Crochet Swimsuits – yay or nay?

When I was a young mother, after getting rid of my baby fat and getting my body in shape, I decided to make myself a crochet bikini. I can still remember the joy I felt putting it on, but alas it was short-lived. The minute I went swimming I realized that cloud had no silver lining. It started dragging down and the shape distorted a little. Back then there was no stretch yarn to buy, so in my naivety – I made it with a DK cotton yarn and used dc stitches to make the bikini texture denser and not see-through, so when it became soggy I felt as if wearing an armor. After that unfortunate incident I only wore it around the beach, but not for swimming.

Another thing is that crochet swimsuits can be ruined by saltwater / chlorine depending on the fiber content.

A friend of mine remarked that you can get a weird tanning especially if the swimsuit is made with a hole-y design (fishnet design), which holds water, unless you line the whole thing.

However, I still love to look at crochet swimsuits designs and drool a bit, although at my age, I don’t feel comfortable wearing one anymore.

What’s your opinion on crochet swimsuits? Would / Do you wear such?

A couple of years ago I made Eva a bikini top – get the free pattern here.