Maxi Skirts Galore!

A few weeks ago I was on a maxi skirt sewing frenzy...

Please excuse my modeling skills in the following pictures. :)

As you can see, one of my daughters, however, thinks she is QUITE the little model. Sometimes she overdoes it, though.

For the girls' pink and blue skirts I used THIS tutorial, but the waist needs to be an inch or so smaller than the actual measurement (these are little girls without womanly hips after all).  I also made one in the pink for myself, but, unfortunately, I DO have womanly, child-bearing hips and it looks pretty awful on me right now as I was trying to make do with some fabric I had on hand. Maybe maxi skirts will still be in style next summer.

I also need to hem the girls' skirts, but the girls won't part with them long enough. I mean to swipe them straight out of the clean laundry basket, but they are faster than my folding, sometimes ripping them right off of the wash line.

My gray skirt was made using THIS tutorial like the skirt I made HERE, but I extended it to maxi length. So comfy and I can wear the waistband over the large belly or folded down. I think the girls' skirts look better, though.

Since my girls now also request matching clothes for their dolls every time I make something for them, I made maxi skirts for their dolls, too.  It was easy peasy and I have a tutorial coming up for that one as soon as I take pictures of the dolls wearing them (they are better models anyway!) 

These are all really easy skirts! I made two skirts for the girls, two for me, and two for the dolls in one morning. Mass production at its finest. Go ahead and give it a try! 

Regular to Maternity T-Shirt Refashion Tutorial

Please excuse the photographer's finger in the top corner there. :)

Usually I do not sew many things for myself and I am not usually all that picky when it comes to clothing. BUT, I saw these T-shirts on sale at Target in CUTE colors and I just really, really wanted them! So I splurged. On myself.  That almost NEVER happens!  Here is how I mentally justified it: Maternity T-shirts are way more expensive (I got this shirt for $5 on sale in the Women's section, but I saw similar maternity ones online at Target.com for $15).  The maternity T-shirts I already have are in dark colors (plus everything is getting too short for my belly these days). I figured I could buy XL and XXL shirts for the length and alter them.  Ready to see how I did that? Let's go!

Start out with an XL or XXL shirt. For some reason, I didn't even take the tags or sticker off until I was done. It wasn't like I was going to return it.

You need to carefully trim off the side seams from the armpit down.

Fold the shirt in half.  Using a shirt that fits well as a pattern, mark where the arm scythe should be and cut off the sleeves and down the sides gently on an angle as shown. You can see that my arm scythe is higher and narrower in the shoulders vs the original shirt.

Trim up the sleeves to fit the arm scythe, plus a little seam allowance at the bottom. This pic shows the before and after so you can get an idea...

Now, here is the part I thought was so clever... Take the back of the shirt only (the front side is pushed away at the top there) and trim the sides to make them straight. (The shirt naturally flared out quite a bit towards the bottom, which I need in the front, but I didn't want a whole lot of extra bunching in the back.)

This is what you should have so far. These are all of the pieces and the back is actually on top so that you can see the difference between the front and back.

Sew up the side seams with a serger or using a stretch stitch on your sewing machine.  If you use a serger, make sure to tuck those tails of thread in when you are finished.  Sew the bottoms of the sleeves together, too.

Just pin the sleeve to the arm and reattach using a serger or stretch stitch. I suppose, if you wanted to, you could sew the sleeve on first and then sew all the way down the side from the edge of the sleeve to the bottom of the shirt.  This is just how I did it. Whatever works.

You can leave the shirt like this if you want (see all of the extra roominess in the front), but it was still too long in the back for my liking. I need the length for the front, though, so I decided to add ruching in the sides.

Decide how high you want the ruching to go, measure from there to the bottom of the shirt, then cut a piece of 1/4" elastic half of that length.  Pin the ends in place on the side seam allowance.

Just pull the elastic tight as you sew.  The elastic should be sewn to the side seam allowance only, so you won't see the stitching on the outside of the shirt when it is finished.

TADA! That is it!!  It really didn't take me long at all- maybe a half hour, and it theoretically saved me $10. Plus, it is a custom-fit shirt that actually covers my belly! Woohoo!

Here is the other shirt I altered. I didn't add the ruching because it was already on the short side, but I might go back and add some in later. We'll see. If I feel like it.

You can't tell by the super sunny pic my 5yo took for me, but this shirt is an awesome minty aqua color. Oh, and in case you are wondering, I am 29 weeks here. Yeah. 2 1/2 months to go. Yes, there is just one baby in there.  Feel free to laugh. I am used to it.

 So, there you go! If you could snag some great thrift or clearance deals, this would be a great money-saver! It was easy and if I don't stain them up this summer (forget putting your napkin on your lap- my belly catches everything!) I will probably cut the sides open to take them in again post-baby. It would only take, like, 10 minutes. Maybe 15 if I hem the bottom to make it shorter. Yes, I am still justifying my splurging impulse buy here. :)

Linking up to:
Craftastic Monday, Motivate Me Monday, Made By You Monday, Take a Look Tuesday, Tasteful Tuesdays, Carolyn's Homework, The Winthrop Chronicles, Handmade Tuesdays, Inspiration Exchange, Sugar and Spice, Whatever Goes Wednesday, Make Bake Create Party, We Did It Wednesday, What I Wore, Read, And Made, Show Me What Ya Got, Lil' Luna, Adorned From Above, Off the Hook, Your Whims Wednesday, Show Off Your Stuff Party, You Inspired, The 36th Party, Hookin Up with HoH, Link Love Thursday, Blog Stalking Thursday, The Homemaking Party, Creative Inspiration Party, Create It Thursday, Shine On Friday, Friday Favorites, Friday Favs Party, Think Pink Sundays, and ThreadingYourWay. 

Cozy Knit Maternity Skirt

Last week I whipped up this skirt for myself. Yes, I sewed something for myself. That was not a typo. 

I am not usually comfortable having my picture taken, but for my loyal readers I will make this sacrifice.  :)  I walked up to the edge of the fields with my oldest daughter and gave her the camera.    She did a fantastic job!

Oh, and before you think that belly is so adorable, let me put it in perspective.  I am only 21 weeks. Yup. It is gonna be a looooooong summer! Good thing this knit has a lot of stretch!

Last time I was expecting I tried to make one of these skirts and it was a giant FAIL. This time, I messed up the exact same way (UGH!) by sewing the skirt on inside out, but I was able to save it. I sewed everything on my serger this time, too.  I can, hopefully, wear this one after the baby is born with the yoga waistband folded down.  If I need to, I can easily rip it apart and take it in, and I might shorten it some, too.  It is so incredibly comfortable and you can find the tutorial I used HERE.

 I have JUST enough left over that I think I am going to make a skirt for one of the girls. However, I love the detail on this shirt (Thank you, Loni!) and I am considering trying to make a similar design on the knit using a bleach pen. Do you think it will work?

I am linking up at the brand new Project Sewn and The SewOff Flickr Pool and Make for Mom.