Goldfish Kiss

No sewing, needles, thread, or purchasing required. Just a new perspective on how to tie a bikini top, with up-lifting results.

Being a B cup and having broad shoulders, halter/wide strapped tops really are unflattering, and tend to make me look like a linebacker. But, I realized if I did a little switcharoo on how I tied some halters, I made a supportive, flattering, cute, wrap top. When I made the wrap top (pictured above), my sister even commented “Wow Bek, your boobs look good in that bikini.” A compliment I rarely hear.

Same bikini top, but make it a wrap :

• Untie anything that is tied on your bikini top.

• The ties that were tied behind your back, now get tied behind your neck.

• The ties that were tied behind your neck, now get criss-crossed across the front of your chest, and tied securely behind your back.

• Slide the fabric around and scrunch or widen the sides of the top until you feel comfortable and covered. The sides are what used to be the bottoms of the top.

**Larger, stretchy halter tops with no hardware work best, but feel free to give others a try.

Two thumbs up for a perky, stay put top.

I’m not much of a ruffle gal, until it comes to bikinis. They add a layer of coverage and make me feel like Barbarella. Or a pirate. So, after digging around the bikini bin and finding some fabric at home I could repurpose, I ventured into the somewhat frilly side of swimwear, for a ruffle bikini top bikini facelift. So far, pretty happy with the results.

DIY Ruffle Bikini top.

Read more

A typical side-tie bikini bottom is super cute & flirty, but there is one pitfall. If the bottoms are a wee bit loose or stretched out, those suckers fall off even if the wind seems to hit you in a weird way. But never fear, with some scissors and novice needle work, you can turn them into a secure double tie that feels like it is locked in place and looks rather saucy (if I might say so myself). So, grab that old pair out of your drawer and let those lovely bottoms live to see another day.

All you need is: A needle & some extremely sturdy thread that you can’t pull or break - I like dental floss, (The stronger the thread, the less important your sewing abilities are.) scissors, and about 20 minutes.

Read more

This winter, I paddled out in a brand new saucy light grey/silverish bikini for the first time. After I caught a wave, my husband politely paddled next to me and stated, “Bek, I can see your entire nipple. Like, even the bumps around it.” Fun times. Yet another case of seethroughbikiniitus plagued me.

I loved this new bikini. It was cute, flattering, but apparently not tested for adequate nipple coverage once dunked in the water. However, I was able to salvage this purchase with a quick, easy, old school solution. Rit Dye powder.

For just $2.78 I now have a brand spanking new, completely opaque in the water, dark army green bikini…that’s pretty sweet.

So, if you have any bikinis that turned out to be see through, or you just want to freshen up an old bikini with a new splash of color, head over to your nearest drug or fabric store, pick out your color of choice, and dye away.

Read more

This happens all too often. Drive up to parking lot to go surfing. Realize for some odd reason I am not wearing a bikini. It’s too far to drive home to go and get one. Drive to nearest store. Buy cheapest suit I can find. Surf. End up with a diaper-butt bikini bottom and $25 I would’ve rather spent elsewhere.

However, with a little bit of easy sewing and scissors, I took my latest clearance rack purchase, and turned it into a more flattering, fun, festive, & fringed bikini bottom. So, thought I’d pass it along. Hopefully this will allow you to dust off, revamp and wear a few of those old bottoms you might have tucked away in the closet.

Easy fringed & ruched bikini bottom.

*Tools: Bikini bottom with long thick ties, scissors, dental floss, needle.

1. Ruche the bottom as little or as much as you want. For directions, follow my Scruncy Bootie Bottom tutorial HERE.

2. Take your scissors and carefully cut the all the side ties in thin strips about 1.5 cm wide. Cut any bottom or side seams so you have as much fringe as possible.

(TIP: make sure the ties are tightly tied before you cut.)

3. Repeat on all side ties.

4. If you’re feeling saucy, you can braid some fringe strands together or knot the ends of each fringe. I kept mine loose - more shakeability.

5. Enjoy shaking your bom bom as you walk down the beach, and receiving some compliments, or invitations to salsa along the way

*Working on getting better pics of the fringe, but in the meantime, use your imagination. It’s cute. Promise.

No sewing, needles, thread, or purchasing required. Just a new perspective on how to tie a bikini top - with up-lifting results.

Being a B cup, halter/wide strapped tops really are unflattering, and I have to tie them insanely tight to get the twins to perk up. But, I realized if I did a little switcharoo on how I tied some halters, I made a revamped, cute, and supportive bikini top.

Same bikini top, a different way to tie it, with uplifting results :

Read more

Fringe isn’t just for moccasins, handbags, and bangs anymore folks. It’s made its way into the genre of the bikini top. Trendsetting brands like Tyler Rose, L* Space, Acacia and Thayer have all adorned tops with bold or subtle fringed trim that makes you want to shimmy and shake a little bit more than usual. Bonus: it’s really flattering to your bust line, and channels your inner Shakira or Tina Turner at the same time. So, I took an old bikini top, and with a little bit of thread and the aid of a tee shirt, was able to spice things up a bit.

How to take a simple bikini top from blah to fringe-tastic.

Tools: Bikini top, tee shirt you don’t mind cutting off 6” or so from the bottom, scissors, needle, thread

Read more

One of the easiest ways to take a simple bikini bottom and suddenly transform it from a borderline diaper to a flattering head turner is with a l’il touch o’ ruching. A little bit of scrunch between the cheeks, I don’t know why, but it highlights while hiding flaws and just enhances zee curves.

I successfully scrunchified a few bikini bottoms of my own. All you need is: scissors, a sturdy needle, strong thread (the stronger the better, I actually used dental floss…insert butt floss reference here_____ it’s ok), and some bikini bottoms. The results? Great success.

How to make a ruched bikini bottom:

Read more