Making a beach cover-up is so simple you will be able to wear it the very next day. You will soon be able to wear your cover-up in three distinct ways; tied loosely at the hip, wrapped tightly over the bust or tied back behind the neck. In fact the most difficult part, yet the most fun, is selecting a fabric to match your bathing suit.
Cover-Up Fabric Tips
Fabrics can be purchased within the yardage/craft departments at Wal-Mart, or for a larger selection of fabrics visit dedicated fabric stores like Joanne’s Fabrics or a fabric store close to you. When deciding which fabrics to choose from you will want to keep a few tips in mind.
– If you are trying to match a particular bathing suit, bring it with you for reference while fabric shopping.
– A sheer fabric adds mystery as you show off your curves, so select a lighter colored or scant-patterned sheer to cover only minor figure imperfections, while choosing a darker shade or all-over patterned sheer will conceal major figure flaws.
– A lightweight cotton T-shirt type knit fabric will cling to your curves, every one of them, good, bad or ugly, so follow the dark/light colors rule; light colors only hide minor imperfections, darker shades cover major flaws.
– Spandex knits and rayon fabrics won’t cling to any figure-flaw related bumps; spandex covers everything if not worn too tightly and light-colored rayon fabrics can be semi-sheer so follow sheer-fabric guide above.
Fabric Selection
Once you have selected the perfect fabric to match your bathing suit, unwrap some from the bolt and hold it up to you, as you would hold a dress in front of a mirror, making sure you like the way the fabric hangs. Next you can either find a sarong pattern which will recommend specific yardage to be cut, or use my quick-and-easy guide which will require holding up the fabric to wrap around your unique figure.
Yardage Needed
Because fabrics come in different widths you will want to unfold and wrap the width around you. You will probably need a 54″ wide fabric unless you are very tiny and can wrap a 36″ width fabric around you with 6″ to 12″ of excess needed for tie-ends.
The amount of yardage to be cut will depend on your height and desired length. Your 3-way beach cover-up will require at least 1 yard if you are short, 1 ½ yards for average heights and 2 yards may be required, if you are tall.
Minimal Sewing
Hem only the top and bottom raw edges, sewing either by hand whip-stitching or on a sewing machine. No need to sew the salvage edges as it is already semi-finished, unless you want to, but it could add extra bulkiness when tying.
3-Way Wrap & Tie Styles
After the raw edges have been hemmed, top and bottom we begin the 3-way wrapping process.
-For a long hipster island style or waist-tied beach cover-up, hold the sarong behind you, wrapping mid-point over your right hip and tie the top two corner ends together, over your left hip.
-For a knee-length fly-away dress cover-up, hold the sarong behind you pulling underneath your arms, gathering across the bust and tying the ends together at mid-point.
-For a short wrap-style cover-up, hold the sarong behind you grabbing the top ends underneath the arms, crossing the right side up and over to the left side of your neck while crossing the left side over to the right side of your neck and tie the two ends back behind your head.
Now you have a simple, yet versatile beach wrap cover-up at a minimum cost and with very little sewing. You will be able to wear your cover-up three different ways to gracefully disguise your figure flaws while showing maximum Island attitude!
