THE SQUARE CIRCLE SKIRT

I can't take credit for this one. I found a tutorial on Make it and Love it, so I made it, and I love it! It's one of the fastest projects I have ever done and is so simple. Perfect for you beginners. ;)
I did make a couple of changes on the second skirt I made (yes, there are multiple), because I ran out of elastic and couldn't wait to go to the store to finish it. I'll teach you both ways.

Supplies:
1+ yards of fabric
1" wide+ elastic

Dimensions for my 1-year-old:
Fabric - Two squares that are 20x20"
Elastic - 20"
or Waistband - 4"x20"

Step 1: Measure 01
Measure from your girl's waist to where you want the shortest part of the skirt to hit (the corners of the square will hang down longer than the rest of the skirt). Measure around your girl's waist and find a bowl or plate the same circumference or a little bigger. The bigger the bowl/plate, the fuller the skirt, but I wouldn't go much bigger than 1.5x your girl's waist measurement. My daughter's waist is 20" so I found a plate that was 30" in circumference.

Step 2: Measure 02
Place the plate on your fabric and measure away from its "sides," "top," and "bottom" to the desired skirt length to make the first square (see picture).  Use a fabric pencil to draw around the plate.

Step 3: Cut
Remove the plate and cut out the square and the circle in the middle that you've drawn. Repeat these steps for a second square and lay it on top of the first, diagonally, so that the corners are pointing out on each side of the first square.

Step 4: Pin
Divide the skirt circle by placing pins at the top and bottom of the circle and the sides, straight across from one-another. Continue dividing until the circle is divided into eighths.

Step 5a: Elastic
If you're not using elastic, skip this step. If so, cut your elastic to be the same width of your girl's waist, then overlap the ends 1" and sew using a small, close together zig-zag stitch. Pin your circular elastic into eighths, just like you did with the skirt.

Step 5b: Waistband
Cut a strip of fabric 4" tall and the width of your girl's waist long (20 inches for me). Fold the fabric in half, right sides and ends together, and straight stitch with a 1" seam allowance. Trim excess fabric and fold waistband with right sides out. Divide the waistband into eighths using pins, just like you did with the skirt.

*Optional Step: Gather
If you're familiar with gathering, feel free to do a gathering stitch around the circle  of the skirt, but be sure to keep your pins where they are!

Step 6a: Sew Elastic
Match up the pins of the skirt and the elastic and pin them together with the skirt fabric on the inside of the elastic, overlapping about a half-inch. Set your machine to a regular zig-zag stitch and begin stitching the elastic to the skirt with a seam allowance of 1/4".
When you're sewing the elastic, use one hand to pull the fabric and elastic away from you, and the other hand to pull the fabric and elastic towards you until the elastic stretches to the same length of the fabric. Sew normally with the zig zag stitch until you make it all the way around. {finished}

Step 6b: Sew Waistband
Match up the pins of the skirt and the waistband and pin them with right sides together (see picture). You may want to add more pins to help hold excess fabric of the skirt. Use a straight stitch to sew the skirt to the waistband (1/2" seam allowance), monitoring the gathering as you go. {finished}

Once you're done attaching the waistband to the skirt and if you've used jersey-knit fabric that doesn't fray, you're finished (otherwise, create a hem). If you try it on your girl and find that it's a little too long, lay the skirt out as flat as you can, and cut the square a little smaller until it's just right!

So which one do you like best?

It's such a fun and easy little skirt to make and C loves how freely she can move in it!

Thanks for stopping by!

-Sue

P.S. If you're looking for some good jersey-knit fabric, visit Girl Charlee Fabrics. I am seriously in LOVE with her and her website! It's totally affordable, cute, AND you get 10% off your first purchase! So stop by and say hi! This website takes you to the "Create an account" page. Make sure you put the 18046 referral number in when you say who sent ya! Happy Sewing!

http://www.girlcharlee.com/create_account.php?refid=18046

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COLORS

One of the best parts of selling maxi skirts is that I get to see what they look like in a variety of colors and then have the satisfaction of sending them off to someone who loves and appreciates it! Here are my most recent makes:

Oxford/Navy Blue

Coral

Yellow

Lime Green

Black and Heather Gray

Black and White

Tiffany Blue

So which is your favorite? There are even MORE colors available, too. Can't wait to give them all a try! Be sure to sign up for the Chevron and Lace + Pretty Lovely Littles giveaway. You only have until Sunday night so get crackin'! Later!

-Sue

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MAXI SKIRT TUTORIAL

Thank you everyone for your comment love on my last couple of posts. I was so happy with how Lauren's dress and my re-designed beach dress turned out and it helps when I get positive feedback from lovelies like you!

As promised, I've finally got a tutorial for you! These maxi skirts are SUPER popular, so of course, I had to find out how to make them on my own.

