A Mini Minnie Skirt

We welcomed a new nephew to the world recently, and he is fortunate enough to have an adorable big sister.  Becoming a big sister can be a rough transition, so the boys and I set out to find something just for her.  A trip to Target yielded some adorable Minnie Mouse socks, and a Minnie Mouse board book.   They were sweet, but seemed to be lacking something.  After a bit of brainstorming, Clark and I decided that the Big Sis needed a polka dotted skirt to wear with her socks.

Joann's had the perfect pink and white polka dot cotton fabric, so we snatched up 1/3 yard of pink and white dot, and white on white dot for a lining.

I modified the Buttercup Skirt, to fit a 2 year old, skipped the paper bag waist, and the minnie mouse skirt was complete.

A simple serged rolled hem, repeated the pink, and made for a fun contrast hem.

The skirt fits a 24 month old, and hits just above the knee. The skirt is really full, which any Minnie Mouse skirt should be.

Here are the basic dimensions: (24 months)

Lining: 2 panels 9.25"x21.5"
Skirt: 2 panels 9.25"x21.5"
Elastic for waistband: 19.5"

You can find the full Buttercup Skirt tutorial here.

Thanks for reading.  Happy sewing.

Wedding Wear: Bow Tie and Vest Onesie

For my brother's wedding we kept Miles' outfit pretty simple. A bow tie and vest bodysuit with matching shorts. The material from the vest and shorts came from a pair of my dad's old dress pants. I love repurposing existing garments, especially when they come from, and go to, people that you love.

I added a matching pocket square to the vest, and thought he looked rather handsome.

He thought so too.  I love this age, he instantly smiles when he sees the camera.

I failed to get any great shots of the shorts, but they turned out pretty cute.  I added some faux welt pockets to the back (a first for me). Though I don't have a photo of the front, I used the original tab from the dress pants.

My dress came from eShakti.  I was really pleased with my dress, my only complaint was the difficulty in ironing out all of the wrinkles from the pleated surplice neckline.

My newest niece, ended up wearing the lace appliqued onesie, with bustled buttercup skirt.  She is such a sweet little baby.

Bustled Buttercup Skirt-a mini tutorial

To go along with the lace appliqued onesie, I made a little buttercup skirt with a side front bustle.  I don't think that bustle is the correct term for it, but it's the only term that my little mind can come up with at the moment.

My husband thinks that the outfit looks a bit like a saloon girl outfit.  It might be fitting, considering that this little girl has a sister that wants to name her Sparkle.

Anyway, back to the skirt. To create the bustle all you will need is 5 inches of coordinating bias tape.  I used an extra wide double fold bias tape, because I had it on hand. You will also need about 18 inches of 1/4 inch wide ribbon, a safety pin, and fray check for the ribbon ends.

After sewing the side seams, and hemming the bottom, place the bias tape along the hem edge. I divided my front skirt panel in thirds, and placed my bias tape on the 1/3 mark, closest to the right side seam.

 Stitch near the side edges.  Sew up the center of the bias tape, stopping 3/8" away from the top edge of the tape.

Thread your ribbon up one side of the bias tape...

...and down the other.

 Pull on ribbon tails to gather the bustle of the skirt.  Tie the ends in a knot or bow. Apply fray check to the raw ends of the ribbon.

Continue to follow the original buttercup skirt tutorial to finish assembly.

The little bustle shows a bit more of the skirt lining, and is an easy way to remix the pattern.  

The Buttercup Skirt: A Tutorial

About a year ago I picked up a  remnant at Joann's;  it was this darling yellow floral fabric, but I only had about a quarter yard of it.  There are only so many things that you can do with a quarter yard of fabric, and this project is one of them (alright, so this used two separate quarter yard cuts, but still very little fabric).  I call it the buttercup skirt.

This little skirt has two layers, and a very slight paper bag waist. I made a 0-3 month skirt, and I'll give you my dimensions, but you could easily adjust the pattern to fit your little one.  The pattern is really simple.

Materials:

2-1/4 yard pieces of material

16" of 1" elastic

Coordinating thread

12 inches of ribbon

Fray check

Sewing supplies

30 minutes of uninterrupted time