About Me

My photo
Mom of five lovely daughters, wife of one dashing man. Born in Utah, grew up in Oregon, live in Georgia.

Monday, February 23, 2009

Easter skirts

This weekend was devoted to making Easter skirts for my girls. I went to the fabric store Friday morning and by noon on Saturday I had finished all four skirts. To make them I used tutorials I've found on various blogs. (I beg to differ with anyone who says blogging is a waste of time.) Here are the links in case you want to make skirts for your little pretties.

For the tiered skirt go HERE. (I adjusted the pattern to make four tiers instead of three.)

For the twirly skirt go HERE.

For the ruffle skirt go HERE.

I didn't use a pattern for McKenna's skirt, but here are the directions.

  • Measure waist.

  • Measure the length you want the skirt. Add 3 inches. We'll call this number C. (Length + 3"=C)

  • Multiply the waist measurement by 1.25 and divide that number by 2 and then add 2 inches.((Waist x 1.25)/2) + 2"=A

  • Add 5 inches to A. We'll call this number B. (A + 5"=B)

  • Cut out TWO pieces of fabric the length you want (C) with the top width A inches and the bottom width B inches.

  • Multiply B by 1.5= D

  • Cut out TWO pieces of fabric D x 7.5". (For the bottom ruffle.)
  • Sew sides of skirt together. (seam allowance 1/2") Press seams open.

  • Sew sides of ruffle together. Press seams open.

  • Hem bottom of ruffle. (Fold up 1/4" and iron. Fold up another 1/4", iron, and sew)

  • Gather top of ruffle. (Sew long stitches 3/8" along the top of the skirt and pull the basting stitch to gather until it's the same length as the skirt bottom.)

  • Pin & Sew ruffle onto skirt.

  • Fold top of skirt over 1/4" and press. Fold over another 5/8" and press. Sew 1/8" from edge to form casing (leaving a 1.5" gap to insert your elastic.)

  • Insert 1/2" elastic about the same length as the waist plus a couple inches for overlap. (I used a large safety pin.)

  • Try on the skirt to make sure you've go the elastic gathered to the right size. Mark the elastic with a pin or pen where you want to sew the ends together. Sew the elastic together using large zig-zag stitches.

  • Finish sewing the casing where you inserted the elastic.

  • Admire your skirt.

Now I just need to get make a dress for Chloe and maybe a skirt for myself and we'll be ready for Easter. Oh, and I need to figure out what everyone will wear on top. I thought white t-shirts would be sufficient, but when I had Lydia try her skirt on with a white t-shirt it wasn't quite what I hoped. Finding tops will probably be a more difficult process than making the skirts! :)

9 comments:

stephanie said...

oh they are all so cute! love the instructions for mckenna's. i'm totally going to try that.

Michelle Pyne said...

You are a sewing master! I love the skirts on the hangars, and they'll be even better when they're on the girls!

rachel said...

You are so talented!

Jen said...

Adorable! I wonder if you could make little fabric flowers to pin on white t-shirts? I don't know any good fabric flower patterns, but I bet google could produce some. Just a thought.

Andrea said...

You are so talented. Those are so adorable. Can't wait to see the Easter pictures on your blog with those cute girls wearing those skirts!!

Audra said...

Wow! Great job! What a project! I think you may be right - what do they wear on the top???

I'm proud of you for completing that project over a month away from Easter!

Elaine said...

I Love them and the info. for instructions. I have a couple of 4 tier skirts that I could wear every day but I don't want to wear them out so now , I can make another one

Abbi said...

WOW!!!

Shana said...

Those are adorable!!! I love them! You are so crafty! I cant' wait to see pictures of all of you in them! :)