MADE

For Lucy’s birthday party last month she mentioned, “Mom, let’s have a fiesta!  And everyone should wear a cute Mexican dress.”  I loved the idea.  And I love a girl with a vision.  But I wasn’t sure if everyone would have a fiesta looking dress.

So I rummaged through my trim box, grabbed yards of bright fabrics, and started sewing amped up versions of the Simple Skirt for her little fiesta friends.


And they were so much fun!  Originally I thought, I’ll just keep it simple….one row of trim per skirt, 1 yard of fabric and I’m done (and you could do that…and it would be totally cute).  But I found that as I sewed, I wanted to add more and more.  More trim, new skirt layers, rows and rows of thread on the hemline.  I couldn’t stop! even at 3am (when my husband was out of town so I could let my creative OCD go crazy).  Seriously, you’re gonna love making these.

And when you pair them with Wallflowers, Easter Egg Maracas, and Ruffled Streamers, you’ve got a full-on Fiesta ready to go!

Here’s what you do.

If you’ve never made a Simple Skirt (or any sort of gathered skirt) please read through the tutorial first and then move on to the next steps….

FABRIC and PREP
What really makes these skirts fun is the amount of fabric used.  In the Simple Skirt tutorial we measured the waist and then doubled that for the width of the skirt fabric.  Here we want the width to be 3 or even 4 times the size of the waist, which means you’ll probably need to cut two long rectangles of fabric, with two side seams (rather than one rectangle as we did in the Simple Skirt)

Here are the dimensions to cut (more details about measuring/cutting in the Simple Skirt tutorial):

Of course you can make your skirt any size/length you’d like.  These are just the parameters I used to make skirts for Lucy and her 7 year-old friends.
If you’re making these for a friend and you’re not able to measure their waist, simply ask their mom if she’ll measure for you (she can use a piece of string and a ruler if she don’t have a measuring tape)….or if it’s a surprise gift, measure the size of a skirt at the store so you know what an 8-year old waist-size might be, etc.

TYPES OF FABRIC
I prefer colorful solids in either:
• 100% cotton (such as Kona Cottons) found at most fabric shops and comes in a variety of colors, runs about $6/yard, or….
• Broadcloth which is typically a polyester/cotton blend, runs about $3/yard, and also comes in many colors.  The fabric doesn’t wrinkle (which I love) but can also be thin and a bit see-thru.  So you’ll probably have to double layer the fabric.  You can do this by sewing two layers of fabric together as if it’s one piece of fabric, or you can add a white muslin layer under it, or you can sew both layers separately as we did in the Double-layer Simple Skirt tutorial (except that we’re leaving off the bias tape binding).  Also, for these skirts I cut the double-layer only 1 inch longer than the top layer so there’s just a bit of color peeking out.

Bottom line, do what works with the fabric you have and the amount of fabric you need (do the math before going to the fabric shop).  And just have fun, of course.  Which leads me to the next point….

Okay the trim is really makes this a ¡Fiesta! Skirt. 
I’m sort of a trim-hoarder and whenever I see a fun one I just buy it, knowing that I’ll find a project for it one day…like this one!  My favorite spot for trims is the FIDM Scholarship store and Michael Levine (more on both of those HERE).  Now obviously that’s less than helpful for most of you…so grab whatever fun trims are at most fabric shops and online.  The trim should be at least the width of the skirt.  And if you can’t find any trims (or can’t afford what you find)….simply sew rows and rows of thread around the skirt!  Or hand-sew rows!  Cheap and cute (more on that later).

Here are my favorite trims:
Ric Rac
Twill Tape
Cotton Lace
Bias Tape
Doilies
Ribbon
Pom Pom Trim
Fringe!?

And with your fabric, trims, and elastic cut, we’re ready to sew!

Refer to the photo below.
1.  After cutting my skirt fabric I typically serge the top and bottom of the fabric just to make my hemming and casing easier.  You don’t need to do this.  But what you may want to do is either: sew the hem in place first (if you think you’ll sew trims over the top of the hem)….or….iron the hem in the place just so can see where the hem will be so you don’t sew trims over the top of it.  It’s all your preference.
ALSO…if you originally cut the skirt fabric as two pieces, sew one of the side-seams together so that you have one very long piece of fabric to work with here.

2.  Start arranging and pinning trims to the fabric, down the entire width of the skirt and remember that pretty much anything goes.  I love the look of a dark trim next to light, and pastels mixed with bolds.  The most important thing here is to make sure your trims are spaced the same distance on both ends of the fabric, so that when you bring the other side seam together, the trims match up (refer to photo #4)

3.  Sew your trims in place on top of the fabric.  For standard size ric rac you can sew one line right down the middle.  For this over-sized ric rac above I actually sewed down each zig zag…which. took. forever.  But I wanted it to stay put and not flop around.
4.  When all your trims are in place fold your skirt in half (with right sides together) and sew the other side seam.

To top off the look, I sewed rows and rows of thread in various colors next to the trims and around the hem.  Some rows are close together, some are spaced out.  It makes the fabric look rich and festive.

You can also hand-sew with embroidery thread for a chunkier look.

When you’ve embellished enough, finish the skirt by sewing the waistband casing, string your elastic through, sew the hem and you’re done!  All these steps are outlined in the Simple Skirt tutorial (along with steps for making a double-layered skirt)
With one fabric down, pick up the next color and go ¡crazy!


