Happy Halloween!

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DIY: Child's 2-hour skirt sewing tutorial

I put together this little tutorial for a friend so she could quickly sew a few skirts for her daughter. Enjoy!

Step 1: Gather supplies

Cut 2 pieces of fabric 15" wide x 11" long  for the skirt body
Cut 2 pieces of fabric 22" wide x 6" long (a fat quarter will work) for the ruffle
Cut 43" of pom-pom (or ric-rac) trim
Cut 1/2" wide elastic cut 1-1/2" smaller than child's waist measurement
(These measurements will make a skirt that fits a child size 20" waist.  Cut the skirt and ruffles wider or narrower as needed for your little one.)

Step 2: Side seams

Place skirt right sides together. Stitch side seams.
Place ruffle right sides together. Stitch side seams.
Pink or zig-zag finish the raw edges of the side seams.

Step 3-A:  Hem the ruffle

On the bottom of the ruffle, fold 1/4" toward the wrong side and press.

Step 3-B: Hem the ruffle

Fold again 3/4" toward the wrong side and press.

Step 3-C: Hem the ruffle 

Stitch close to first fold.

Step 4: Add ruffle trim

Beginning at one side seam, stitch trim to right side of ruffle near hem.
Overlap edges of trim at side seam.

Step 5-A: Gather ruffle

Stitch one row of long machine stitches 1/2" from upper edge of ruffle.
Stitch a second row of long machine stitches 1/4" from upper edge of ruffle.

Step 5-B: Gather ruffle

Be sure to leave 3 to 4" of thread tails at the beginning and end of the long stitches.

Step 5-C: Gather ruffle

Gently pull bobbin thread to gather the ruffle.

Step 6-A:  Attach ruffle

Pull gathers of ruffle until they match the bottom edge of the skirt.

Step 6-B: Attach ruffle

With right sides together, place gathered ruffle to bottom edge of skirt matching raw edges; pin.

Step 6-C: Attach ruffle

Stitch using a 1/2" seam allowance.

Step 6-D: Attach ruffle

Pink or zig-zag finish the raw edge of the seam.

Step 6-E: Attach ruffle

Press seam toward the skirt.

Step 7: Add trim

Beginning at one side seam, stitch trim to right side of skirt just above the ruffle seam.
Overlap edges of trim at side seam.

Step 8-A: Create casing

On the top of the skirt, fold 1/4" toward the wrong side and press.

Step 8-B: Create casing

Fold again 3/4" toward the wrong side and press.

Step 8-C: Create casing

Stitch close to first fold.

Step 8-D: Create casing

Leave an opening about 1" wide to insert elastic into the casing.

Step 9-A: Add elastic

Attach a safety pin to one elastic end. Insert elastic into casing.

Step 9-B: Add elastic

Pin the other end of the elastic to the side seam of the skirt.

Step 9-C: Add elastic

Guide the elastic all the way through the casing. Pin in place.  Try on skirt and adjust elastic if needed.


Step 9-D: Add elastic

Overlap elastic ends. Stitch securely creating an elastic loop.

Step 9-E: Add elastic

Tuck the elastic inside casing. Stitch casing closed.

Done!

 

Final step:  Photos

 Put skirt on little one and have fun taking photos

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Flashback Friday - a little birthday boy's suit

A pause in the birthday celebrations for the obligatory kid's group shot. 

This was taken at my son's third birthday celebration. You can barely notice it, but he's holding a wet cloth in his left hand. Why you ask?  Because I had just finished ironing  those two cute little matching brother and sister outfits (Why yes indeed, I did sew them. Thank you for asking!) and left the hot iron on the ironing board well in reach of inquisitive little hands.  Ouch!  He still remembers doing it and the resulting burn.  And I still remember how horrible I felt that I hadn't foreseen that he would reach for the hot iron.

Through out the years there are multiple boo-boos that we, as Moms, which we could prevent or fix for our babies. Am I right?  This burn, while traumatic at the time, was nothing compared to the brain tumor my son experienced a few years ago.  You think I felt helpless to fix that burned hand?  Just think about how helpless I felt to watch my grown son deal with a much worse "owie". 

So why am I posting a photo from his third birthday? Because yesterday, he celebrated another birthday.  And it's been more than two years since he finished his radiation and chemo treatment for the tumor. The tumor that doctors said should have caused him to fall into a coma, have seizures, or have permanent damage.  Miraculously the tumor did none of those things (praise God!) .  At his last check up the doctor told him the MRI results were even better than expected and the doctor was quite comfortable recommending decreasing follow up MRIs to every six months. You see? It was indeed a miracle.

So happy birthday to my boy - with wishes of many more to come.

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