Circle skirts up in here

So, I’ve wanted to make the girls some “circle” skirts for quite awhile now, but couldn’t wrap my head around the folding and the math and the waistband.  It was all super weird and complicated.  But I saw this tutorial and knew that I had to suffer through because, Hello? My girls live in skirts and dresses. The twirlier the better.

That tutorial was useful, but the math I used was different (from another tutorial on a community site I visit).  I measured the girls’ hips and divided this number by pi (PI!) and then divided this again by 2 to get the measurement I needed, since I was using a woven with no stretch. 

So, 21” waist / 3.14 = 6.68
6.68 / 2 = 3.34”

I rounded up to 3.5” because I’m lazy.  I measured 3.5” down from the corner fold, and cut the waistband.

One trick that made it easier for me to grasp when folding the material: I folded the fabric in half horizontally (cut edge to cut edge), then in half vertically (selvage to selvage).  You will have one point with both your folds — that’s where you mark down and cut out the waist.  Also, I tied a string around my marking pen to make nice even lines.

Once I got the hang of it it’s ridiculously simple, I could kick myself for not making them sooner.

I used knit to bind the waist and make their waistbands, but I’m not very pleased with how that turned out — they were pretty loose even when I tightened the waistband by several inches.  If I do it again, I may explore adding elastic instead to keep the skirts on their skinny little stick bodies.

These skirts are VERY quick to make.  You cut the fabric on the fold so that when you open it out, TA-DA! It’s already in a circle, one piece, no side seams to sew.  Just finish the waistband and the bottom, and you’re done.  It’s exactly like magic, only with more hemming.

Cowl neck dresses

Finished up two dresses for the girls, both with knits. Who’dve thought?  Me, working with knits, and not peeing my pants?  Shocking, I know.  I have plans for at least one more (I’ll let them fight over who gets to have it).  I made Charlie’s with a grey jersey knit I’ve had in my stash forever, and I made another one for Phoebe in off-white hemp jersey.  Phoebe’s makes her look a little like Obi-Wan, so I may dye it.  We’ll see.

Phoebe got to model this because Charlie was asleep, or MIA, or running away from home, or something.  I can’t remember.  Pattern from Heidi & Finn on Etsy.  Super simple to put together, and I love love love the cowl neck. I want one for me.

You can tie it in the front or the back, but Phoebe requested the back.  I think it looks cute either way.  They’re both wearing their dresses tomorrow, so I hope to get some modeling shots of them together in all their dressy dress adorableness.

My printer cartridge arrived today (hooray!) so I printed out my copy of the pleat-bottom pants and have some plans to make them this weekend.  SUPER EXCITED!  I’m thinking I may try adding some pockets to them, but we’ll see.  I will be satisfied if I even get time to sew, so I don’t want to get my hopes up.

I also made the girls some really cute circle skirts.  I’ll share my secret on those in another post, though.  I can hardly believe it: sewing AND blogging?  It’s almost too much to handle.

Makin' stuff

I’ve gotten back into sewing a little, here and there.  I seem to have 2 or 3 patterns that I pull out regularly, and I keep making them over and over and over.  The Tee for Two by Patterns by Figgy’s that I just can’t get enough of, as well as the Swingset Skirt by Oliver + S.  Built by Wendy’s 3835 for shirts for me, too — I can put one together in about an hour and a half.

These are both the Tee for Two pattern, with the dress sleeves.  I used an LWI (low water immersion) dye technique, with procion dyes from Dharma Trading.  The girls picked out the iron-on rhinestone appliques — we’ll see how well they hold up to washing.

Same deal for Thea’s shirt, except no applique, obviously.  I extended the neckline a little bit on this one because this child? Literally has a head the size of a pumpkin.  She has store-bought shirts that fit her everywhere except the neck-hole.  We can’t get them over her head.  Sad, or funny?  I can’t decide.

On the horizon, this dress by Heidi & Finn, and also these pants.  I’m waiting on a new printer cartridge so I can print out the pants pattern — I’m so excited by the pleat detail on the bottom.

I also got a wild hair and decided to make some barrettes for the girls.  Originally, it was going to be a project we did together, but it’s a little too fussy for small fingers.  So, I made them some myself, and MAN. These are so much fun to put together, and super quick, too.

If you’re so inclined, check out the tutorial here.  I got the barrettes from this shop, and the ribbon at our local store ($0.50/spool).  I hot-glued the ribbon knot at the bottom just to make sure they wouldn’t come undone.  I have plans for several more, they’re quite addicting.

And one tiny note to close out this post: We’ll be moving to the NYC area at the end of June for my jay oh bee.  I’m scared shitless to move with four children, and to pack up a houseful of stuff and try to cram it into an apartment.  I’m excited for the possibility of moving, but also very wary of all the work entailed.  I promise to keep you posted — if you keep your fingers crossed for us.

Pro none see aye shuns

I saw this video meme over at Sarah’s blog and decided to copycat her. Also, make sure you check out her video — her accent makes me want to dance a little. It’s fairly awesome.

So, there’s a list of words to pronounce, and then some questions to answer to gauge what term you use for things. Here’s my video (if you listen closely you can hear my dogs in the background, and Charlie goes crazy at one point).

Also, I apologize for looking like a ghost-faced killah in my video. Unless you like that kind of thing, in which case YOU’RE WELCOME!

If you want to participate (and I hope you do — leave me a comment so I can check it out) you can see the words and questions below:

Words

Aunt, Route, Wash, Oil, Theater, Iron, Salmon, Caramel, Fire, Water, Sure, Data, Ruin, Crayon, Toilet, New Orleans, Pecan, Both, Again, Probably, Spitting image, Alabama, Lawyer, Coupon, Mayonnaise, Syrup, Pajamas, Caught

Questions

* What is it called when you throw toilet paper on a house?
* What is the bug that when you touch it, it curls into a ball?
* What is the bubbly carbonated drink called?
* What do you call gym shoes?
* What do you say to address a group of people?
* What do you call the kind of spider that has an oval-shaped body and extremely long legs?
* What do you call your grandparents?
* What do you call the wheeled contraption in which you carry groceries at the supermarket?
* What do you call it when rain falls while the sun is shining?
* What is the thing you change the TV channel with?

I was going to do it a second time and bust out my Southern accent, but one video of my pasty-ass is enough, I think.

Tee for two (for two)! I think I'm in love.

I’ve been in the biggest sewing rut, wanting to make *so* many different projects, but never finding the time or motivation. I finally decided to de-stash, and use up some of the fabric I have just sitting around me in piles.

First off, I have tons of flannel that I decided to use up (I buy flannel like other people buy paper towels). JoAnn’s was having a sale a couple of months ago, and I decided to stock up. We can always use flannel around here — for diapers, wipes, pads, etc. So really, I can’t have enough. And when there are cute prints, and it’s on sale? Done. So I bought a ridiculous amount of yardage, washed it, and then folded it up and promptly ignored it.

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