Twirls and Lace

Since I was on a twirly roll - and also/mainly because I happened to find the cut pieces when I was looking for something else - I decided to finish up these twirly skirts I started from leftover linen pieces from baby slings. (These were also cut and then put into time out when the serger was misbehaving, but it's been behaving so beautiful for these that I'm thrilled!) I had decided some lace overlays on the middle tier would make them more fun for a little girl than just a plain linen skirt.

First up, the olive linen. This picture doesn't quite accurately represent the color, but it's close. I paired it with a light silver lace. The waist is pretty bulky, because I didn't want to try gathering the lace onto a shorter tier, but it'll work for a child. And instead of doing a double-layer ruffle to avoid hemming, I used the same binding that I had used on this sling. It's a black with grey music symbols. I had enough of this left that the skirt was fairly full.

Both the teal linen and the pink binding were from slings as well, but not from the same sling. Yikes! I actually had intended to use a silver binding on this (which I believe is the one I used on that baby sling), but I asked my niece's preference, and she wanted the "crazy pink." Yes, ma'am! (The "crazy pink" was the binding for a black linen sling, for one of my work buddies.) I didn't have as much of this left, so the skirt isn't as full, and I cut the ruffle at half the length of the olive one. But it's still cute and twirly, and hopefully my niece loves it!

Just for fun, I also bound the raw edge of the waistband, instead of folding it under. To avoid a ton of bulk from the edges coming together, I applied the binding to the waist edge, then serged both sides of the skirt, then stitched them together, and then pressed the seam open. I also stitched it down to either side of the seamline. I think it made it look really nice inside.

Next up? Appliqued shirts!

Twirly skirts!

Just a boy mom, drowning in ruffles.....

So since my serger was behaving and helping me make fantastic ruffles for the twirly dresses, I decided that I should finally bust out some twirly summer skirts I'd cut for my niece last year, before putting them in time-out because the serger was being a pain. After all, I didn't want her to outgrow them before she wore them!  And these really are perfect for summer.

I've made quite a few Rachel skirts for my niece, though I haven't blogged them all. These were cut out in a size 8. (Fortunately, I record details when I cut them, because it's been a year! I wouldn't have remembered.) I used to use buttonhole elastic on her skirts, but these ones just use regular elastic. I figure she'll outgrow them before the expandable elastic would have been super helpful. And of course, her doll needed matching skirts!

My favorite - I'm not really a paisley person, but this print is super cute. And I love the teal and fuschia.

I thought the orange dots were fun.

Love the strawberries and bicycles in this main print! I thought the whole thing was super summery.

As usual, the fabrics are from JAF's tutti fruitti line. I love that weight for summery twirly skirts, especially since I double the hem ruffles to avoid hemming miles of ruffles. And they have such bright fun prints!

Twirly dresses!

So once upon a time, almost three years ago, I made my niece a twirly dress. It was the Madison pattern from Made for Mermaids, and there's the Dolly Madison matching pattern for 15 or 18" dolls. (My niece has an 18" Our Generation doll from Target.) I made the prototype out of random bright fabric I had on hand, intending to then make the next ones probably from Nemo fabric, and then who knows after that.....But my serger didn't want to play nicely with making ruffles, and so I had to hand gather miles of ruffles, and I never got past the prototype, even though she loved it. 

But then a few months ago I got a message that her twirly dress was getting too small, and she was sad and wanted a new one. Which made me decide that, yes, I should finally get around to that. But I still put it off a bit, and then finally bit the bullet. It was at this crazy point that I decided to make TWO Nemo dresses instead of trying to decide which print to use for the bodice vs the skirt. Thank goodness my serger decided to give me a break and produce awesome ruffles this time!

These are size ten, midway between tea and maxi-length (I think I just went maxi on the doll dresses), and I tried out the piping instead of waist ruffle. I really like how the piping looks, but I'll ask my niece what she thinks before another one appears.

I do my ruffles double layer so I can avoid hemming them. ;) I also think it gives a bit more weight to the hem, so that maybe they won't flip up as much. I really like how these turned out and hope my nieces loves them!

A new cardigan

Another one that is finally getting blogged months after finishing. This was another Butterfly Cardigan for my niece, with a sort of matching cardigan for her doll. My niece loved the first one I made her and had asked for more, so this is now her third of these cardigans.

The fabric is a thin knit that's been in my stash for quite some time. I think I used some to make a T-shirt for one of the Things, or maybe I just was going to. Don't remember for sure. I definitely was annoyed with this fabric throughout the making, but it sure looks cute when done! This went to her as part of her Christmas gift.

More niece PJs!

Apparently I forgot to blog these, because both pairs of PJs were finished within a day of each other and mailed off in time for me to get pics of my niece hunting for Easter eggs in her back yard wearing this very pair of PJs! 

The purple isn't as dark as it looks in the photo. The boots flannel was purchased from JAF on a flannel sale sometime in 2018 - maybe Black Friday? - as I recall. I think I had cut out the first set but not actually sewn them when I bought the new flannel, because I was that sure she'd like it, but by the time I finally finished the first set, she needed the next size up in pants. So I decided that I would use a solid for the sleeves and ruffles (just like the bug set, but in that case, I had no choice because it was deep stash). My best options were purple or green, so it came down to which ribbon trim went best, then use the other color for the sleeves/ruffles. ;) Yep, that's really how I pick these things sometimes.

I would say that while the ribbon trim doesn't add a ton, it does give some visual interest to the tops, as well as making it easy to tell front from back. I may experiment with lace or ruffles, but honestly, I think the fabric print is the main attraction, and I want these to be comfy and fun. This is size M again.

I may go for another pair or two this fall. Maybe my serger will behave better for the ruffles, and I won't have to do them with zigzag over thick crochet thread to gather the ruffles. That is the WORST!