Monday, November 17, 2008

Holiday Party Skirt


Tis the season for fancy, frilly and foofy. I saw these adorable holiday party skirts at places like Gymboree, Gap and Crewcuts, but seriously refused to pay anywhere from $30-$90 for them. Plus, my favorite holiday color is this wonderful lime green color and I wasn't seeing any skirts in this shade green. I can't get enough of it, and it's nice to be different. So I went to the fabric store with my coupon in hand and bought a yard of this perfect green taffeta and a yard and a half of matching lime green tulle. I wasn't quite sure how I was going to come up with the skirts, but I bought the stuff anyway.
Luckily, I was led to this tutorial and knew right away what to do. I basically followed the sewing instructions, but subtracted the different layers of fabric and added tulle to the sewing. Because I bought the fabric first, I ended up having to make Gabriella's with lots of pleats in the taffeta and only one layer to tulle, and Gwen's with less pleats but three layers of tulle. Both are equally as fluffy, and I saved a trip back to the store. Thank goodness!
In doing these super fun skirts, I learned how to use my gathering foot and over lock foot, which has opened a whole new world of sewing for me. If I wasn't already addicted to gathers, ruffles and pleats, by doing them by hand, I sure am now! So all in all, each skirt, $7 and a few hours labor. And I don't have to take them to the dry cleaners, taffeta is machine washable and it can be ironed. Bonus! I think my girls might have one in every color and for every season. So fun.