Swimsuits!

I needed new swimsuits for the cruise. And I decided, since the average age on this cruise would be about 65, that I would give a bikini a shot again. First I made a one piece using my standard pattern. The colour is rather bland, though quite shiny. I used turquoise thread for the top stitching.

 I sent this to my husband and asked if he still thought the brown was boring. LOL. I don't seem to have a whole body picture. But it's Kwik Sew 3779, the same as these ones. I think I still need to add to the lower width and figure out a straighter curve for the centre edges. And why does it pull funny along the elastic?

 I made some adjustments to the cup portion of the pattern for the bikinis.

 When your beer matches your fabric...

 I learned how to make the fabric covered elastic straps from Ohhh Lulu! The part on the straps is partway through this video though I used info from the other parts too.

 Does this pillow make me look frumpy?

 And yes, I had a bit of an incident with slippage. Luckily it wasn't at the main pool!

 Next, I wanted to replicate a reversible bikini top I saw online, but I had a few other tweaks.

 I couldn't get the lower band to sew on straight so I eventually hand basted it.

 I loved how it was looking, but it just didn't work out. The straight tops across the cups wouldn't lay flat on me (the model had been much smaller and therefor the binding/straps were closer together). I don't have enough height in my bodice to make all the angles work properly.

 I did some fudging, adding the little pink ruffle and an upper portion, gave up on the reversible idea.

Still cute, right? I know I wore it on the cruise, but I don't see a picture.

I thought I had made another top, but maybe not. Even though it was a 10 day cruise, we didn't swim much. The pools were really cold when we got onboard, and the adult only Solarium pool never warmed up.

"Simple Dress"

If by "simple" you can include hours spent googling and YouTubing, then this was simple. I have always wanted to make a new infinity dress. My original wasn't in the best material and then I cut it up for a dress muslin, which became a nightgown because it wasn't the best material. In my early searching, I can across a company selling many types of infinity dresses, including "Ivy". 
I liked many of the styles shown and recognized that really, this was just a rectangle with "armholes" and a long tie for the neck.

I chose this crazy patterned fabric, feels like a polyester knit. I went and got a similar feeling black to make the tie. Of course, on the cruise, there was no way for me to remember all the different ways to tie it. 

 The simplest way. Using the "armholes" as armholes. The long tie gets tied on one shoulder. I really didn't know what to do with the long tie after tieing.

 It felt loose and swingy and relaxed  though I was a little annoyed by the front being shorter than the back--but not short enough to be a "hi-lo" style. And it was prone to flying up on the windy deck!

 I tried it using the armhole at the centre front. I just don't think I have enough upper body length for the various criss cross wrapping styles. Right under my bust and it felt like my boobs were huge and it was a maternity dress. Further down and they were hard to stay in place because if I did them tight, it wasn't very flattering.

The back felt SO low. I'm not used to that!. And see how there's lots of fabric on my front but not on my back? Strange. I think I might have made one side of the dress with a wider piece--I should check that.
I'll probably wear it again, I just need to build some confidence my ability to do the different ties. And we either need a real summer, or another trip south LOL. Also, if you're trying to pack light, it's easier to get away with re-using one dress when it's a more basic solid colour LOL. This was a very distinctive dress on a ship of about 2500 people!

I Bought Yarn

I recently bought some white "Woollike" to finish up a Christmas stocking order from last Christmas. Thankfully, the recipient was born Jan 2 2018 :) This was my first (and so far, only) yarn purchase this year. I haven't really completed much either, except some dishcloths and one red scarf (for World AIDS Day). Thankfully I still have projects to show you from last year! LOL.

Yarn In:     100gr
Yarn Out:      0gr 
Balance:     100gr+
Costs:     $2.53/65 days= $0.04/day