String bikini question

#1

xxx Ok, I finally finished that crocheted bikini bottom (pictured below) but I have a question…for anyone that has ever made one of these (crocheted OR knitted), how did u solve the problem of having it fall as u walk? When I walk it just starts to sag more, otherwise it’s awesome and fits.

Sorry if these pics are inappropriate, you can take them down if you want, Amy.

This is just to show the string on the sides… I had to tie them tightly, and it isn’t hanging on my hip, so I dont know what to do.

edit Now that I’ve lost a few pounds, I actually feel more comfortable in something such as this! (I started to go to the gym everyday)… In a few weeks I will have more muscle than fat! Yippee! **

#2

I have no idea what the answer to your question is, but your knit bathing suit reminded me that when I was a preschooler, my mother knit me a bathing suit, which was wonderful, until it got wet…and then the whole thing absorbed half the lake and sagged down to my ankles. So, with that in mind, stay on land. :slight_smile:
kimmie

#3

WOW! yay for you! I wouldn’t have the cahones to wear a knitted bikini, even if i did look as good as you. bravo, for being you! :cheering:

The only think I can think of to stop the drooping is maybe to knit some elastic in with the yarn nexttime? Or maybe you can add some elastic to the ties on the side… :thinking:

#4

:blush: thanks for the compliment -before I was with my current boyfriend I was VERY modest and am surprised at myself for even wearing bikinis (I used to be a one-peice ONLY chick)-, and thank you kimmie for ur advice to stay on land. I know that they do sell elastic/cotton blend yarns so i may find some skeins of that and try it. Maybe they wont absorb a ton of water. I was thinking of just using this one for land, but it sags when I walk.

As for Hildegard_von_Knittin, I think I will take your idea and put some elastic or something in with the ties. I was even thinking of adding some eyelets to the sides and add a drawstring or knit a tighter edging around.

Thanks again :smiley:

if anyone else has ideas or experience…or even yarn substitutes (elastic blends or something…) for microspun by lionbrand, please fill me in!

#5

Nice work HS, don’t worry, the pics are perfectly appropriate. :slight_smile:

:thinking: I’m thinking that if you made it so the back of the bikini went up higher, like by 1 1/2 inches (or more, and you’d just wear it so the front went higher to match), that could help. Then the bikini would be able to be tied higher and tighter over the top curve of your rear, and would have something to hold it up (your butt! ;)).

I’m also wondering if the ability to tighten to top edge is being restricted by how tight you can have it around your thighs? You know, if the tension along the “V” lines of the bikini is tighter than around the hips? Then you might need to tweak the construction a bit. Like loosening it around the thighs, or tightening it along the top edge. You might try weaving the chain cord in through the top edge, so it can gather in a bit, as it needs to. That will change the V-angle to be a tad more vertical, and consequently looser as it needs to be, to allow for the top to be pulled tighter. Hope that makes sense. In other words, you should be able to pull the top edge as tight as you need to, without being restricted by the bikini’s construction.

Also, if the stretchiness of the chain cord is a problem, or if it’s digging in, you could use a ribbon, or other substitute.

Let us know how it goes!
Amy

#6

Great job!! This is such a site of inspiration. A bikini is on my list of projects. I remember wearing crochet bikini’s back “in the day”, they were ONLY for sunbathing, no water allowed. :lol: Unfortunately, other than the elastic suggestion I don’t have any. BTW, what kind of yarn did you use.

Kelly xxx

#7

I wore (and swam in) a light tan/beige crocheted bikini when I was around 12 or 13. In fact, my mother bought it for me. If anything, I looked “nude” because the color closely matched my skin. The trick to modesty and enabling water exposure is to line them with an opaque fabric in a matching color. I believe mine was lined with polyester. Choose something stretchy and light enough to take a soaking and drain quickly without sagging.

While in the Bahama’s (one of the bastians of the worldwide, open-minded set) I saw a mature Costa Rican or Brazilian woman in her 30’s wearing one in an outdoor Jacuzzi we were all sharing…hers was without lining…and the guys on the beach that day appreciated it.

oshnpashn, it looks like your hips are shaped like mine…like a Woman’s! I’d suggest taking a look at how French Cut underwear are constructed to get a good idea about height and fit for yourself. I only wear Jockey French Cut’s…per suggestion of a gentleman friend I knew years ago…he was right, they seem to look and fit the best, without the look and feel of a diaper or something like that. Leave those stringy thongs, and hipster types for women with narrower hips and 1% total body fat. LOL Plus, you’ll look even hotter in it!!!

#8

I was looking at the bikini pattern on the Knitty Gritty page at www.diynet.com and they suggest Cascade Fixation yarn (cotton with elastic). They say you can actually go in the water in it! It might help with sagging too? Of course since you’re already done this probably won’t help!

happenin, I like the suggestion about lining–I will certainly be lining mine if I end up making the Knitty Gritty pattern!

#9

Thanks for your replies guys! I was thinking of just weaving in the i-cord like Amy said and I will see how that goes. Tonight I may just finish the top!..

As for the question of what yarn I used : Microspun by lionbrand as suggested. I think the water would make it fall tho lol. I was hoping not, but so far it falls as I walk!

Oh yah and I do plan on knitting the bikini from knitty gritty! … It was on my list first…but Joann’s happens to actually carry microspun yarn. Im going to have to look around for cascade fxations…