The Miller Bikini Top

Hey all, I finally finished this bikini top! I feel like I always say, “I finally finished.” I had a lot happening during May and June which made me not be able to focus on one thing.

Even though this top is super basic and simple, it actually took me some time to figure out how I actually wanted everything. Sometimes basic things are hard to do, it’s basic so you shouldn’t f it up. There are so many possibilities with this top because you can mix match colors and use many different things/style for the ties.

My first attempt, I made the mesh portion all around the cup, if that made sense. If you take the took at the 3 outer rows, the mesh begins half way up the top. When I did it all around the cup, it seemed flimsy and didn’t seem to hold the breasts up well. Also, I created this top with fabric yarn in mind. I had 2 colors, red and blue, I had for a while with no intentions to use it in the future. I frogged this so many times.

My second attempt, I made the mesh portion half way up the top which created a better curve to hold the breasts better. I thought that there might be a lot of people who doesn’t have fabric yarn and they probably wouldn’t want to go out and buy a skein for one project and use such a small amount. I decided to make a crochet version using chains (as pictured below) and made it options for people to switch around if they wanted to.

After my 2nd attempt, I felt like it was what I wanted. I started making and writing the patterns for each size and here we are 😀

MY AWESOME TESTERS

EMILY @oftheotherearth (XS)

MAYELA @emermz (S)

HANAKO @namiknits (S)

ASHLEE @8knits_ (M)

SUSANNE @pikocrochet (M)

NANCY @nancybaby415 (L)

CHRISTINA @shiver_me_stitches (L)

ALANE @legendrecrochet (XL)

Overall, I think this one is a fun, fast, and an easy top for everyone to make. One thing that some struggled with was tension. Gauge is good to have, but sometimes people can’t achieve the gauge. Not sure why, but I had that issue before with a pattern I bought. I crocheted tighter, I crocheted looser, I used different hooks, but I wasn’t able to get that gauge no matter what. Could it be the way we measure the gauge? Some people stretch/block out the swatch, some just measure it without stretching. I feel like when you block/stretch out the swatch that it changes the measurement (who knows, maybe I should try it out and write a blog on it?). I personally do not stretch out my swatch before I measure. I make a big enough swatch to only use the middle portion as measurement and it’s been working for me. I noticed that it’s good to have gauge as a reference, but sometimes it’s up to the crocheter to figure out their own tension and know their tension well, so when they use people’s patterns, they know how to adjust accordingly!

ETSY: PHYSICAL TOP AND PATTERN
PATTERN: RAVELRY | CRAFTSY

DON’T FORGET TO SHOW ME YOUR CREATIONS AND TAG ME ON IG, TWITTER, OR FACEBOOK @VONNIEANDCO OR SEND ME PHOTOS VIA EMAIL AND HASHTAG #MILLERBIKINITOP

VONNIE