maternity swim suit adjustment OR how to gain a little modesty in your swimwear:)

I am gonna go ahead and warn you now....there ARE pregnant tummy pictures in this post.  I have zero pride left at this point, so I decided I would share the finished product DESPITE the fact that I was WEARING A PREGNANT GIRL SWIMSUIT!!!  FYI:)
I had not planned on sharing this particular project until I realized that I CANNOT be the only one struggling with finding a maternity swimsuit that did not show off MORE than I wanted to show off....so here is the solution I came up with.  I now think that this would for sure work with a regular (non-maternity) tankini and I will probably make one of these again for ALL of my future swimsuits. 

On with the show.....here is the problem...

I searched online for a maternity swimsuit that was cute AND covering.  It did not exist.  Trust me I looked.  I did not wanna spend 150 bucks on a suit that did not make me the least bit happy, so I spent under 20 bucks on this suit from Old Navy and decided to make my own changes.  I loved the fun pattern on this suit (all of the really covering suits were plain black---BORING)  I did not see myself wearing these bottoms for 2 big reasons.  One---I wanted boy shorts OR a swim-skirt.  Neither existed in navy blue.  Two--the bottoms sit BELOW the belly---yikes.  I had a fear that I would get in the pool and the tankini top would float up and BOOM prego belly in your face.  Not Pretty!!!

THE SOLUTION.  1/2 yard of stretchy swimsuit fabric and about 5 minutes.  (if you are tall you probably need a little longer piece of fabric)

I had about 3 ideas in my head when I bought the fabric, but when I put the suit on and grabbed the fabric---it all became WAY easier than what I had planned. I took the fabric and wrapped it around my big ole belly.  I wanted it to be a little tight so that the fabric was tight across my belly but looser around my thighs and legs.  When I decided on the fit I wanted, I added a little for the seam allowance.

Then I basically made the biggest belly band EVER.  I sewed the fabric into a tube by sewing right sides togehter along the short sides.

Since the fabric is so stretchy, you don't even need any elastic around the top (plus I decided it would add a bulky waist band around my already bulky belly).  Plus without a waist band you have options.  You can pull it over the belly (right under the girls) for a short swim-skirt with full belly coverage. 

ORRRRR...

Pull it down below the belly for a longer cover-up type skirt.  I am thinking LONG for walking around and sitting by the pool.  And SHORT for swimming.  The fabric is so stretchy that it stays up OVER the belly, UNDER the belly---no worries on this falling down. (I HAVE NOT tried this in the water yet, BUT from what I know about swimsuit fabric---when it gets wet it will NOT be getting any looser:)

ORRRR...

Pull it half up the belly for a little LESS modesty:) I did not even hem the bottom or top edge because I am lazy there is really no reason too---unless you want. 

I hate wearing a swimsuit, but I don't think I will mind wearing this because ALL major parts or TOTALLY covered.  Although I CANNOT believe my belly is now out on the internet, I decidedd that IF ONE preggers girl (or a not preggers girl) feels a little happier about wearing a bathing-suit, than it will be worth the belly shot. SOOO GO OUT AND BUY A LITTLE BIT OF SWIMSUIT FABRIC AND cover yourself up:)