Festive Garland Skirt and a Winner!

On Saturday it was my best friend's Christmas party. Her invitation said there would be the prize for the most festively dressed person was a 5 course meal prepared by my best friend. I wanted to win! Last year I was an elf:

This year I got my inspiration from a candy cane:

First I made my skirt from an old red t shirt. I used the pattern I made from the Super Simple Pencil Skirt. I really should have made a real waist band, but luckily a belt worked. Then I cut strands of garland from the Dollar Tree in half, doubled it again, and glued at the top. I swirled the garland a bit and glued at the bottom. It was quite eye catching (although a little unflattering!) and the best part was, I won!! Yay!

Now let's see who else won! The winner, selected by Random.org, of the Make Change Bracelet is:

Briana Richardson!

Congrats Briana! Please email me your address! jaime (at) waywardgirlscrafts (dot) com!

Thank you to everyone who entered. Make Change Today is such an excellent cause and I'm happy to team up with them for this giveaway! Don't forget about the Make Change bracelets for Christmas presents!

Purchase them here

Super Simple Pencil Skirt

A long time ago I bought this fabric:

 The coral fabric on the left is the one I used for this project. (Chair Redo, Tag Blanket)

On Saturday, I was finally read to make something with this fabric. I decided on Cotton and Curl's Pencil Skirt from Scratch, Baby! as a guide but I changed mine a little.

I took my measurements: natural waist, lower waist, booty, knees, natural waist-->knees. I did as the tutorial stated and added an inch to those measurements, except for the length--I added two inches at the bottom for a hem. Then I made my pattern on a big roll of paper:

I worked in my kitchen because it has the best lighting and no carpet! 

I drew a line down the center of my paper. Then I took my waist measurement + seam allowance and divided by two, then divided by two again. That's how much should go on either side of the center line. I marked that on the paper and drew a straight line across with the words "Natural Waist" just in case I forgot. I repeated the process for each of the measurements and then drew the outline of what I wanted the skirt to look like. Then I cut the paper pattern out. 

Then I pinned the pattern to my folded fabric, making sure the pins went through both layers of the fabric and didn't have bumps or creases (I fixed it after this picture). Bumps can make the fabric uneven when cutting and cause weirdness in your cut piece.

Using my super sharp scissors (Thanks, Mom!) I cut out the pattern.

 I sewed a short hem on the waistband and then sewed the two two pieces together. Finally, I tried it on to see where I wanted the bottom hem and hemmed it twice, for a more finished look. Meaning, I folded and ironed 1 inch all the way around, then sewed that. Then I folded and ironed another inch and sewed that so the raw edge wouldn't be seen at all. Make sense?

Then I wore it to church on Sunday:

What do you think?

My review of the tutorial: I got a little mixed up with the dividing the number in half but I figured it out. I didn't like that the tutorial didn't call for a hem on the top of the skirt. Next time, I will add another inch to the top of the skirt for a better waistband. Yes, there will be a next time because this skirt was so easy I want to make more!

UPDATE: I forgot to say this is a knit fabric with some elasticity and give to it, so that's why it doesn't need a waistband or elastic. I bought it at Jo Ann. Thanks for asking Rosie!

Ice Blue Starboard Skirt

One thing I freely admit is my lack of sewing skills. But I do want to improve! So I found a skirt I wanted to try, Simple Simon & Co's Starboard Skirt. The tutorial I used is here: Simple Simon & Co's Starboard Skirt This was a simple skirt and not too frustrating, which is very important to me. The main design element is a pleat down the front.

 Here is me before I hemmed the bottom:

Here is the finished product:

My review: This skirt was simple enough to sew, but I'm not sure it's doing me a lot of favors in the hip department. Granted, the tutorial was meant for a girls' skirt so that might be something to take into consideration. The top of the skirt elastic. In the future, I want to try a tougher skirt, and not an elastic waistband.

What do you think?