Loungewear

Vintage Swimsuit

Have you heard of Funki Fabrics? Today I’m showing you the results of trying out their Flexcite stretch fabric. I am proud to see a Northern specicalist fabric company doing so well, and the Manchester-based team design and print here in the UK! That’s rather impressive if you ask me.

almond rock funki fabrics ohhh lulu abigail swimsuit

So what did I make? I could have chosen to make dancewear or sportswear but I decided to make myself a swimsuit. Swimsuits can be so boring and unflattering; but what if I made one that I actually enjoyed putting on!

almond rock funki fabrics ohhh lulu abigail swimsuit

This is the Abigail Swimsuit pattern by Ohhh Lulu Sews. It’s a retro style suit with halter ties and bikini back clasp. The cherry print fabric seemed like the perfect match to the suit the vintage inspired swimsuit I had in mind.

almond rock funki fabrics ohhh lulu abigail swimsuit

I ordered sample prints with cherries, kisses and the galaxy and have I to say the quality is really excellent. You’ll be pleased to know that the stretch recovery is very good in both directions. Out of curiosity, I washed the samples three times and they didn’t appear to lose any dye and the sheen of the fabric stayed nice and glossy.

almond rock funki fabrics ohhh lulu abigail swimsuit

The depth of colour in the galaxy print was wonderful and the cherries I eventually plumped for look photo realistic! All prints appear to be applied to a white base. This does mean that if you pick a print with a dark background and your fabric gets overstretched, it does appear a little faded, due to the white ever so slightly peeking through.

Nothing you can’t solve with a bit of gentle handling!

almond rock funki fabrics ohhh lulu abigail swimsuit

Elastic is used around the cups, legs and back to achieve a snug fit. I ordered a Prym bikini clasp from Minerva Crafts.

I used my overlocker for the seams, a simple zig zag stitch to baste and a twin needle for all my top-stitching. That’s the beauty of stretch fabric, you can make the construction as simple or as complicated as you like.

almond rock funki fabrics ohhh lulu abigail swimsuit

I wonder if Mr AR will whisk me away on an impromptu holiday so I can wear my new swimsuit on the beach. Optimistic I’m sure.

At least I’ll feel fantastic next time I go to the pool at the gym!

(45) Comments

  1. Carol Thomas says:

    Very sexy! Love the design and fabric. Clever you!

    1. almondrock says:

      Phew! Glad you’re not mad!

  2. Cute! I love this cherry print. I used the same print to make my Bombshell.

    1. almondrock says:

      Oh believe me, all your swimwear has been an inspiration to me!

  3. Beautiful fabric and beautiful swimming costume – you look fab! x

    1. almondrock says:

      Wow thank you! I’m very pleased with it though still not convinced I should have modelled it haha

  4. This is so cute! Brilliant to know there’s a good source of swimwear fabrics in the UK, too!

    1. almondrock says:

      Thanks so much! The quality really is excellent so I feel it’s worth £18 a metre. Especially if you’ve ever had a cheap swimsuit go all saggy on you!!

  5. You look amazing! Fabulous cozzie. Thanks for the heads up. I so wish I knew about this lot when I was looking for cozzie fabric. Hey ho. Maybe I’ll make some more!!

    1. almondrock says:

      Awww thank you. I’m rather terrified of what comments I’m going to get! It’d be interesting to hear what you think of the quality if you make something from FF. The fabric is so secure feeling! Much better than what I’ve had from fabricland.

  6. Wit woo! Love it.

    1. almondrock says:

      Eeek! Thank you. I’m totally blushing and terrified over here haha

      1. hahaha until you get creepy looking men leaving ‘phwoaaaarrr’ comments I don’t think you need to worry 😉

  7. Katie says:

    Ooooh lovely work. I’m keen to try this pattern, see how it compares to my own 😉 can’t wait to try my suit on holiday next week!

    1. almondrock says:

      Oooh can’t wait to see your finished pattern! Have an amazing holiday

  8. This is stunning Amy! I love the design of the swimsuit and the fabric looks great! I’ve been looking for awesome lycra for leggings and I’m always a bit put off by FF relatively high prices, so it’s good to know the quality is good if I do go for it.

    1. almondrock says:

      Thanks so much! I definitely think you’ll notice the difference. I hate it when cheap shop bought leggings go fuzzy or saggy. Their plain spandex is cheaper but the prints are just so fun!

  9. It looks fabulous! I love the cute and sexy silhouette of this pattern.

    1. almondrock says:

      Wow, thank you for your lovely comments!

  10. Looks great and you look amazing! Well done, and it will bear this company in mind. One day hopefully I’ll get round to making a swimsuit!

    1. almondrock says:

      Thanks so much! I’ll keep an eye out in case you catch the swimsuit bug!

  11. This is so beautiful Amy! Love it.

    1. almondrock says:

      Awww thank you! Bit surreal that I’m now on the Internet in a cozzie heehee

  12. I have a swimsuit on my all time wishlist, I just don’t want to model one onmy blog. You look fabulous and that is a great pattern. Jo x

    1. almondrock says:

      Thanks so much! I had to really psych myself up to pose in it. You can totally photograph it flat. At the end of the day as long as you share it with us all we’ll be happy to read about it 🙂

  13. What a knockout! You look fabulous and it’s great to know about the quality of the fabric as one of my two bombshells has died from over use!

    1. almondrock says:

      Awww you’re too kind. They’ve started doing a sample sheet so you could try that to confirm the quality. Hope you got plenty of use from your bombshell before it croaked to justify the time spent!

  14. bimbleandpimble says:

    A fantastic fabric and pattern match, you bombshell!

    1. almondrock says:

      Teehee thanks so much. I loved your bombshell recently! (And your holiday pics)

  15. Look at that sexy miss in that amazing cozzie! Fabulous darling!

    1. almondrock says:

      Aww bless you for saying that. I still can’t believe I did it! Haha

  16. sewnbyelizabeth says:

    Gorgeous! I think I mighttttt be ready to taller bathers this Australian summer. Thanks for the great inspiration!

    1. almondrock says:

      Thank you!! Oooh exciting. You have good fabric taste so know you’ll make something good.

  17. Wow I love your bikini! And that fabric choice amazing! (I also really like your flower styling makes it almost like you are on holidays, hehe) I haven’t tried my hands on a bikini yet and that althoughy I have the bonmbshell pattern in my collection.

    1. almondrock says:

      Heheh thank you! Trying to glam up my hallway since I sadly couldn’t be abroad. You could totally tackle the bombshell with your knit experience!

  18. Such a great suit! Love that fabric. I still have swimsuit making fear 🙂

    1. almondrock says:

      Thanks so much! I’m not sure when I’ll make another but it’s a great feeling to have survived this time

  19. Aww, how cool! I love both the pattern and your fabric choice! I also just finished a funkifabrics dress! I can only agree, the fabric quality was amazing! I ordered 12 samples, hehe 🙂 I have 1,5m of fabric left and am thinking about making a bikini (or another bombshell) now.

    1. almondrock says:

      Ooh your dress looks ace!!! So different! I could sneak a bikini out of my leftovers I hope!

  20. How lovely, you look great 🙂

    1. almondrock says:

      Thank you! Heehee

  21. This is so awesome – I love it! Next June I’ll be looking this up again and I bet you’ll be busy wearing this in the pool.

  22. Very cute, love the print and style looks great on you

  23. You better work it girl! Looks great, and I love your fabric choice – so fun!!

    1. almondrock says:

      Heehee thanks so much!

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