EASY TO MAKE CIRCLE SKIRT FOR GIRLS

EASY TO MAKE CIRCLE SKIRT FOR GIRLS

I used MADE circle skirt tutorial to help me with my first circle skirt. It was much simpler than I thought it would be and the best part No Seams!  I had some aqua blue plaid fabric that my mother in law gave me a while back which at the time I really had no clue what to make out of it, but with Project Run and Play sew along theme for the week being PLAID, I immediately thought of this fabric. It is a nice lightweight type of fabric which is perfect for that bouncy easy flowing type skirt.

First I measured my daughter's waist, added an extra inch for seam allowance, marked the fabric and then I measured how long I wanted the skirt to be, marked it with a pen then I cut up my 1/4 circle. I left a little extra because I wanted to have a little extra gathered shirred effect to the skirt. If you need help with measurements check out Dana's measurement instructions, she is really great at explaining everything in detail with easy to understand instructions.

After I cut my 1/4 circle I have my skirt and a smaller circle that I used and made a bow hair clip to match with the skirt. I serged the top and bottom of skirt to avoid fraying.

Next, I serged the elastic and sewed it down. (I know I had white thread in my serger, didn't want to change it since it's on the inside of the skirt and it won't show....although I kinda like it). Melissa, one of my daughters (the one modeling the outfit), said she likes it like this because it's easier to tell which is the front of the skirt and which is the back of the skirt. 

 I didn't like just putting together the elastic to the skirt piece without gathering the fabric a little. So I put the thread settings on high (4) and sewed a line at the top of my skirt. Then I gathered the fabric shirring up a little and then pinning it to the elastic for a perfect fit. It's much easier to sew like this.

I decided to complete the look by adding some beautiful crocheted lace trim I had to the bottom hem of the skirt.

The matching hair bow I made to match with the whole outfit.

EASY SHIRT TUTORIAL FOR GIRLS

EASY SHIRT TUTORIAL FOR GIRLS

XL T-shirt Repurposed into girls shirt

I decided to do the Project Run and Play Sew Along this week and I knew I needed a cute top or shirt to go with the aqua blue circle skirt I made but didn't have anything I liked that went with it. So I remembered that I purchased a brand new white XL t-shirt a while back for only 50cents, which was perfect cotton fabric for my new shirt that I wanted to make for my girl. My girls have a really cute shirt I like and they like so much so decided to made a pattern from that.

(sorry about some of the pics ended up side ways...I'll fix it when I figure it how)

These are the back and front pieces of the shirt I cut out.

 Unfortunately, I noticed that the front piece somehow I cut it too small, not sure how I managed to do that, I was trying to do it fast with my little ones around me. And so I thought I just ruined the shirt and had to figure out where to get another front piece from as I was looking at the left over remnant of the xl shirt I cut from originally. I noticed there was still some fabric left on the sides which was perfect. I immediately thought of making a shirred front, which was a perfect fix for my "mistake". And I love it better than my original plan. I cut the front part of the shirt right down the middle.

 Next I cut up one of the left over remnant side and made a 4 inch strip. Then I put my sewing machine on the highest thread setting (4) and sewed along both sides.

 After sewing along both sides of the 4 inch strip I slowly pulled the thread and gathered it to create a shirred look.

I shirred enough to make sure it fit just right between my front pattern pieces of the shirt.

Then I pinned it in place.

And serged it to the front shirt pieces.

After that was done I ironed it to stay nicely and then attached the back piece and pinned the sides and shoulder area, then serged and sewed through.

Then I thought about adding a little special touch, some aqua blue plaid fabric to match with the aqua blue plaid circle skirt. I measured the sleeve and cut. I should've left a little extra, next time I'll know better and make it right. Being my first time ever making this type of shirt I just went along with what I had and "fixed" my mistakes along the way to make it look better.

Then I pinned the arm sleeve and sewed all around.

For the neck part I wasn't quite sure what I really wanted. I serged the neckline then I folded it over and sewed all the way around the neck line.

I ended up adding some of the aqua blue plaid to the neck line to complete the look.

Here's the complete shirt and I must say I quite like it. It turned out way better than I thought.

Pictured below is the shirt with the matching Aqua Blue Plaid Circle Skirt, which I also have a tutorial for on my blog. I also made a matching bow hair clip to complete the outfit.

 

As long as my daughter loves it, I love it even more. Now my other girls want the same shirt as well. So I'll need to make a couple more shirts and have fun experiencing with different fabric. I'm also in the process of teaching them how to sew, so perhaps I'll help them make their own shirt. I'll try to make a tutorial or take pics and post them on the blog. I tried to explain the best I could, I'm not so good at explaining everything in detail, so hopefully my tutorials are easy to understand. Thanks everyone.

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Aqua Blue Plaid Circle Skirt and Easy Shirred Shirt

Project Run and Play Plaid Theme Sew Along

Aqua Blue Plaid Circle Skirt and Easy Shirred Shirt

Okay, so I somehow ran across Project Run and Play and I have to say it got me to start blogging. Although I'm not very good at it and still learning my way around, I'm excited to start posting my projects I do for my kids and with my kids. For this week, Project Run and Play sew along theme is MAD for PLAID!!! At first I couldn't think of what I'd make, but I then I remembered that my mother in law gave me some blue plaid fabric that she bought in bulk and no longer needed a few weeks ago. I wasn't sure what to make at first for this sew along project, and then I thought of making my first circle skirt that I've seen on the MADE tutorial blog and so my project started. I know when I was a little girl my mom used to make my sister and I clothes and I do remember her making us a circle skirt and saying that it was one of the easiest thing she made for us. Now it's my turn for my girls.

Tuesday I decided to make my first sew along ever for Project Run and Play. This was my first ever attempt to making a circle skirt, but Dana's tutorial was very helpful and easy to understand. I added a cute crocheted lace trim for the bottom of the skirt as a hem to make it look nicer and more complete. As for the shirt, at first I wasn't really sure what to make that would go cute with the aqua blue plaid circle skirt. I decided to make my own pattern, shirred the middle (you'll have to read later in the tutorial how I came up with that) and added the same plaid fabric to the sleeves. Originally I made this outfit for my younger daughter Gianna, my 5 year old, but she wasn't up to taking any pictures, so Melissa my 7 year old happily "claimed" the outfit and put it on to model it for me :) They're both size 6-7 and the only difference between them is their height. For my pics, I took my 7 year old Melissa to the park to model the outfit for me. It was 106 today in Arizona with a little wind...just the perfect weather for pictures. Check out my TUTORIALS page for details of how to make this outfit.

I also made a little bow hair clip out of the plaid fabric to match with the outfit.

The sun was so bright she kept tearing up. 

Only in AZ it's still over 100 degrees at the end of September and I love it :)

She started climbing the tree....

 

back of circle skirt with beautiful crocheted lace hem detail

 I will be posting my tutorials of the shirred shirt and circle skirt I made on my blog as soon as I have time. With 7 kids there just doesn't seem to be enough time in the day for everything I want to do, but I try my best. For my first ever sew along I'm really proud of the way the outfit turned out and all my 5 girls all want one now. We'll just have to see about that since I only have less than a yard left...perhaps with different fabric....

Thanks Project Run and Play for opportunity to share my design with yall!

She loves this outfit and really wants to wear it to school. 

Here she is screaming out loud "IIIIIIIIII love it" .... 

Silly girl :) LOVE her so much! 

For complete tutorial of this shirt and skirt you can check out my TUTORIALS  page :) Thanks and God Bless!