a dress

this was on my christmas to do list....and I did finish it before christmas...but just BARELY! So I waited to post about it...cause I knew it would be funner (yes, that's a word...ask anyone from Idaho) to post a picture of it on the "subject"

she loves it I might add....and I got a ton of compliments on it...(which I GRACEFULLY accepted...with a "I know, I'm awesome..what did you expect..." or something like that!)

anyways...it started with a black vest I had in my not going to wear pile...but not giving to goodwill pile...(it's a big pile) So I knew I wanted to add a skirt to it...so let's start with that first...(and let me apologize....cause this outfit is alllllll black...so it's super hard to see the details.!)

SKIRT:

I took a yard of "party" fabric (which means sparkly....in my daughter's head) and I folded it in half longways
and I trimmed off about 3 inches off one side (save for later)

and pinned it....

and sewed it with a loose base stitch not securing any of the ends

then i PULLED and gathered it like you would a ruffle.

Then I took a big thick piece of black elastic....and measured my daughters (little) waist

the pin is where I trimmed off...

(once again...you could plan ahead and measure BEFORE you buy...but hey, I got to be me.)

I pinned on the ruffled part to the elastic...and sewed it all the way across.

and then I just sewed up the two sides...

WAIT! before you do that....if you want it to be more of a bubble skirt..you can add some tulle in between the layers before you attach the sides. it will make it really fluffy!

now for the top...

remember this piece I cut off? Well...I wanted to make the tank top a little more "kid friendly" okay...just not hoochie mama.

I took a strip and sewed it across the v-neck of the shirt...

then I cut the remaining piece in half...and doubled it over... and added it to the sleeves...

tricky to explain..but i will try my hardest...

I took the ends of the strip it's doubled over cause it's pretty see through...you don't have to double.

I pinned the ends onto the sides of the sleeve (almost to the top) that gap is all the top of the strip of fabric...and I only left an inch between the ends..

Then I just tucked all that access and pinned into place

(it will look gathered)

then I sewed it around

Lost? sorry. if if makes you feel any better...I had no clue what I was doing when I did it. just trying to make it look good.

And do you remember this project?

well...I took the remaining chain I had left over...hooked them all together and attached to the vest...

just stiched it on...

 NOW...I left these two projects seperate...(basically cause I couldn't have her try it on to see where I wanted it )

got to love that toothless grin!