The Skirt

I was reading through the blog trail when I came across this blog called Moda Bake Shop. Do not be deceived it has nothing to do with food. What they do is break down sewing instructions into a recipe form. Works well for me. That day another blogger was featured on the site for a fantastic little skirt she made - SarahB Sews. What Sarah didn't know was that I had been looking at these wonderful little bundles of fabric at JoAnn's and avoided them because I had no idea what to do with them besides quilt. The strip packages are called Jelly Rolls, and are completely and totally tantalizing for me! The colors are all coordinated and I don't have to play piece together.
I have a quilt going. One of those things I thought I could finish in no time flat and have ready to use all summer long. It would have been if I actually took into account the seams, but I didn't. Still working on that quilt. Crossing my fingers that I have enough of the fabric I need so that I don't have a funky looking quilt in the end.
I read through Sarah's post and realized that I could totally do what she described. I could even do it in an afternoon, probably. I went that day and bought a pretty little pink and brown Jelly Roll that I have wanted for weeks! Sat down and started stitching. I finished the little skirt in 2 afternoons only to realize that I had measured the wrong place on A's body for the skirt. It didn't fit. I know, "Measure twice. Cut once". I also learned that A has a bit of a bubble butt. Hadn't taken that into account either. No problem. One Jelly Roll makes multiple little girl skirts. FYI - it makes 2 and some hair bows. Unless you want one for a new born which I think would be really cute.
Off to make skirt #2. I measured so much that every time I called A over for something she asked, "Are there any pins in there?" (Apparently I had forgotten one once.) I finished the skirt and A loved it so much that she put it in her cubbie to wear tomorrow. I had to wait for the store to open to get a t-shirt. If the skirt turned out so well I could tackle the shirt - right? There were some odd sized scraps lying on the floor that screamed "HAIR BOW!!!!!" Well who am I to argue with fabric? Especially persistent fabric such as this. I played with it in so many ways until I had two hair clips and a pony tail holder. I'm not telling A about the pony tail holder because she'll want to save it for when her hair grows back. It's not long enough to do anything with yet, and she misses it.

What I did was take the little strips of fabric and layer the same way I did the skirt (brown, pink, brown, pink...) did a straight stitch down the middle, and hot glued it to a clip. Then I took a coordinating ribbon and hot glued it to the back side of the clip. Brought it around and tied it in a double knot. Bunched up the fabric just right. Super cute!

Finding the right t-shirt was a challenge. She ended up with one that is a bit long, but that's OK because she can tuck it in. I like that because everyone can see the drop waist of the skirt which actually ended up being my favorite part of the design. I will probably cut it off - or not. I have only appliqued one time in my life and the image was super huge. This pattern had small parts and I was not proficient at stitching around them as I like to be. I also learned that I have to clean my iron between every press when gluing something down. There are a few burnt glue spots on the shirt, but we'll live. When I finished I decided to use buttons and rhine stones as an accent. The rhine stones are little accents for the flower buds on the stems. The buttons were the centers of the flowers. I used buttons that I already had so they aren't perfect color, but they work.

When all was said and done A LOVES her outfit and that's what matters. The best part is that she hasn't asked to wear an undershirt with it. She does not like stitching near her body and I was afraid that she would never wear the shirt because of the applique. Thank you SarahB for such a great project! I have 2 more Jelly Rolls at the ready ;)