A Day At The Beach

I got absolutely nothing sewing related done yesterday because working at the charity shop leaves me tired and lazy so I figured it's time for a bit of inspiration. Those seem to be my most popular posts anyway so no great loss, plus I think they're a bit more interesting.

It's just getting to the nice, sunny part of the year here in England so me and the boyfriend are talking about going to the beach one day if it's nice and we both have the day off. I've never lived close enough to the coast to do that before so I'm looking forward to it.

The problem is that I don't have any swimwear that fits. What with aging and changing size regularly it all looks kind of silly.

I actually went onto the high street to brows a bit a couple of days ago, ostensibly to get boxers for the boyfriend but he was to picky to buy any. The selection there wasn't great and I didn't buy anything, but now I need to find something. I'm not up to sewing one yet and I want to go to the beach!

I really didn't like the way they built the busts on the bikinis. They were either simple triangles of fabric, fine for smaller busted women but not a D like me, or the hideously overstuffed cups that seem to have become popular in bras as well. I don't like padding and I just want something that will comfortably hold what I already have. I'm sure I'm not alone in that.

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I love pretty patterns on swimwear, one thing I like on the bikini above, because when else do you have a built in excuse to wear something that summery and colourful? Plus, even the most overwhelming patterns aren't covering all of your body so they're in small enough doses to look good.

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The best ways to add interest to swimwear and make it cute seams to be shaping and pattern cutting, but these all add to the price. A swimming costume is something most people don't wear to often, especially if they aren't part of a gym or live in England, so it hurts a bit more to splash out. For me, the more I'm likely to wear something the more I'm happy spending.

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For a little bit of sexy, what about cutouts? I have a little weak spot for them, especially ones that would show and compliment my tattoo. (I have a pink and purple Celtic not butterfly tattoo on my side.) Sometimes they look cool but sometimes they just look tacky. The one below is cool though.

This last one is for children but it's so friggin' awesome I had to include it.

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What about you guys? What kind of costumes do you wear? Would you ever make your own? Would you wear a padded one?