Self Proclaimed Happy: The 30 Minute Toddler Skirt

I was super impressed with myself today and decided to share it! So much for humility, right? I made a skirt for Liliana (or some other cutesy little girl) in half an hour. Trust me, it only takes about that long. Most people will lie about how long a project takes (I have one skirt pattern that says it takes an hour... um, try 3... if I'm lucky!), but I'm Honest Abe when it comes to this one!

I bought this cutesy patchwork shirt at a local thrift store. I paid a whoppin' 50 cents. And it has pearl snaps!! Who doesn't LOVE pearl snaps?!!

Lay out a skirt you already have to use as a pattern (or eyeball it), and cut one side and the top.

Fold that side over and use it as a guide for cutting the other side. This makes it even(er).

This is what you end up with. Notice that the top of mine is squared off a bit. I shot for 2 inches because my elastic is 1" and I needed 2" to make the casing. This shirt is bulky, so my lines aren't that straight. Lots of seams and serge lines to cut through.

Before doing anything else, you'll want to sew the front of the original shirt straight down the middle to keep it from unbuttoning. This is important if you don't want your little chica showing her little tushie to Little Johnny on accident. You could sew down both sides of the buttons if you'd like.

Now put your right sides together, pin, and sew along the 2 long edges.

Because I am using the existing hem, I finished the bottom inch of the interior seams with a zig-zag stitch. I'll serge the rest of each seam.

Also, serge around the waist before making your casing. Or fold under 1/4 inch, iron, fold again and sew a seam before making the casing. If you don't know how to make a casing google it. It's not hard at all. Run elastic through, sew the gap, and you're done! I'm realizing this isn't a very good tutorial. I'll probably come back and edit it later.

Now for the "Let's Take Pictures of What Mommy Just Made" shoot!!! Liliana loves this part. She likes to do crazy poses and say silly "grown up" things. Like "Hey, Beh-beh!" and "Ohh, la, la..." and "Dahhhh-ling."

This time, she brought her own props. Seriously.

We posed...

And posed some more.

Then I asked her to remove the hat and feathers...

... and she insisted on saying the Pledge of Allegiance. Gone were the cute poses. No bother, though. The ensemble took a dive after the hat and feathers were ditched, anyway. But the Pledge? Hmmm...