Sewing Projects Part 1: Skirts

All Lia ever wants to wear lately is skirts and dresses. Eleanor is not as picky but she likes to do whatever Lia is doing, so she wants skirts and dresses too. We have several, but a lot of them are nice ones that I like to save for church. So I decided to make the girls a bunch of simple play skirts they can wear every day, that I don't have to worry about them getting dirty. 

Well, of course I got a little carried away and some of the skirts turned out quite cute, even nice enough for church. But I've decided in advance that I won't get upset if any of them get stained or ruined since I made them for play. I actually made a few skirts way back in February (which is the last time I was on a sewing kick!), and I'm glad I finally got around to making some more. 

The other great thing is I didn't spend any money on them! I got a lot of fabric, ribbon, lace and embellishments from Dustin's grandma and fabric from my mom last year sometime, so I used a lot of that. I also used an old T-shirt for Eleanor's maroon maxi skirt. I bought elastic a long time ago and it's gone a long way, which is great. 

The girls love their skirts. They happen to have the same waist measurement, so they can each wear all of the skirts even though I deliberately made some just for Lia, some just for Eleanor, and some to share. (This is sort of a tangent but I think it's important for my girls to have some things that are just for them, that they don't have to share. With a sister so close in age they end up sharing almost everything, but everyone likes having things that are just for them. End tangent.) 

Okay! Pictures!

Lia likes long skirts. So do I, especially since she is so tall that short skirts aren't great for her. She has such a small waist and narrow hips that skirts and pants just fall off. Oh well. I had to tighten the button hole on this one so that's why it looks a little wonky!


I also accidentally tore through the top of the skirt when I was opening up the buttonhole! Of course! I can't do sewing projects without screwing up a bunch of times. The seam ripper is my best friend/worst enemy.

The girls had fun trying on the skirts.

"Take a picture of the back!" Haha :)

Eleanor's maxi skirt. I think she looks so cute in it! Thanks to my friend Ellen for helping me figure this one out!

These are all half-circle skirts except the tie-dye one. That one is just the bottom of a hand-me-down swimsuit cover-up I  never wore that I put some elastic in. Super easy. The half-circle skirts are pretty easy too. I love the blue lace on the top left one, I think it turned out really cute.

I made two of these "square circle skirts" for the girls back in February. It's the same concept as a a circle skirt but you use squares instead and off-set them. They are really fun and swirly and comfortable.

Made this dress back in February too, and Lia loves it. It is also a "square circle skirt" sewn onto a t-shirt. It is swishy and fun and pretty.