Swimsuits are so fun to make. They’re just so easy to sew together and the stretchy fabric is so forgiving fit-wise! I don’t live anywhere near a beach, but I have at least 5 swimsuits… oops.

DIY high waisted swimsuit- Adopt Your Clothes

I found this leopard… or cheetah… print dress at the thrift store and when I felt the material I knew it was destined to become a swimsuit!

After some scrolling through pinterest for inspiration, I decided to make a high waisted bikini because that was one style I didn’t have yet in my swimsuit collection.

If you want to learn how to make yourself a gorgeous swimsuit, read on!

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What you need:

Instructions:

Cutting out the pieces for the bottoms:

I first cut my dress apart so I could use the fabric. My dress was paneled so I ended up with two larger panels and two sets of smaller panels with a seam up the center.

To make the pattern for the swimsuit bottoms, I traced a pair of underwear I liked the fit of. First, I folded the underwear in half with the front towards the inside of the fold. I then folded my fabric and laid the folded underwear on the fabric with the fold of the underwear lined up with the fold of the fabric.

The fabric I used for this part was one of the panel sets with a seam up the center, so I folded my fabric along the seam. Because of this, my swimsuit bottoms will have a seam in the center back.

Next, trace around the underwear, tracing about 1/2 inch beyond the underwear for seam allowance. I also extended the waist up 4 inches from the top of the underwear to make it high waisted.

Now just cut along the lines you drew. This is the back of your bikini bottoms.

Now we’ll cut the front out. Fold the underwear you’re using as a pattern in the other direction (with the back to the inside). Fold your fabric and lay the underwear down on the fabric with the fold along the fold of the fabric. Now trace around the underwear, leaving about 1/2 inch extra for seam allowance. I also added  4 inches to the waist from the top of the underwear. Make sure you’re only tracing around the front of the underwear:

Next, cut it out along the lines you drew and you have the front!

To cut the back lining piece, place the swimsuit back down on the lining fabric with wrong sides together. Cut around it to get a matching (mirror image) back lining piece.

Now repeat the process with the front piece to cut a lining front.

Sewing together the bikini bottoms:

Now let’s put together the bikini bottoms! First, pin the front to the back at one of the side seams and sew down it with a zigzag stitch.

Repeat with the other side seam.

Next, pin and sew the crotch seam.

Now, iron all your seams and turn it right sides out and it should look like this:

Now just repeat the same steps to sew the lining front to the lining back with right sides together. Your lining bottoms will look like this:

Now we’re going to sew together the lining and the outer swimsuit fabric. First, insert the lining into the outer fabric with WRONG sides together and pin the leg holes together.

Next, sew around the leg holes along the edge with a zigzag stitch.

Next, pin and sew the waist edge in the same way to fully connect the lining and outer fabric.

Finishing the edges with elastic:

Next, cut two pieces of elastic that are comfortable around your thigh. Just make sure they are at least slightly smaller than the length around the leg hole of the swimsuit.

Now take one of your elastic pieces and overlap the ends. Sew the ends together to form a loop. Then repeat this with the other elastic piece. So you should end up with two elastic loops.

Pin one of your elastic loops into the leg hole, right along the edge but on the inside of the swimsuit. I used 4 evenly spaced pins around the leg hole.

Using a zigzag stitch, sew the elastic on the inside of the leg hole, right along the edge. Stretch the elastic evenly between the pins as you sew. Repeat with the other leg hole. When you finish it will look like this:

Now we’ll do the same thing with the waist. Measure out a piece of elastic that is comfortably tight around your waist and at least slightly smaller than the length of the swimsuit waist. Sew the ends of the elastic together to form a loop. Pin the elastic into the waistband and stretch and sew it to the inner edge of the swimsuit waist the same way you did with the leg holes.

Now, our final step for the bikini bottoms! Put the double needle on your sewing machine for a pretty finish (if you don’t have a double needle, you can do this with a zigzag stitch). Fold over the elastic towards the inside to hide the elastic in the fold.

Sew the folded elastic in place around both leg holes and the waist with a double needle, sewing from the outside of the swimsuit. Here’s the bikini bottoms, done!

Cutting out the pieces for the top:

So now let’s get started on the top! First, I took one of my pieces of fabric and pinned it to the front of my dress form, pinning it down the center front, around the armhole and shoulder and down the side seam. I only did this on one side of the form, I just pinned the other side haphazardly so it wouldn’t fall down and be in my way. If you don’t have a dress form, you can do this by putting on a tight fitting shirt and pinning the fabric to your shirt (I used to do this before I made my dress form). Make sure you’ve stretched the fabric over the dress form or your swimsuit will be too loose.

Next, I used my fabric chalk and marked the center front line.

Next, I marked the side seam and then drew out the shape I wanted for the top, connecting everything to the center front and side seam.

