The Twirly Skirt

Ohmygosh I'm SOOO happy to have this done! I am seriously not a seamstress, but this idea has been rolling around in my head for a while. When looking for an Easter dress with Squirt, we tried on a super cute white crinkly elastic waist skirt that she loved. I loved it too and could picture her romping all over the place in it. The only problem was the price. Now, I don't mind buying nice children's clothes now and again but it was $30 and I just couldn't see myself paying that for something that would most likely be designated by her as purely playclothes. So I decided to invent my own.

We bought the girls new twin beds to help them share a room more efficiently, and parted with Squirt's old full size and Munchie's little toddler bed. I donated and Craigslisted some things but there was a pair of white sheets I chose to keep. The fabric is so soft and they are a really high thread count. As I looked at them I just imagined how much it would cost to buy cotton like that per yard and kept them for some unforeseen purpose.

Here was a purpose.

For this I hacked into the fitted sheet.

First I cut the elastic edges off the sheet so it would lay better on the ground and I could actually do something with all that fabric. Then I stitched the edges of the elastic together and found that it made a sweet garland for a baby shower I was hosting. Hooray for happy accidents!

The background was subtle, with hints of color in the different ribbons and the butterflies, but my absolute favorite part was the white fitted sheet elastic. (Hopefully my friends won't kill me for this picture. I didn't actually take a picture of the decorations I made.)

But on to the skirt. I took pictures along the way but have checked 3 separate memory cards and cannot find where on Earth they went - so I'll just give the play by play.

• I started by cutting out a basic 1/2 circle skirt, but I cut it large enough that it could have a gathered elastic waist.
• Then I grabbed my scissors and sliced it in a spiral, making sure the cuts would line up at the seam.
• Put the right sides together and stitched a 1/4 inch seam so that the seam and raw edges would be on the outside of the skirt.
• Stitch this down flat with a 1/8 inch seam.
• Using the top skirt as a pattern, I cut a lining out of the top thin fabric from an old bed skirt. Hem the skirt and the lining then stitch together at the top.
• Measure around the top opening of the skirt and cut a long rectangle of fabric to form and elastic casing.
• Add elastic, pray that you didn't forget the right measurement since the child is at school and you're not waiting until she gets home to try it on and finish.

Which was all well and good, but it needed some flowers. Which I DO have pictures of :)

Then I slid the whole thing into the sewing machine, stitched a spiral to hold the flowers in place, and called it good.

FYI: I suck at sewing. Most of what I do is make it up as I go, so unfortunately this is not a tutorial, just an overview of what I did. The best part? Usually when you wing it things can turn out okey dokey.

I'd say she approves.