Well well, it's bathing suit week here on the blog! The second suit I finished up is the Reno & Dakota Bikini from Seamwork. They released the patterns as two separate pieces (personally I think this is stupid but that's fine) and with two names. Reno is the top, Dakota the bottom.
Both pieces have a bit of a retro look to them, but since I used a fun, modern print, I don't think the retro-ness really shows through.
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I had originally bought this spandex (from imagine gnats) ages ago to make some more Aires Leggings, and ended up with nearly 1 metre of leftover spandex. Although,I had to do some creative cutting with the long straps - thank goodness for 4-way stretch!
I also didn't realize that they had swimsuit lining at fabricland (you just have to ask for it) so I used nude lycra as the lining. I kind of like the extra structure (and nipple hiding) that this provides!
I didn't bother with pattern-matching for the top, since the pattern was so busy - and due to the creative cutting I was doing. I kind of wish they matched up, but no one but me will really notice!
As for the bottoms, I did originally cut and sew them high-waisted... but I really didn't like how that looked on me, so I cut them a bit lower, but not bikini-low. This hides a tiny bit of paunch that would otherwise stick-out ;)
When we were away camping, this was the suit I wore the most. It passed the diving and cannon ball tests with flying colours! The top was really secure, and I didn't have any nip-slips. The bottoms could use a tighter waistband though... as they had the tendency to slip off a bit when I dove in. The top also provided just the right amount of cleavage and side-boob coverage - something that is hard to come by in a standard triangle halter-top. Overall, I'm very pleased!! I will definitely be making this pattern again next summer, likely in a classic all-black.
Love these swimsuits you're making!
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