Now we need to draw out the back of the swimsuit. I pinned another piece of fabric to the back of the dress from, stretching it to the sides seams. I pinned down the center back and the side seam, matching the side seam of the back to the side seam of the front.

Then I marked the center back and side seam with my fabric chalk.

Next, I drew out the shape of the back on the side I pinned. I made sure to match the hem with the hem of the front as well as the underarm so that the front and back are the same length at the side seam. It was hard to see my chalk markings in this photo so I traced over it with the red dashed line below:

Next, I removed the fabric from the dress form to cut out my pieces. I started with the back. I laid the fabric flat and used a ruler to make my markings a little more straight and nice. Then I added 1/2 inch for seam allowance around every edge EXCEPT the center back marking.

Next, I folded the fabric in half, wrong sides together, along the center back seam.

Then I just cut it out along the seam allowance lines. And when I unfolded it, it looked like this:

Then I repeated the process to cut out the front piece: Use a ruler to make the lines nice, add seam allowance everywhere except center front, fold along center front line, and cut it out!

Now that we have our front and back pieces, we need to cut out our lining. Place the front and back pieces down on the lining fabric, right sides together and cut around them to get matching (mirror image) lining pieces.

Sewing the front to the back:

First, pin the bikini back to the bikini front with right sides together at the side seams. Sew the side seams and trim the seam allowances.

Repeat this process to sew the lining front to the lining back with right sides together.

Next, I pressed the seam allowances of the outer fabric towards the front and the seam allowances of the lining towards the back.

Making the straps:

Next I tried on the outer fabric bikini and cut two pieces of elastic as straps that were the right length to fit snugly over my shoulders. I also marked on the back of the bikini where I wanted the straps to attach. In my case, this was 4 inches from the side seams.

Now we need to make our straps all pretty. To do this, first lay the elastic strap along the edge of a piece of your main fabric on the wrong side of the fabric and sew it to the edge with a zigzag stitch.

Then fold the elastic towards the wrong side of the fabric twice, to encase it fully in the fabric.

Next, sew the elastic in place with a double needle (you could also just use a zigzag stitch), making sure you sew with the wrong side of the fabric facing up.

Now just trim the excess fabric away, close to the stitching, and you’ll have a beautiful strap. Repeat this process for the other strap.

Adding bra cups:

Next, I decided to add bra cups because I’m not really comfortable with a swimsuit that doesn’t have any padding. But if you are, definitely feel free to skip this step! I envy your confidence!

I used bra cups that I seam ripped out of an old bra I never wear. You can also buy cups at a craft store or online.

First, I put the lining bikini top on over my shirt with the right side TOWARDS my body and pinned it in place so it wouldn’t slip down. Then I pinned the bra cups in the right positions to the outside of the lining (this will be the WRONG side of the fabric since the right side is towards my body). Here’s what it looked like after I pinned them in place:

Next, I sewed the bra cups to the lining with a zigzag stitch all the way around the edges of the cups. Make sure to only go through the front piece of the lining. I would also recommend using thread the same color as your lining.

Attaching the straps:

Now we need to attach the straps to the top edge of the swimsuit. To do this I pinned the straps where I wanted them on the front, sandwiching them between the lining and the outer fabric (with right sides together). Make sure the nice looking side of the strap is facing towards the outer fabric, not the lining.

I then pinned the lining front to the outer fabric front along the top edge, stopping at the side seams.

This part is hard to explain, so I’ll do my best… I pulled the straps out the bottom of the front and then, from the bottom, I inserted them between the lining and outer fabric layers of the back. Then I pinned them in place (matching them to the marks I made earlier), making sure they aren’t twisted anywhere and that the nice side of the straps are towards the outer fabric. I wanted my straps to criss-cross in the back so this is where I crossed them and pinned them to the opposite side in the back as in the front. Next, I finished pinning the lining to the outer fabric along the top edge of the back.

Then I just used a zigzag stitch to sew all the way around the top edge of the bikini. Here’s what it looks like from the inside:

And the outside:

Finishing the edges with elastic:

Finally, we just need to finish all the edges with elastic so the swimsuit hugs the body nicely.

Turn the bikini back to the inside and stretch and sew a piece of elastic to the LINING ONLY in the center front between the straps:

Next, stretch and sew elastic all the way around the rest of the top edge, making sure to only sew through the lining, not the outer fabric.

Now turn the swimsuit back to right sides out and use a zigzag stitch to sew the bottom edge closed.

Next, stretch and sew elastic on the inside of the swimsuit along the bottom edge. This is the same method we used for the bikini bottoms.

Now, roll the elastic to the inside and stitch it down with a double needle.

Finally, top stitch the entire upper edge with the double needle, going through all three layers (outer fabric, elastic, and lining).

And now your swimsuit is done!

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