D.I.Y- No-sew Beach Cover + How to Use a Pareo/Sarong

1.75 yards of jersey or stretchy cotton material*

Ribbon/any other material for a strap 

Scissors

(1) Cut it. Decide the length & width of your fabric. You want it to wrap around your body a bit loosely. I chose to have mine hit just above my knees. I've had questions about making it full length- the jersey usually comes in a 54" length, which will make it full length if you don't cut it down. You'll also need to make underarm areas. I did that by folding it in half and cutting a deep "C". (*you may need more or less fabric depending on your size) **TIP: see the jagged edges of my wrap? Jersey generally rolls when left unhemmed, so this may not be an issue for you- but if you want a smooth cut, hold the jersey taut while cutting. I had to go back through and clean up my edges.

(2) Braid it. Next, take some extra fabric to create the braided straps. I took two pieces of fabric (1 yard by 5 inches) and cut them each into 3 pieces. I did it that way so that even if the little pieces weren't the same width, the finished product would be equal since each strap would be made from 5 inches of width. Knot the ends of 3 pieces together and braid, knot again. Repeat for the other strap. If you'd like, you can use ribbon or some other material to make the straps.

(3) Attach it. Here is where the variation comes in for no-sew. See where I sewed it on the corners of the underarm C cuts? Instead of sewing it, you're going to make a teeny, tiny slit about 1 inch from the edge in the corner (see second pictures for white 'slit' and red arrows pointing to it). The smaller, the better. Treat it with Fray Check, when it dries, stick each end of the braid/strip of fabric/ribbon through the hole and knot it *tightly*. Trim the edges of the knot.

Cutting in the angle

(4) Adjust it. Try it on and see if it fits well. Do you need to take more fabric off the sides or bottom? Do you need to shorten the shoulder straps? At this point, I angled one side of the cover up. I may go back and angle both sides. To cut the angle, start on the side and cut from top to bottom, making it wider on the top and narrower on the bottom.

Now let's get to sarongs or pareos. For the paro version of this, I literally just cut two arm-sized holes into the top corners and then treated them with fray check. I don't trust cutting the sarong material *too much*, so I left the length alone, which made it full length.

Let's talk about wearing them! Here are 6 fun ways, plus how to make a bag. Now, I'm really not into swimsuit pictures of me floating around the internet (trolls are MEAN!), so I did the instruction pictures while wearing my lounge clothes and then took "final pictures" in my suit so that you can see how it looks alone.

(1) Twist front. Start with the sarong behind you, holding one end in each hand. Twist the ends tightly into ropes, cross behind neck and tie.

(2) Greek. Start with sarong to the side, take one end in each hand, tie on top of shoulder.

(3) One Shoulder. Start with sarong to the side. Take the front corner, wrap it underneath your under arm and bring upwards. Next, bring the back corner toward the front, pull upwards and tie on top of your shoulder.

(4) Twist Front 2: Similar to the first, instead of roping the ends, simply wrap them around each other and then bring to the neck, knotting behind. 

(5) Knotted Front. Start with the sarong behind you, wrap in front and knot.

(6) Vest. Tie the two top corners together, slip over your shoulders.

To use the pareo as a bag, simply place everything in the center and roll it like a burrito. Then tie it closed, like a package. Lastly, tie the very ends together to create a strap. 

Via: http://laviediy.blogspot.com/2012/04/diy-no-sew-beach-cover-how-to-use.html