4th of July - 2017

Almost forgot to post these! Just pictures! We had a great 4th of July! Parades, Barbecues, and fireworks! We did the whole thing!

WE LOVE THE USA!!!

Gingham Skirt DIY

I did my first copycat pattern. I looked at a picture, made my own measurements and made a skirt! I am a pattern girl. This is huge for me. I saw this gingham skirt on a blogger that I follow. I fell in love. She posted a link to the skirt and it was $51!!!!

I chose lavender gingham to mix up my closet colors. It gives it more of a dainty/girly look which I love and hate at the same time. I wish the mustard color was available like in the picture, however, I wore this skirt today and it is awesome. It is so light and flowy! I felt comfortable, trendy, and beautiful. (and sort of pioneerish at first!!! But I love pioneers :) )

Working with gingham is a dream. The fabric is good quality, but still flowy. All the straight lines make cutting simple, and it runs through the machine nicely. All in all my skirt cost $12!!!

You will need:
2 1/2 yards of gingham (I bought mine at Hobby Lobby with a 40% off coupon)
7-9 inch invisible zipper
thread
measuring tape

1. Take your measurements. You want your waist, or where the skirt will fall and then you want how long you want the skirt to be.

2. Cut your waist band out and the ties for the bow. You want your waist band to be exactly your waist plus allowance for side seams and zipper. I cut it like one big rectangle that I folded down from the top and ironed. You can add interfacing for some sturdiness as well.

3. Times you waist measurement by 1.6 and make your skirt piece that wide, cut as long as you desire. Mine was around 28" I wish I made it a few inches longer. The bottom is kind of a rounded look that you cut as well. I just eyeballed this by looking at the skirt. I made the skirt one long piece that I sewed up the back.

4. Next, you cut the ruffle. You get this measurement by multiplying your skirt hem by 1.6. That is how long you make the ruffle. You then decide how wide to cut your ruffle. I made my ruffle 7" wide to leave room for allowance and hemming. I wish I would have made it closer to 9' or 10'.

5. Sew and iron your ties and then sew and iron your waistband placing your ties at the side seams as you sew.

6. Baste the top of your skirt and gather to fit to your waistband. Pin right sides together and sew together.

7. Fold and iron the top of your ruffle down 1/2 inch and baste along that finished edge. Gather and fit to the bottom of your skirt pinning wrong side of your ruffle to right side of the bottom of the skirt. (Look at one of the pictures if you need a visual.)

8. Put in the invisible zipper at the top of your skirt and sew down the back of the skirt. Hem the bottom!

There you have it! Don't forget to iron!