Modest Solution

We have searched high and low for a modest swimming suit for a 10 year old girl.  I've come to the conclusion that a two piece is a must (too many times having to take off the life preserver and the one piece, so daddy can hang her butt off the side of the boat).  She's worn tankini's but because she is so tall and lean her midriff is exposed and makes her uncomfortable. 

There are some adorable and modest swim suits in women's sizes.  Some of the websites I searched even had girls sizes but they were all sold out and close to costing $50.  In my searching I saw plenty of high waisted bikinis and got to thinking that if you could cut a one piece and make your own high waisted swim suit bottom the battle is half won!

We tried it first on a too small suit and it worked great.  I sewed with a zig zag stitch to give it a little stretch, but not too much.  Then I found these two coordinating suits at walmart for $10 and $8.

Turning the one piece inside out, we marked a line to use as a guide to cut it in two.  I figured we'd only be out $8 and it was worth a try.  Snip, snip, snip!  We cut it so that all that was left on top was like a bikini.  It gave us plenty of room to work with.  We rolled the hem twice and after zig zagging a stitch all the way around we're left with an extra 2-3 inches above the norm, almost covering her belly button.

After watching many, many little ones twisting and turning in ill fitted swim suits and seeing all sorts of body parts, we even used the top half of the one piece to fill in the plunging neck line of her too cute tankini.  A perfect match and a perfect fit!  

We did have to take in an inch on each side of the one piece so that it was slim enough to stay up and I would recommend making sure your tankini has a full back.  I thought those with a strap connecting in the back would make the high wasted bottom look weird.  I wish I had taken pictures of the making of her high waisted tankini but we were feeling very lucky to even get it done before swim lessons started this week!