T-shirt to little girl's maxi skirt

I found this t-shirt at Kohl's in the clearance section for $1.44. I HAD to buy it to make a skirt for Love Bug. She's been asking me if I'll make her a "long dress thing...you know, like yours. Not a tutu like mine." WHAT, she wants to wear something that ISN"T a tutu? 

I-can't-believe-it!

Anyway. It was late. Past 9 pm when I started making it. I needed Love Bug so I could make it fit her. I really should have waited until the next day but I was so excited to try it out. Mr. Leafy was not happy that I wasn't putting the crying whining children in bed, so I was working as fast as I could. 

No instructions. I'm sorry. I'll make another. I PROMISE! That one will have a tute. 

Anyway, This is how it turned out. 

Cute, no? 

I mean, for a 10pm finish time and a cranky kid to boot. Not too shabby. I had to piece the waistband together with fabric from the sleeves, but was quite happy to also have some of the blue stripe left over to add to it. 

Love Bug was in heaven wearing it today. 

Dressy ruffled maxi

Found this really cute ruffled knit at Joann Fabric and had to use it for a maxi. It was pretty easy to match up the rows of ruffles. I used the fabric inside out for the waistband. Kind of hard to see in the photo. 

I used the same tute as I did for my other maxi skirts. See the info on THIS POST. 

Maxi skirt/dress

I was trying to talk my oldest teen into making a maxi skirt, and when she told me she wanted a dress instead, I pulled my skirts waistband up to my chest to show her how easy it would be to make one that was a dress. THEN I decided I needed one. But I got to thinking that it would be great if it could be a dress or a skirt. It was made the same as my first maxi skirt. See THIS POST for more info.

So, here is the finished skirt. And...the dress photo...well I accidentally deleted the photo off my FB page and now its gone completely. So I'll have to take another when I wear it next. I spilled some bleach on the bottom of it (and about cried after having *just* made it today) but saved it!! Whew. 

Photo of dress coming soon. 

Meanwhile. I just made the waist band 7 inches before folding so it fit in the chest better. This fabric I used sideways and kept the selvage in tact so I didn't do anything to the hem. Perfect!

The ruffled Maxi Skirt

Bet you thought I was joking about making a maxi for every occasion. No lie, I have a problem. These are so easy and so cute I've made 5 and have fabric ready for several more. PLUS making some for my daughters....I may never stop!

I saw this super cute ruffled maxi from A Small Snippet

She made hers using an old sheet, but that doesn't make any difference in the instructions.

I made mine with a knit lace fabric. Since its totally see-through, I made a permanent slip under it to the knee  with a dark jersey knit fabric. I can not even begin to tell you how comfortable this maxi is. I didn't finish the edges on the ruffles since the fabric won't fray. 

Love love love!!

Twirly skirt

Another project for our church ladies sewing night is a twirly skirt. Love Bug LOVES to twirl. I love to make her skirts, tutus and the like. 

Found the tutorial on this site  and it was SO easy to make. Seriously easy. My oldest...wait, I don't have a name for her yet....The Great- that's what we'll call her, said she hates it when she reads on a blog that something is super easy and fast. Then it takes all day and never works anyway. Not so here. It literally took me 20 minutes to make. I was fortunate enough to be able to use the exact size that the poster used and no math skills were required. If math had been needed, I would have been crying on the floor in the fetal position after spending hours trying to figure it out. NOT because its too complicated, but because math and I are from different planets. 

Then today I was talking to some friends about the skirt and realized that the math required was actually quite easy and I was just overreacting to begin with. (whew)

Love Bug models her new super cute skirt here:

and the twirl factor is very satisfactory!!

It doesn't require a finished edge because its a knit/spandex fabric, but putting in a small hem would have also been easy. I plan to put some trim on the edge to give it a little pop. I just used my serger on the edge. The waistband is also a yoga pant style. LOVE. LOVE. LOVE.

UPDATE
Loved the twirly so much I decided to make one for myself.

Sorry, no twirling photo :( But believe me, it too has a overwhelming twirl factor. In case twirling is your thing. :)

Maxi Skirt

I love wearing skirts in the summer. Its hot and balmy on the east coast, and skirts *can* be super comfortable. The problem is finding one that fits well. 

This month I get to help plan an activity for our church women's group, and we decided to do a sewing activity with a few projects to choose from. I ran across this really cute Maxi skirt tute on Pinterest (are you really still not on pinterest? please tell me it isn't so)  and decided to give it a try. Leanne- the creator of the super cute maxi in question, talked about how easy it was and how she couldn't help but make more of them. I must admit that I am now addicted to them as well. 

Here is her TUTE- but be prepared to make a dozen of them...you'll want to after the first one.

If you're afraid to work with knit, give it a try anyway. The best advice I can offer is let the machine do the walking. Don't try to pull on the fabric at all, and you'll be fine.

Here is my maxi skirt. I LOVE that the waistband is yoga pant style. I made mine 2 inches smaller than my waist to compensate for the stretchy and I was glad that I did. By the end of the day (read 16 hours including a nap in it) it had relaxed more than expected. I'm sure after a run through the washer and dryer it will shrink back up a bit, but definitely take that into consideration when planning your size.

I'll post more skirts as I make them (hope you don't get board looking at maxi skirts. I'm thinking of making one for every occasion. Can't wait to show you my cakepop making skirt :)