Somehow this is the first wearable thing I've ever made for Tessa! This is because I'm really intimidated by patterns and don't want to spend hours on something she'll outgrow in a few months. But this skirt came together in less than an hour and was really fun to make and super easy.
I've been working for the last two days on the Handmade Home picnic blanket I blogged about earlier this week and am using lots of thrifted vintage sheets and pillowcases for the panels. As I was cutting off the hemmed ends of the pillowcases and sheets, I kept setting them aside thinking they'd be amazing for something but wasn't yet sure for what. This afternoon I realized they'd be great for a ruffly little girl's skirt. Oddly enough I used pretty much the same idea when I made this lampshade last year. Note: Tessa is barefoot and bare-legged in January because it got to be 68 degrees today! Another note: I'm thinking a super cute adult apron could be made with pillow case and sheet hems, too. Here's how I made this skirt for this doodle-dumpling:
First things first, I decided what order I wanted the "ruffles" to be in.
Then I pinned them together. This is the piece pinned from the backside.
The I sewed them all together.
Next I measured Tessa's waist, which is about 20 inches. She's 21 months and fits perfectly into 2T things, FYI. So I cut a 20-inch piece of elastic for the waist and measured and cut the long "ruffled" piece so that it was 28 inches long.
Next I folded the ruffled panel in half, and stitched it closed, leaving the top band unsewn because I know I'll need to insert the elastic waistband through it. This is it inside out:
Then I used a safety pin to thread the elastic through the waistband and hand sewed the pieces of elastic together as well as the raw edges of the waist band. And ... done!
P.S. For the record, she digs it.
