Thursday, July 21, 2011

Tiered Patchwork Skirts

So I was at the fabric store one day and came across some fabulous M'Liss fabrics, 50% off!!  They were like $3-and-change a yard!  I had no idea what I was going to do with them, but I couldn't pass them up.  The peach and yellow had to-die-for borders (flowers and a gardening scene).


The more I stared at them wondering what to do with them, the more I realized that I couldn't split them up--part of their beauty was all of them together.  So I decided to make my girls tiered, patchwork skirts.


Sorry I didn't take pictures along the way for a tutorial, but I can tell you what I did.  I took their waist measurements and added 4 or 5 inches for the first tier (funny how my 4yo's waist was only 1 inch smaller than her 8yo sister's waist!).  I let the older two girls pick which fabric they wanted for the top tier--I didn't want the bulk of patches on top, so I left the top solid.  I cut that strip 7" wide for the elastic casing.  The squares are all cut 5".  Each tier is approximately 1.5 times the circumference of the tier above.  I sewed the squares in random order into strips, then sewed the ends together to make the complete loop.  I then gathered the top and sewed it to the tier above.  

Once I had as many tiers as I wanted for that skirt, I then hemmed the bottom and encased 1" latex-free elastic in the waist.  I buy my latex-free elastic by the yard from Decent Exposures.  It's not listed on their site, but if you e-mail them, you can buy it at great prices with no other purchase necessary.  Their customer service is great and the prices for latex-free elastic can't be beat!  They have it in many widths and their shipping is super speedy!

For the shirts, I bought simple white shirts with a pocket for the older two, a white onesie for the baby.  I made fabric bows to pin onto each girl's pocket and more fabric bows for their hair.  I made each girl's bows out of the same fabric I used for their first tier on the skirt.

If any of that doesn't make sense, please let me know so I can clarify.  Again, I'm sorry I have no pictures to help demonstrate step-by-step.  I'll try to remember to do that from now on!

Here they are wearing their skirts and looking cute!


I still have a good amount of each fabric leftover, especially the stripes (I bought more of it than of the others).  I'm not sure what I want to do with the remaining fabric.  Any ideas? Pin It

12 comments:

  1. Super cute! Love all three together:)

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  2. Oh I love patchwork ANYTHING and those are no exception. Wonderful work!

    BTW, I'm hosting a fabric giveaway for 12 FAT quarters. Swing by when you get a chance :) -
    http://www.jaqsstudio.com/2011/07/fabric-love-19-fats-and-fabric-giveaway.html

    -Q

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  3. Thank you both!! I'm heading over to yours right now, Q!

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  4. That is so cute. All three girls in the same skirt! The patch work is great!

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  5. These are seriously so cute! I LOVE them!

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  6. So cute! I have 3 girls too, and made them matching skirts too not too long ago. Your girls look so cute together!

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  7. These turned out so cute! My mom used to dress us up in matching clothes when we were little . . . but I swear that they were never that cute. :) You are very talented! Thank you so much for linking up to Strut Your Stuff Saturday! We are so grateful for your support and we hope that you will be back tomorrow to share more great ideas!
    Camille @
    SixSistersStuff.blogspot.com
    PS I am your newest follower!

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  8. Thank you everybody for the very generous compliments! And thanks for following!

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