Easy Breezy Summer Skirt

It's been awhile! Maybe blogging will just have to become a once a week thing for me right now. Life is incredibly busy and I have so much to share, but no time to actually load the photos and find the words to narrate. And as much as I love the blogging community, I'm trying to make more of a conscious effort to spend more time in our real life community with friends and family.

The first sewing workshop went well this past Saturday. I seriously didn't know if I'd have everything together in time because the girls and I were still fighting a lingering cold last week. Thanks to some Co-Advil and a Nettie pot, I was able to pull myself together just in time!

All of the ladies who came did an amazing job with their first sewing projects! My camera was charged and ready to go, but of course I failed to take any pictures. You'll just have to take my word that their bibs and dresses turned out super cute! ;)

I had planned to send them this follow-up tutorial to practice all of their mad sewing skills, but instead, I'll post it here so anybody who is interested can make one:

Easy Breezy Summer Skirt Tutorial

This skirt is so easy it only takes about 30 minutes from start to finish!

Please note that I made my skirt as a size 3T. You can easily change the measurements to accommodate whatever size you need.

Materials:

-1/2 yard of fabric (lightweight cotton)

-1 package of Bias Tape (double fold)

-1" wide elastic

-buttons (optional)

For those of you who have never sewed with bias tape, you can find bias tape at any sewing/craft store and it comes in a little clear package like this:

It is usually about $1.50 and is the SECRET to making this skirt so EASY! It is typicaly used to finish the edges of a quilt or blanket. You want to be sure to buy the DOULBE WIDE tape because it is a long piece of fabric that easily folds over the edge of your project to give it a nice finished edge without the hassle of hemming.

Step 1:

Measure your child to find out how long you want the skirt and then add 1.5 inches. I wanted the skirt to be about 10.5 inches, so I needed my total length to be 12 inches.

Leave your fabric folded in half (usually when you buy fabric, it is already folded on the bolt at the store) and measure down how long you want the skirt to be.

After you've made your cut, you can open your fabric up and will have one long rectangle.

Mine measured 44" wide by 12" long.

Step 2:

Using your (double wide) bias tape, slide the edge of the skirt into the fold of the tape and pin into place.

Use a coordinating thread to sew the bias tape to the bottom of the skirt. See what I mean? Instant hem! And it took all of 2 minutes to sew. :)

Step 3:

Fold the skirt together so that the right sides are facing each other and pin the sides of the skirt together.

Sew the skirt together using a straight stitch. Then go back over it with a zig zag stitch to prevent fraying.

Step 4:

Fold the waist of your skirt over twice to create a pocket for the elastic (aka waistband).

Sew (with a straight stitch) all the way around the top and the bottom of the waist band, being sure to leave about a 3 inch opening at the bottom stitch for your elastic.

Step 5:

Measure the child's waist and add 2 inches to cut a piece of elastic. Using a safety pin, thread your elastic through the waistband. (For reference, I usually use a 20 inch piece of elastic for Anna Cate's skirts).

Be sure to sew your elastic ends together with a tight zig zag stitch and then sew the opening to your waistband closed.

Turn your skirt right side out and sew on your decorative buttons.

Congratulations... You are finished!

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Before I go, let me also share my inspiration for creating the Easy Breezy Summer Skirt:

This tutorial for the adorable Market Skirt.

At the end of the summer last year, I found some white ruffled tank tops (like the ones above) on clearance for $1 at Wal-mart and bought several for Anna Cate and Caroline. I had just come across this tutorial and thought they would be precious summer play clothes for the girls.

The skirt wasn't hard at all to make and it turned out as cute as can be, but it took FOREVER to sew. Well, it took about 2 1/2 hours total with the three rows of fabric and pockets. But 2 hours is a long time to spend on one play skirt when you have very little free time to spare! I had to come up with an easier way to crank out multiple skirts for her summer wardrobe. But this was definitely a project worth passing on though! ;)