Dollar Store Swimsuit Refashion

We were in the dollar store a few weeks ago, and I found this cute swimsuit on sale for $8. I was needing a new swim top and I wondered if I could make this one work for me even though it was a size 2X (I usually wear a medium/large on top).

I tried it on in the store over my clothes (right there in the aisle!). I didn’t want to buy it if it was too tight. Too big I can fix, but there’s nothing I can do if it’s too tight. To my surprise, it fit pretty well.

And it came with these bikini bottoms (which I knew I wouldn’t wear). I realized that there would be enough fabric in these to fill in the neckline (trust me, the top was veeerrrrry inappropriate and revealing when I tried it on at home!).

All I did was cut the side seams of the bikini bottoms:

And then I used them to fill in the neckline. I raised it up quite a bit.

After cutting up the bottoms, I carefully pinned where I wanted this extra fabric to be:

Then I carefully sewed it down. I also sewed the halter ties down to make a criss-cross back. This gave me a lot more support and made the top more comfortable, also.