Here in Hawai'i a big staple in men's fashion is board shorts. All of the guys have board shorts. Some pairs they have for everyday wear, and also select kinds that they use for surfing. So for a lot of the guys here, that means they are wearing board shorts ALL the time. Remember those Maui boys I had talked about earlier? Well they are big ocean fanatics and spend a lot of time in the water skimming, surfing, bodyboarding, etc. So to say they have a lot of board shorts wouldn't even be the tip of the iceberg. During freshman year I can't even tell you amount of times the boys would come back from surfing and say "so bummed I ripped my favorite pair of boardies!" Well, me being Bethany and always wanting a project, I offered to sew a few up.
With my family being on the mainland, I fly pretty frequently back to visit. Here on Oahu I actually don't have a car but rather a moped for my transportation. So I was always asking both my roommates and the 206 boys for rides to and from the airport. Well Tanek, which 2 years after being best friends is now my boyfriend, came up with a fair deal for all of these airport rides. BOARD SHORTS. He would give me pairs of board shorts to sew up in exchange for a ride to the airport. (Now I'm wondering if he had ripped a few on purpose just to make sure he got to pick me up HAHA) So I got back into sewing some very minor things, but not anything serious.
This past March, when the Corona Virus pandemic hit, I decided to go back home for a bit to help my mom out with my two brothers that were at home since schools were shutdown. Keep in mind this was at the beginning of everything, and when masks were as gold as toilet paper. Whenever I go back home, the only alone time I get with my mom is at night. It's kind of similar to back when I was in high school, where we would stay up until 1-2 in the morning filling orders. My mom having her sewing machines had decided to donate some masks to a local hospital. I offered to help, and had started messing around with her sewing machine. I hadn't touched a one in years. My first sewing machine was an old one of my moms that I was taking apart and fixing more than actually sewing. There was something about sewing and seeing the end product that felt inspiring. I talked to my mom and threw the idea around that I wanted to buy a machine of my own and make some swimsuits for myself. So what does my mom, at a time that all sewing machines are sold out- in and out of the country? She FINDS ONE, that will ship to Hawai'i in two weeks. She orders it. She also ordered some cheaper swim fabric from Joann's and did an in-store pickup, before my flight. So now I'm flying back to Hawai'i with a ton of fabric, threads, needles, rotary cutters, and pretty much everything I needed to get started.
A few weeks later, the machine came in the mail. My roommate Luna insisted on taking a picture of me with it because I was so overly excited. I opened the box and almost immediately started sewing on some scrap fabrics my mom had sent me back with. I began cutting out my patterns, and made a pair of bottoms, now called the Adelaide, my best seller. I tried them on and they fit like a glove. I had my roommate Luna try them on. She has a textbook coke bottle body, nothing compared to mine. And guess what? They fit like a glove. I was amazed. She immediately said she wanted one in every color. I sent a few pictures to some friends and family off island and everyone wanted them. Fast forward a few weeks, and I'm hooked. I'm placing large fabric orders, messing around with different styles of tops, starting to build my website, and realizing this could be something.
xo
Bethany
x
ADA SWIM
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