30 Minute Skirt

Let's face it, most moms don't have a lot of free time or energy to sew.  That is why quick and simple projects are ideal for this season of life!  I was excited to whip a skirt out for Ali in exactly 30 minutes using one of my t-shirts that didn't fit well.

After holding the shirt up next to Ali to see how long it would need to be, I cut the shirt just under the arms.

The bottom part of the shirt will become the skirt and is already sewed and hemmed.

I cut a yoke from the top half of the shirt and sewed the sides up (with right sides together).

Turn right side out and fold in half.  This is your yoke.

The bottom half of the shirt becomes the skirt.  To make it fit the yoke I hand-basted around the top edge and pulled the thread to make it gather a little bit.  Then I pinned the yoke to the skirt with right sides together, sewed around it two times, and then zig-zagged around the edge twice to make it look more finished.

From some scraps from the top portion of the shirt I cut two thin strips to make a tie.  I quickly sewed them together to make one longer strip.

I cut two small slits in the yoke (no need to finish them or to hem the long strip).  I threaded the strip through the holes to make a waist tie.

Tie a simple knot in the end of each tie hanging out.  Ali then tried on the skirt and I tied the waist tie in a bow to make it snug.  I apologize for the poor pic quality in this tutorial.  I was timing this tutorial and thus doing it quickly and my daughter was not in a good mood and didn't want pics of the final results!

I decided to do a matching hair bow.  This took an additional 20 minutes.  I cut two blue felt circles and about 20 tiny circles from t-shirt scraps.  I hand-sewed each circle (scrunched up) onto the felt circle in a few layers to create a pretty cloth flower.

The back pre-hot glue

I hot glued a clip onto the back of the felt and then topped it with the second blue circle for a clean finish.

I love it! 

The skirt is comfortable, durable, and really cute, especially with leggings and a white or green t-shirt.  It's hard to find simple, but stylish and modest clothing for little girls Ali's age so I was happy to see that I could fill this need in just 30 minutes!  Now she wants me to make her a t-shirt circle skirt in yellow!