Dress Up Skirts (Batch One)

Alright. Show of hands - who knew that I was going to have trouble sleeping last night because I had not yet finished my skirt? Darn you obsessive-compulsive tendencies!

Before retiring for the night I had affixed all of the trim, completed each layer and pinned all 4 of the layers together. As I hung out in bed, my mind began turning a bazillion miles a minute, and I mentally made some adjustments. I decided that 4 layers of fabric was too much for a tiny skirt. I decided to take off the bottom (aqua) layer. Then I decided to use the aqua layer in another skirt. Then I had to decide what fabric to use with it. I decided on the white embroidered organza. Then I had to decide how to trim it since I had used the finished edge of the fabric already. I thought that there might be a coordinating ribbon in my sewing box, but I wasn't sure. It was REALLY hard not to get out of bed to check. It was AGES before my brain shut off!

Anywhooo - here are a few things that I learned while making this first batch of skirts:

- Slick fabrics SUCK. They are almost impossible (for me) to cut evenly. I ended up using my cutting mat & rotary cutter for most of it, and it was still really hard.
- This craft is very forgiving. Uneven edges blend into the 'fluffiness' of the skirt. This is good, since my edges were pathetically ragged.
- These skirts are fairly heavy as baby clothing goes. I used Lily Ruth's waist measurement, but due to their weight, these sit under her baby belly like she's a fat guy with an overhang instead of a stick-thin baby girl.
- The chart given lists 9" as the fabric height for Lily Ruth's size. This is too long. It looks cute, but is unwieldy - especially since it sits so low on her 'hips'. On the plus side, they will fit her for longer. It will be very easy to put larger elastic into the waist band.

Enough Lead-in. Here are the AWESOME finished products!!!


and individually:



and a close-up of the trim on the purple one (because it's so pretty):


and my model (who thought this was pretty funny!):


The verdict? I love these. I will definitely be making more to donate and for friends! I need to find a good source for trim. It took almost 2 yards of trim for each layer on a tiny skirt! Oh well - it was worth it :-)