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!

While I'm Waiting....

4th of July

Google children's bucket hats and you'll find a variety of free or cheap patterns. I made the boys matching bucket hats for the 4th. I made Ali another ruffle skirt using the Marie-Madeline Studio pattern I bought a year ago.

                           
 

Doing sparklers on the deck.  Fireworks are legal all day on the 4th in our town.

The firetrucks spray down the crowd at the end of the parade.  My kids always hide...not yet to the age where it is a delight!

Some New Projects

After four months of letting my machine sit idle, I finally had the energy and motivation to whip it out yesterday and get something done.

I took large new washcloths and cut them into fourths and hemmed around them to make baby washcloths.  Washcloths are a must for every mom and make a cute, but inexpensive gift!  I did 8 in about an hour!

I got super inspired by my bright fabric scraps and made this little skirt with matching headband and socks on a whim, without a pattern, to give to my cousin Amy, for her first baby, Sofia, who is coming in July.

I had promised a couple of cousins some leather shoes for their babies. 

I had a really hard time going around the lines on the dolphins so they turned out looking kind of rough....ooops!

Ballerina Birthday--Making a No-Sew Tutu

The nice thing about the ribbon tutus is that anyone can wear them.  Here I am modeling the tutu, since Ali won't open in until Thursday.

A fellow ballet mom shared with me how to make a ribbon tutu.  It took less than an hour (even though I had to cut my own strips since our Walmart doesn't sell the tiny rolls of tulle) and is so cute!  I love it!  I just need someone to give me some tips on how to keep it from getting wrinkled and squished up to smithereens since they definitely don't look cute like that (ask me how I know!)

You will need around 1.5 yards of ribbon and

5 yards of tulle

This will cost you around $6-$7 at Walmart.  Not bad for something so pretty that your little girl will LOVE!

Here's a great tutorial.  You can choose to use elastic (which is sewn together) or just use a thick and pretty ribbon, knotted at two points to hold the tulle loops on.  I went with ribbon since I've tried doing the elastic ones before.

Car Organizers

I found this excellent tutorial here, which inspired me in making these. But because I didn't have sturdy fabric around, I decided to use two old garments that were on their way to the rag bag. The cool thing is that I still get to enjoy my hubby's western shirt and my favorite courderoy skirt that I wore nearly everyday for the last few years on end.I forgot to take a pic of the finished skirt one,

but it's just very basic with about 5 square pockets on it and less frills than the denim one.I forgot to take a pic of the western shirt before chopping it up, but you can probably imagine it.The little hook on the back of the shirt becomes a great place to put a carabiner, where you can stash ponytail holders, keys, or pacifiers.

I even re-used the tag, figuring it would hold pens.

My pics of it in the car didn't turn out so well, so here is my daughter holding it up to give you an idea of how it works. The elastic at the bottom goes around the seat of the car to help hold it tight against the car seat.

Since I sit in the back with the kids on long car trips, these organizers really bless me! The brown, plain one went behind Justus's carseat on the front passenger seat. (He still rides rear-facing). I mainly stashed extra diapers and wipes and winter hats there since it wasn't as accessible as the one directly in front of my seat. In this one, I stashed dark chocolate, lotion, diapers, wipes, coloring book, mp3 player, keys, pacifiers, kleenex, sippy, etc.

What Lindsey is Making This Week....

I bought a shoe-organizer this summer and rigged up a rough version of this for our last trip to MN, but because it was that thin, mesh-type stuff it ripped shortly after we returned from the trip. I'm gearing up to make some nice ones from sturdy fabric this week for our upcoming trip. So excited to have found this simple tutorial!

Latest Sewing Project

I made this Chic Sisters apron for a dear friend who is getting married this summer. (Please ignore my wild-bang-thing that's going on here!)

Sew Crazy #5--Final Projects

This apron was going to be for my new sis-in-law and then I decided it just didn't look like her style. So, I decided it would perfectly match the tastes of my friend who is getting married next month.

I made this Chic Sisters apron (a Marie-Madeline Studio pattern) after I ordered this from Fashionably Modest Patterns. I was a little disappointed with the fabric I had. I hadn't realized how thin the light pink stuff was when I bought it on clearance.

God has laid on my heart the person whom I really think needs to receive this apron so I won't be keeping this one!

I seem to be the queen of improvisation. So, when I attempted to make a One-Hour apron out of this fabric, and didn't read the directions enough and made a major mistake, it became a little skirt for Alathia!

Justus enjoys his new tie quilt. No more sleeping in a princess blanket!

Now that I've caught up on all of these sewing projects, I think I'll take a break from sewing this week! But I enjoy it so much, I know I'll be back to it soon! My head is spinning with all the things I want to make for people. I need to pace myself though! I think when I take up sewing again it will be to make a few more Chic Sisters Aprons for 3 friends getting married this summer.

Sew Crazy #3--Fast and Frugal Apron Project

This darling shirt was a thrift store buy. I eyeballed it instead of trying it on (never a good idea) only to find that it was too tight/immodest to wear. I considered making the bottom portion into a simple and quick skirt for Ali, but she already has two new skirts I've made this week. So...I ran with a different idea that popped into my head...
I turned it inside out and sewed from the shoulder line down to the waist, thus cutting off the sleeves. I then trimmed them off. This is what it looked like turned right side out again.

Then I cut the back out, aligning it with the front neckline. I turned down the edge and sewed the neckline together on the orange trim.

I took a strip from the sleeve that had been cut off and made a neck strap. At first I just made an attached strap with no ties. But then the apron didn't come up as high as I liked, so I cut the neck strap in half and made it a tie-able strap that can be adjusted tighter or looser.

This apron is unique because it's extra thick (two layers of shirt) and it is made out of t-shirt material. A great apron for doing dirty jobs or washing dishes and keeping your waist dry!

Very frugal at the cost of about 25-50 cents for the shirt!

Stayed tuned for pics of some DARLING skirts I made for Ali and a tie quilt I'm making for Justus.

Sew Crazy #2!

This skirt was $2.99 at K-Mart. However, they didn't have my size, just a size or two larger than mine. I loved the skirt, needed a new skirt, and knew I couldn't get the fabric to make one for that price! So, I got it and carefully removed about 4 inches from the waist elastic. It now fits perfectly and I love wearing it because it's so cheery and feminine!
Someone donated some adults clothing for our clothing swap. This pretty skirt caught my eye but was about 3 sizes too big for me in the waist. Again, I just cut out about 6-8 inches of the elastic and perfecto!


I found this racecar fabric on clearance for $1 a yard in Billings. I knew it would make some cute pillowcases for Jerby. He's just getting to the stage of using a small pillow at night like sister. One yard made two cute pillowcases.

Jer lost his security blanket a few months ago and I made him a new little one out of fleece. However, he lost that one a couple of times (we found it though) and he often gets it dirty or wets on it at night. When it's in the wash it's really hard for him. So, when I saw this extra-fuzzy fleece on clearance, I got enough to make TWO blankets! Each blanket is 1/4 yard of blue fleece sewed to 1/4 yard of duckie fleece. One will go into the linen closet and will be pulled out when the other one is in the wash, or is missing. The thing I love about this is that now he actually has a "duckie" blanket. Ali has a duck security blanket which she has had for 4 years. Jer's two security blankets he has had thus far have not had ducks on them at all or been yellow but he has always called them "duckie blankies" mimicking Ali, which totally confuses everyone. Now the name fits with the blanket!