You will need:

1.5+ yrds of 60" wide cotton jersey knit fabric

Sewing machine

Thread (all purpose polyester)

Scissors

Measuring tape
Pins
Double needle (opt. but recommended)

IMPORTANT! Do not cut your fabric to include seam allowance. Cut your fabric to your exact measurements and the fabric will stretch to fit you.

*Please consider washing and drying your fabric before starting! I made the mistake of sewing first and my skirt SHRUNK. A LOT.

Step 1: Measure
Measure around your hips and buttox where you are the widest. Make sure it is a true measurement, not too tight or too loose.
Next, measure from where you want the top of your skirt to be to the floor with one or two extra inches for a hem.

Step 2: Cut, math, and mark - Skirt and Waistband

Cut the 1.5+ yards of fabric in half and 10" off the top of each piece for the waistband.

Fold one large fabric piece in half with the stretch/pattern going horizontally.

You are now going to cut out a trapezoid for the front panel of your skirt.
Divide your hip/buttox measurement by four.
Use a pin to mark this spot (measure away from the fold).

Step 3: Cut - Skirt

Cut a straight line from top where you measured and pinned to the corner of the folded fabric to make a trapezoid.

Folded out, it should look like this:

Repeat this step to make the back panel of your skirt.

Step 4: Measure, mark, and cut - Waistband

Divide your hips/buttox measurement by two.
Cut your 10" waistband pieces to that measurement.
Fold one waistband piece in half, hot dog style, pattern running horizontally.
Measure 1 inch in from each end along the fold and make a mark.
Cut from that mark along the fold to the outer corner on each side.

Folded out, your waistband pieces will look like this:

Repeat for second waistband piece.

Step 5: Sew - Waistband

Pin the two waistband pieces with right-sides together along the ends.
Use a straight stitch to sew them together with a 1/2" seam allowance, turning at the corner.
Open and fold the waistband with right sides out.

Set waistband aside.

Step 6: Sew - Skirt

Pin the sides of your skirt pieces with right-sides together.
Sew using a double needle with a 1/2" seam allowance, or straight stitch with a 1/2" seam allowance and zig-zag stitch the outside edge.

Step 7: Skirt and Waistband - UNITE!

Fold waistband in half with wrong-sides together.
Drop the skirt inside the waistband, aligning the raw edges.
Pin.

Sew with a double needle or straight stitch, then zig zag stitch along outside edge.
Try the skirt on and cut and/or hem the bottom of your skirt to the correct length.
*Note: Some jersey-knit fabrics fray, and some do not. Mine does not so I did not bother hemming.

Lovely!

-Sue

5

J-LO DRESS RE-DESIGNED

Hey all! I'm back from my little vacation with my family in California, and I gotta say, the break was much needed. If you follow me via instagram, twitter, or facebook, you'll have seen that we were very busy and had a lot of fun, but all that news will have to wait until I recover from the 34+ hours I spent in the car throughout the week... Oi...
So here's a little somethin' somethin' that just gives a little taste of what we did on our vacation. If you're in California, it's a given that you'll take a trip to the beach and what better way to make a statement (before you get salt and sand caked in your hair, clothes, and other undesirable spots) than wearing your beach finest? Here's mine.

Remember my J-Lo dress I made? I called it that because I saw J-Lo wearing a dress like it in a movie. Well, I got tired of it's look so I transformed it and I gotta say, I like the makeover. What do you think?

Hat, sunglasses, shoes, and belt - Forever 21

Dress - Chevron & Lace

Thanks for stopping by! Can't wait to share everything that went down this week, plus, I've finally got that skirt tutorial that I've been promising all set and ready to go. What an exciting week!

See you Wednesday!
-Sue

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SHORTS TUTORIAL

This is the easiest tutorial I will EVER post on this blog. Period. All you need is an "old" pair of pants and some scissors. Pretty sure everyone knows where this is going, but just in case you're nervous and/or have some reservations about giving this a shot, let me assure you. It is very simple and much cheaper than buying some shorts at the store. Have you seen those price-tags? Yikes!

You will need:

1 pair of pants

Scissors

Sewing machine and thread (optional)

Step 1: Try on and decide

Try on the pants and decide how short you want them to be. If you want a cuff on the bottom, give yourself an extra two or three inches and use a pin or some other tool to mark that spot.

Step 2: Cut

Take the pants off and fold the pant leg up to your mark so you can get a straight line. Cut straight across at that spot.

Fold the pants in half to cut the other leg.

Step 3: Done?

If you're concerned about fraying, you can sew a hem by folding the pant leg underneath and then sewing or zig-zag stitch around the leg and then fold up to a cuff so you can't see the zig-zag. And that's it!

So glad Mariasha suggested this to me while shopping the other day, but I can't believe I didn't think of it myself! Happy snipping!

-Sue

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