Before you know it, you’ll have a stack of skirts just waiting for senoritas

Happy Fiesta!
(details of Lucy’s party coming later this week…so you can find out the fun way we gave the skirts to the girls!)

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Ever think you’d see a picture of a porta-potty on MADE?  I tried to make it look as pretty as possible.  And after posting about our new home adventure last month, we’ve made some progress. We’ve broken ground! Woohoo!

The neighbors thought I was funny when I started snapping photos of the bathroom…and the lovely orange construction fence.  But they were all so exciting!  They were SIGNS!  Signs of something, anything happening.  Porta potty one day; construction workers the next, right?

My good friend Katherine said we should definitely have a groundbreaking party to celebrate the fun.  YES!  So I quickly purchased cheap little shovels, spray-painted them gold, and just as I had hoped….workers were there the next day!

First this showed up and plowed down anything in it’s path.

(minus the important trees.  We’re keeping those)

Then this guy showed up to haul it all away.  It was so refreshing to see the site cleared…and easier to visualize a home sitting right in the middle.

A few days later….lumber!, the beginnings of a foundation frame, and some goofy kids.


Lucy and Owen love visiting the lot which makes me happy because I know they’ll love having a backyard of land to explore.  They’re great at creating fun from the simplest anything.  Owen’s already spent a couple hours at the lot just throwing dirt clods.  Pure boy.

So a few weeks ago, we grabbed our shovels and invited our friends over to the lot for a small groundbreaking celebration.

And here we are.  Hooray!  The house is happening.
Might be fun to frame this photo and put it somewhere in the house to remember how tiny these kids were when we started this project: Lucy 7, Owen, 5, and Clara 14 months.


The token dirt toss.

And Cheers! in cheap cups,

with cheap pizza to go along.  Yay!  Just how the kids like it.  Pizza Pizza.  Drink Drink.

Thanks friends for coming to celebrate!

Here’s hoping this is poured concrete soon.


And just a little peek at what’s going on inside.  I’m looking for a mirror for the downstairs bathroom.  You guys were SUPER helpful on my last post with input on fireplaces, chandeliers, and decks. THANK YOU.  I’ve actually decided to go with Gas and made other adjustments from your recommends.
So here’s what I’m looking at.  I’m really loving this and this….and the Abby mirror comes in way too many cute colors.  How could I ever pick just one??


Or to save money, maybe I’ll just make my own white frame with cool tiles on the inside?  Check out most of these on my Tile Board.

Any cool mirrors you’ve come across?….something that’ll fit in a beach cottage type bathroom?
Thanks friends!

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Clara has been a bag of emotions this past month.

I would chalk it up to teething (which some of it is)….and being sick (she and I had horrible stuffy colds this weekend)….and randomly waking up in the middle of the night for hours and pretending it’s play time in her crib (UGGGGGH), but it’s more than that.

She’s starting to throw little tantrums.  The kind of tantrums that you can’t really reason with or give a time-out for because she’s too young to understand.  Simply changing her diaper is a pure battle of wills and often strength.  And she’s totally perfecting the fake cry.  At 14 months!  Oh Clara.

I know. I’m being over-dramatic.  She’s just your run-of-the-mill kid and you’d think that after having two kids already I’d remember how it all works.  But somehow our brain forgets.
And that’s how we get pregnant.

So.
To save my sanity I decided to give myself a visual pep-talk, and tackled a sewing project.

I was inspired by this post on One Little Minute where Miranda created a cool piece of fabric art to hang over her bed (and has some cool stop-motion photos to go along. You gotta check it out).  So I did a little spin on the Keep Calm and Carry On craze and went back to good old Bobby McFerrin:
In every life we have some trouble.
When you worry, you make it double.
So….


I’m hoping the lyrics rub off on me.
Maybe they’ll rub off on you too (or you’ll have that blasted song stuck in your head all day. Sorry).

I made the shirt from a women’s tee and based it on the Basic Tee pattern and tutorial (creating a smaller size using one of her other shirts for sizing)

Shirt front, Shirt back, two sleeves, and a collar, ready to sew:

But before sewing, I added the phrase.  I was inspired my Miranda’s font as well and decided to hand-letter the words…something I haven’t done forever and really love to do.  If you’d like to use my letters for your own project, download and print it HERE.  I traced the words to Freezer paper (check out my full tutorial on Freezer Paper stenciling HERE).  I prefer printing to Freezer Paper, rather than tracing, but my printer was being emotional as well.  Then I cut it all out with a craft knife,

….ironed one set of words to the front, one set to the back, painted with craft paint, dried it with my blow-dryer, peeled it off, and…

Don’t Worry, Be Happy!

I paired it with knit shorts from Target and a scrappy headband and the happy Clara was set.

I know it seems silly.
But I’m truly hoping the shirt makes me laugh.  And helps me roll with the punches of mom-life.  Because each stage has its different challenges.  I might need to make this every year.
When life throws you lighting-bolts,

Find the sunshine.

And try to be happy that no matter who wakes up in the middle of the night….this one:

Or this one:

I’m lucky to be her mom.  And wouldn’t trade these moments for anything.

Okay, break.
Go team. Go.
You can make it through your day too…

And if you want all sorts of inspiration, check out the current Kids Clothes Week on Elsie Marley. I’m adding this as my meager contribution for the season.

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