McCalls pattern #7577 (pictured below) .

I have other paperbag waist patterns however, none of them were as casual as these pants. Sewing these pants is really easy and doesn’t take long at all.

Lay out your pattern pieces according to the instructions. You are going to add to the top of the pants pattern. How much you add will depend on the size elastic you use in the casing and how tall you want your paper bag to be. My paperbag waist (meaning this top of the pant that is hanging free) is about 3 inches tall and I used 1 inch elastic in the casing so I added about 5 inches to the top of the pants. Here is a little diagram to help you understand better if this doesn’t make sense.

Once you have your pants cut out they will look kind of weird but you are going to assemble the pants according to the directions, sew them up and add your side pockets. When it comes to the waist part you will fold the top down to create the paper bag and a casing. Hopefully this makes sense! Leave any questions below!

The only thing about using this method for a paperbag waist is that you will have a center seam in the waistband. I know some people don’t like that that’s why they do the waistband separately. For these particular pants I didn’t mind the center seam!

I think paper bag waists are super cute paired with crop tops, sports bras, or really close fitting clothing like a bodysuit. The bodysuit and sports bra also have posts which can be found here and here!! As I mentioned on my IG page these pants are perfect for lounging, and you can dress them up or down. What do you think!? Are you a fan of the paperbag waist? I honestly think these pants would look great on many body shapes.

Thank you for stopping by!

Hey lovesss,

This post is about 3 pinafore style dresses I made. If you are unfamiiar with the term “pinafore dress” it is just a sleeveless dress intended to be worn over a top or blouse. I like the idea of having a dress you can pair with different tops underneath to give it different looks. The first dress is one I made last year and you can view that here.

The fabric for this dress below is from Joanns. It was actually in the clearance section of fabrics, it was only like $7, and I thought the print was cute. I wanted the top of this dress to come off so I could also wear the dress as a skirt, so I attached 2 snaps in the front and two in the back so it could be removable.

This dress below is Simplicity #8944. I really didn’t have enough fabric for this dress according to the pattern so I made it work with what I had! In the pattern the bottom skirt is really just 2 huge squares. I just made the squares smaller to fit my fabric. I draped the bottom and played with it until I came up with this layered asymmetric bottom portion! lol