The Perfect County Fair Skirt!

Monday, July 15, 2013


 
I follow a number of sewing blogs but there is one that I absolutely love.  If you like to sew, you must check out her blog, danamadeit, here. She made these darling skirts for her daughter and friends and I fell in love with them.  When my daughter said she was going to have a County Fair two year birthday party for Rosetta, I remembered those darling skirts and thought of my little grand-daughters and their friends!  So.....

 
I gathered fabric, rick rack and thread and got started!   Dana gives great instructions on her blog, so  I just set up my kindle next to my sewing machine and could easily refer to it if necessary.

 
I'm kind of weird where I like to have everything all organized before I start sewing and since this project was going to require all different colors of thread I got my bobbins all wound up ahead of time.   I was really excited about this project because I love color so much that I knew I would have fun putting different colors together.
 
 
A really funny thing happened when I started sewing.  I wanted one of the skirts!  So I made one for myself so I could match my darling grand-daughters!
 
 
And then even funnier was when my daughter Andrea said, "Mom I want one of the skirts too"!  I sent a picture text to Ciara, my daughter in law, and asked her if she wanted one - her reply; "I'm in".  So back to the sewing machine I went to whip up a couple more skirts!
 
 
My grand-daughter Jillian and her little friend Ruth were so darling in their skirts.  These two little girls look so much alike that the times we've dressed them in matching clothes we are always taking a double-look!
 
 
 
They were so easy to make, so fun, and so comfortable.  I'm actually thinking about making myself a few more in varied styles!  If you're thinking you'd like to make yourself or some special little girl a fun summery skirt, this is the one to make!  I made each skirt in about 25 minutes.
 
 
I pulled this picture off my daughter's blog so that you could see it was a darling little birthday party!   
 
Hope you are off to a great start to your week!  (Watch for the July Monthly Moos post coming in a few days!)

14 comments:

  1. Such a cute idea! Love the theme of the party.

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  2. You are such an inspiration to me. The reason why? You don't wait for the perfect time to make a cute skirt or many skirts:) It doesn't go on a to-do-list, you sit down and do it! Thank you.

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  3. The skirts are adorable for both little girls and women! I am going to pin this idea to my sewing board. I made skirts for my two little great-nieces last fall, so fun. They wore them to my mother's 90th birthday party. Someday I'll post about the skirts on my blog.

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  4. So adorable, love them. I need to sew Doodle do and Lay lay one each.

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  5. So so cute! Love your orange one!

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  6. oh my goodness, you are the best grandma!!
    I'm so glad you made one for yourself too :). Thanks for sharing!

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  7. hi...I went to the Made It site and decided to try the layered skirt for my grand daughter. Being a novice clothes sewer and an idiot to boot, I bought the wrong elastic...too hard and stiff / the grand did not like it. Went back to the site and saw that I missed her saying 'braided or knit elastic ' ... so if you see this I wonder which you used and if you like a particular brand. I will be going back to JoAnn Fabrics tomorrow...I'll check to see if you saw this and replied here or in email or anything.

    Well I should have known I would not try something for the first time and not have problems, lol..:)

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    1. Hi Debra! I bought a braided polyester elastic that is rather soft. The brand was "stretch rite". I've never actually seen the brand before. Some places (not sure about JoAnn's) sell elastic by the yard, so you could check for that; then you actually can feel it to get the one that is the most soft and flexible.

      One thing I did different on the skirts that Dana didn't mention on her blog, was I sewed "in the ditch" on the side seams after the elastic was in and I knew it fit and felt right (I sewed through all the thicknesses - elastic and all). That way, it kept the elastic from turning when its washed, and from causing the skirt to slide around on the elastic. It seemed like it helped it alot. I also made the skirts a little bit on the loose side - especially for us adults.... we like our skirts to fit on our hips, so they are pretty loose and comfy that way.

      Good luck! Email me a picture! :-)

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  8. Thanks! Years ago when my boys were little I could not get the hang of sewing clothes so I thought to learn quilting. Years LATER here I am again, lol...I must have bought elastic thick and stiff and strong enough to hold buildings together! :) I had it 3/4 of the way through and by then my hand was cramping, it was so hard. Then the pin opened inside. So I undid stitches there, fixed it, got it through, resewed that part, then had the grand try this on to see if it was going to fit....because the instructions said 2x her waist size. It was enormous on her and then after all that she said she hated how it felt. Meanwhile she had a little knit skirt on from Walmart or something with an elastic stretchy waist. You couldn't even feel the elastic in there. That is when I decided my idiot factor must have played a part and back I went to research what sort of elastic to use and thought to check with you too . :)

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  9. Oh my! I love those skirts, and I love even more that the "grown ups" got one, too!! I am always and forever saying how I love little girl clothes and I wish they made them in my size!!! Love love love!! I really wish I would have had them at Happy rather than the "fashionable" maxi dresses/skirts....I was SOOOOO HOT!! (Even though it rained a lot and was cooler than it maybe has EVER been at Happy!) I love your family. I wish I was more domesticated. :)

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  10. ok I finished up a few skirts! :) http://www.thehomespun.com/just-keeping-on-learning-to-sew-girls-skirts-this-round/ And I survived! :)

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