Thursday, June 16, 2011

Skirt Week






One of the blogs I read, Crafterhours, is hosting a skirt week along with a little contest. I am entering the following skirts in their children's category. The skirts had to have been made in the last year. Two winners will be chosen...one by judges and one by readers votes. I think the voting and judging takes place next week if you want to check it out.

The first skirt is the one I made Elizabeth for Easter this year. I adore this fabric. I saw a picture of a similar skirt somewhere online and came up with this one. The only pattern piece I used was the yoke from My Favorite Thing's Little Hip Skirts. The rest is my own creation. The binding on the top layer is from a skirt that someone else had me shorten. It gave me just he fabric I wanted to finish it off!

It is fairly full. Elizabeth humored me with a spin for the picture.



The idea for the next skirt came from these "slash" jumpers a friend of mine and I made many years ago for our girls when they were little. In fact, Emma still wears one of them as a top all the time. I have been playing around with knit fabrics lately since they are so comfortable so I used some pieces I had left from other projects. The waistband is yoga style though it doesn't fold down. It has no elastic in it so it is very comfortable.

I asked Emma whether she wanted the brown or white on top and she couldn't decide so we switched it up and she can wear it frontwards or backwards!
She loves it and says it is super comfy!


The idea for the last skirt originated with a trip to HEB. I saw a little girl shopping with her mom in a similar skirt. I commented on it and her mom let me see how the ruffles down the side were made. Each ruffle has a sort of curve to it. So the top is thin and then widens in the middle and then narrows back out. I cut each ruffle twice as long as I wanted them to end up and used my gathering foot to gather them. I drew lines on the skirt with a washout marker where I wanted the ruffles to go and then topstitched them on the skirt. I tried not to be a perfectionist about it as part of the charm of the skirt is how freeform it looks as the ruffles fall every which way thanks to the gathers and the shape of each one.
This skirt also has a no-elastic waist which I attached to a yoke. I wanted the ruffles to start lower on the skirt so as not to look bulky under a t-shirt. The material is lightweight and soft and like wearing a t-shirt!










3 comments:

Abby Hutto said...

Could you make these in a mama size? They are so, so cute! I admire your creativity and skills, Rachel!

Tricia said...

OH I am so impressed. These are adorable. That last one especially is really really really cute. I wish you lived closer, I would beg to bring you lunch and ask you to pretty please walk me through making one of these. Is the waist buttoned in back? and I'm guessing by the material that you didn't have to finish off the edges of the ruffles (ie, hemmed?) they look like they curl naturally like a tee-shirt fabric would?

Caroline said...

These are all cute! I'm glad I'm not the only person who asks people (sometimes complete strangers) to allow me to examine the construction details on their clothing. I'll have to check out that blog! Not that I need a new blog to read ....


I like Lizzie's best. It seems like a Lizzie skirt.