Years ago I attempted a Closet Core Sophie Bikini, and hated the way the cups fit, so I made a second version, a press-n-seal dupe of my favorite wired bikini top (from Juicy Couture, duh). This black bikini top has somehow disappeared in the intervening years, so it was time to replace that old black bikini with this… a black beauty bikini! I have made the Black Beauty bra several times, both in a regular and nursing version, and after Erin hacked her black beauty last year(?) during Bra a Week I always had it in the back of my head to do the same.
I used almost all findings and fabrics from my (extensive, now) lingerie sewing stash: activewear/swim fabric originally used to make the original bikini (I think), some underwires that are not “orange” wires from Emerald Erin, but are basically identical (I’m not sure where they are from), swimwear elastic from Erin, black mystery underwire channeling, bra foam, a Dritz metal back closure from JoAnn’s. The only new findings are the rings and sliders on the straps. When I tried to use my regular sliders, I learned pretty quickly that swimwear straps (made from 4!!! layers of swim fabric plus elastic) do not fit through bra strap sliders. I posted about this problem on instagram and several of you helpful humans pointed me to Stitch Love Studio, which sells “tall” sliders–exactly what I needed.
I didn’t change the fit of the bra at all, which actually caused one issue–the bra hook and eyes usually add a bit of extra length to the band, whereas the swim hook I used eats a little bit of length, since you fold over both ends to attach it. For this one, I just added an awkward little loop of 3/4″ wide bra strapping, also black, to give myself some breathing room, but next time I will add an extra inch to the ends of the back wings to make up for what you lose with the swim hook!
I did change the construction method. Erin has a great tutorial on how to make a Black Beauty bikini on her instagram (it’s week 20 of her original Bra a Week series) but I wanted a simpler design–no power bar, and no binding on the edges. The binding is a bit fiddly in my experience and I can’t make it look as perfect as I would like. Instead, I made the cups, made the cradle, and then inserted the finished cups into the cradle. In more detail:
- sew outer cradles to center gore
- sew wings to outer cradles
- sew elastic to top of band, flip under, topstitch down
- sew right side cup fabric to inside cup foam, understitch, flip over to the right side, and pin the fabric to the foam cut at the bottom edge
- sew cups to cradle, matching edges to edges and seams to snips.
- attach underwire channeling to seam allowance
- sew elastic to bottom of band, flip under, topstitch down
- sew down underwire channeling, install underwire
- attach straps
- attach back hook
Done!
The only pattern piece I had to change to make these alterations was the upper cup of the swim fabric, where I added a bit of seam allowance (about 3/8″) along the top edge to account for covering the top edge of the foam. I also cut down the width of the back wing to fit the swim hook I used, but I just did that freehand rather than on the pattern piece.
The bottoms are the (free!) Megan Nielsen Acacia panties, which I’ve made lots of times but never as swim bottoms (here’s how). Making your favorite underwear pattern into a swim bottom is very simple–much simpler even that hacking your favorite bra. I did think it was pretty funny to have a swimsuit made up of my go-to bra pattern AND my go-to undies pattern; it really underscores how silly it is to feel fine posting my bikini pictures (and wearing my bikini in front of my in-laws!) and yet I would never pose like this in my actual underwear!
ps please excuse the “filter”–i got some water in my phone camera i think 
