Pink skirt with ric rac detailing

I'd never actually made a skirt for the Tyger before. Pinafores, yes, but never a skirt. It seems silly to put a baby in a skirt when they are learning to crawl, as they just end up sort of crawling on the skirt instead of the ground, and before you know the skirt is off and your cute baby is hustling across the room, nappy-clad bottom exposed for all the world to see!

Then when Tyger went to kinder I still demurred on the skirt front. I didn't want her showing her smalls to all and sundry in the playground, so we generally stuck with pants and a t-shirt combos, and kept the dresses I made for her for the weekends. Then school came along, and since it ain't broke, why fix it? The combination stayed in place.

But that's not to say that Tyger didn't want a skirt. Boy oh boy, did the girl desire one. At least once a week I would be subjected to her impassioned plea - usually with hands clasped and eyes large and earnest gazing up at me imploringly : Can you pleeeeease make me a skirt? I tried to give her my reasons for not making on just quite yet: pants are warmer, you don't have to worry about undie flashing in jeans etc but she was having none of it. She wanted a skirt, and she wanted one bad!

So finally this year, as I sat writing up my sewing list for her, I decided that she was old enough for skirtdom. I think Tyger thought all her Christmases had come at once! I gave it to her after we had gotten home from school, and she immediately put it on with squeals of delight. Then she started twirling. And twirling. And then twirling some more, and it wasn't until she was in danger of concussing herself from repeated wonky twirls into the bookcase that she finally calmed down.

Then came the next question: Can you make me another one? Sheesh, kid!





Project Details
Pattern: "Velma" vintage skirt #30 from Ottobre Design Magazine 3/2009 (paired with another "Rosalind" t-shirt from the same issue)
Fabric: 1m of printed cotton from GJs Discount Fabrics
Notions: 1.8m of yellow ric rac, two buttons saved from an old cardigan that had seen better days, and 3.5cm wide elastic for the waistband.

This has ended up being such a cute skirt! I loved putting the ric rac on - both because it looks pretty darn sweet, but also because I enjoy learning new sewing tricks. The only alteration I made was to redraft the waistband, as I wanted to do an elasticised waist rather then a fitted one, as I think that would be much more comfortable for such an active child.

Even though I still have plenty of items left on her summer sewing list, I think I might be naughty and make something for myself next. Don't tell the Tyger!