Another birthday present.

There was one more thing I made for El that I wanted to show off.  It's a project semi-fail.  Why?  Well, let me show you.

Here is El on her birthday, modeling said skirt.  This was actually the first thing I made for her present, but when it was done, I knew I needed something that was, um, less of a fail.  

I had this awesome purple and white skinny stripe knit fabric from my grandma and I knew it was PERFECT for a comfy skirt - El loves purple.  I was in love with the pattern.  Cute, cute!

I did start off with a tutorial of sorts, but after a while I was flying by the seat of my pants.  It's a pretty basic idea, though.  You just cut two rectangles - one slightly wider than the other, pin some little pleats in the middle of the wider rectangle, make something like bias tape of the same fabric, sandwich the top of the larger rectangle in the bias tape-y stuff and sew.  Then sandwich the top of the other rectangle in the rest of the bias tape-y stuff, and sew.  Then slide some elastic through the casing on the second skirt, pin the elastic on the ends, pin the rectangles, right sides together and sew up the sides.  Hem with a double stitch and you're done!

Cute in theory, correct?  Well, I won't even begin to enumerate the many flaws of this particular version of the above described skirt, because it would take way too long.  Let's just say that I hemmed the sides separately, then sewed them together - and of course, the hems didn't line up.  The bias tape casings also did NOT line up.  I don't think I know how to make half of the things I think I know how to make... and when I sewed the casing up it got a little wonky.  Or a lot.  Whatever.  And there were wiggly stitches instead of straight... but I'll just stop there.

Who wants to give a project fail as a gift?  Well, ok, so I gave it to her anyway.  BUT, I wanted her to see my attempt!  El is a seamstress herself, and can sew up a storm.  She also worked in a costume shop during college.  Her skills far surpass my own, and I was hoping that maybe it really IS the thought that counts?  In any case, I let her know that she could either stuff it in the back of her closet, cut it up into pieces and use the fabric for something else, or simply disassemble the sides and tighten the elastic - DIY her own present for Heaven's sake.  Oh, did I mention that although I measured TWICE, I STILL made the skirt too wide?  Yeah.

I also decided to make a matching statement necklace to go with.  And this part of the outfit I kind of love.

 Here's more of a close-up.  There are two rolled roses, a ruffled flower and some yo-yo's along with a few regular buttons, covered buttons and a pearl button.  I arranged them together on felt, cut another piece of felt for the back, and sandwiched a chain between the two pieces.  I connected the end of the large chain to a smaller chain with jump rings.  It's long enough to slip over her head.

 I do believe my favorite part is the lace covered buttons.  I love that you can see the silver button base behind the lace.  I do love all the patterns together, too.

Are you wondering what I was complaining about with the skirt?  Those first few pictures look pretty good, don't they?  I considered pulling a fast one over on you, but I'm just too honest for my own good.  
The wonders of safety pins.  And cropped photos.  And angles.

 If it weren't for my big mouth, you never would have known about this:

Yeah.  I told you it was too wide.  I swear I measured the fabric correctly.
It would help if she wasn't the size of a twig.




Here's another addition to shop bugaboo:

*Be sure to check just below for all the fun parties I link to!