I have 5 best girlfriends from high school and I feel like one lucky lady. The older we get, the harder it is to see each other, but we still manage to make it work. Last year, we wanted to do something special for our “10 year anniversary” of friendship. All together now, “awww.” We have been friends since our Freshman year of high school and we wanted to plan a fun trip with all six of us to celebrate. Can you guess how long it took six busy ladies to find a weekend that worked for everyone? Over a year! But, we finally settled on a date and location and off we went.
When the weekend finally arrived, travelers from Seattle, San Diego, Orange County, and San Francisco made their journey to a beautiful home outside of Palm Springs. Little did we know while planning the trip that it was going to be 115 degrees the whole weekend, but that wasn’t going to stop our fun. A combination of pool, sun, floaties, sangria, yummy food, catch phrase, and best friends meant we never had to leave the house.
So, this is what we did in the morning:
And we did some of this in the afternoon…
And surprisingly enough, we managed to get out of the pool to pose for a full group shot at night.
For this tropical getaway (and for other summer adventures), I decided to make myself a new beach wrap. It was so easy, cheap, and cute that I have to share with you so you can make one for yourself! Thankfully, my friend Jess was nice enough to model the cover-up for me.
DIY Swimsuit Cover-up
Inspired by La Vie en Rose
Supplies:
- 1.5 – 2 yards of jersey knit fabric (you should be able to wrap it around your body almost twice)
- Colored fabric scraps
- Needle
- Thread
- Scissors
- Tank top (optional- for use as a pattern)
Take your fabric, and cut it in half, lengthwise. It will probably be longer than you want it, but once you get farther along, you can adjust the length accordingly. You will use one piece of the material you cut for this project, and you can use the other half to make one for a friend (or just give them the fabric and have them make their own!).
Next, fold the fabric in half hamburger style (width-wise) . Grab your tank top and place it along the non-folded side of the fabric, that is opposite the folded side.
Use the tank top as a guide to cut your fabric.
For the straps, take three scraps of fabric in whatever complementary colors you choose. Cut the scraps to be about an inch wide and a foot long. Use a safety pin to pin the scraps at the top and now braid the three pieces together.
Once you finish braiding, pin the end to hold it together.
Take your first strap and pin both ends to each side of the arm holes you previously cut. Thread your needle with thread, and sew the strap to both ends.
Take another small scrap, wrap it around the sewn part, and sew that together to hide all of the loose ends.
Now repeat on the other side!
Now that you have done the hard part, try it on (Jess shows us how below!). Trim the bottom of the dress to the length you desire.
And that’s it! A fun, new beach wrap that’ll only cost ya $5 and twenty minutes time.
Now off to plan the next girl’s weekend…
19 Responses
I love the way it opens in the back, and is fitted at the top and loose around the belly. And the best thing about it is that it doesn’t fall down!
I love this! Want to make one for Hawaii vacay in two weeks. I am a little confused, though. Could you post a picture of what it looks like finished, laid out on the floor? Or a diagram? I am with you up to the cutting of the arm with the tank as a pattern, but what happens to all the fabric on the other side? Thanks again!
I will try to post a picture later tonight, but in the meantime, it just looks like a towel with two arm holes when finished. When you make the arm hole cut, you are cutting both arm holes at once since you folded it over. Then unfold it, and you attach one strap to each end of the cut, and do the same with the second strap on the second cut. Does that make sense? Sorry, I should have someone who doesn’t know how to do it test it out from my instructions first!
Thank you for sharing! Victoria’s Secret has the same cover-up in the catalog. I almost bought it, now I don’t have to!!
nice! and you can personalize it however you want 🙂
so nice you are all still wearing bikinis. can’t wait to see what happens at your 20th.
love
In Barcelona I saw women selling wraps that looked just like this! so cute 🙂
Thank you! These are exactly the instructions I have been looking for! Yay!
This is great! I am making my own swimsuit and I think I need this wrap to go along with it!
You can see my swimsuit ideas here: http://iammegandsocanyou.blogspot.com/2013/05/swimalong-status-update.html
If I need to make this for my plus-size body, do I use 2.5-3 yards of fabric?
The rule of thumb is for the fabric to wrap around your body 1.5-2 times. So whatever amount of fabric that is should work perfect!
Thanks for the idea. I am making one for my daughter’s trip to Bermuda this
summer, and may also use it for a craft project for my Red Hat group. Won’t
that be fun???
Fun! I’ve found it to be great because it can double as a something to lay on, or use it as a blanket if the beach is windy!
Sounds like you all had a great weekend. I love the swim suit cover up
And plan on making one for myself. So cute and looks easy
Thanks Sandy! It is super easy and cute, I do hope you make it!
Can this be made with terry cloth?
Sure!