Bonus Post! Upgraded Dollar Store Flip Flops

So I was out shopping today with a friend, and we were admiring all the fun little shoes, clothes, etc. at the boutique shops.  The only thing we couldn't admire was the prices!  I love the look of the items, but I just can't bring myself to pay the prices when I know that my kiddos are going to grow out of them or wear them out in about 3 months.  So today I was inspired to make my daughter a cute ribbon wrapped pair of flip flops for much cheaper than I saw at the store.  The ones I saw had ribbon wrapped around the straps then a bow made out of matching ribbon at the toe.  I knew I wouldn't be able to replicate it exactly (bows are so not my forte), but I though I could make something similar that was fun and my daughter would like.  It only ended up taking some ribbon, flip flops, 3 different colored pieces of tulle, and a glue gun.

After picking her up from her MDO, we went off to the dollar store where we found some flip flops in her size with multi-colored peace signs on them.  My daughter is a little obsessed with peace signs because her Grammy, my mom, is also a little obsessed with peace signs (teenager of the 70s) and passed that on to my daughter.  So when I saw the peace sign flip-flops, I knew they would be the ones. 

I then let her choose from a couple different ribbons of matching colors to wrap the straps in.  She chose pink (of course), so I set to work.  I recommend starting by hot gluing the ribbon to strap then wrapping it around and regluing it to the ribbon to make sure it stays.  The hot glue comes off the rubber strap pretty easily.  I then wrapped it around, gluing it to the previous ribbon each time.

I made sure to put half the glue on the ribbon and half on the strap.  I also applied the glue to the backside of the strap so any extra glue could not be seen from the outside.  I kept warping until I reached the end of the other side, finishing by gluing ribbon to ribbon.

To finish it off, I grabbed a couple colors of coordinating tulle to tie around the tie instead of a bow.  Again, I am definitely not a bow maker. :)  I tied on piece to one side of the toe and another to the other side.

I then took a piece of black tulle and tied it around both the other pieces of tulle.  I took some scissors and cut it down, so it would be just little puffs of tulle at the toe.

End result, while not as nice as the ones in the store, I ended up with a pair of flip flops that my daughter was able to pick out and help make herself.  She loves them, and even if they fall apart in a week (hopefully not) I only paid a $1 for it b/c I already had the ribbon and tulle. :)  Fun project to do with your kiddos (minus the glue gun) that they can proudly wear later.

Week 8 - Ruffled Tier Skirt

Sorry about the delay!  I am a couple weeks behind on posting, but I am still crafting! :)  On week 8, i decided to try my hand at making my daughter a ruffled skirt.  Now I have only made one other sewing project from a pattern and that was a pillowcase dress, which is pretty hard to mess up.  The measurements on this one had to be a little more exact and I had to create a waistband.  I took it on excited about learning how to ruffle as well!  I know that I can buy a ruffling foot for my machine, but that costs some $$, and if I can do it with what I have, that will work! 

I took the pattern from this pin on pinterest which led me to the blog, Craftiness is not Optional (http://www.craftinessisnotoptional.com/2012/02/l-o-v-e-tee-and-easy-tiered-skirt.html).

Cute blog with pretty easy to follow instructions.  I cut my fabric to the to my calculations per the directions on the blog.

Now looking back at just these measurements, I can see why this skirt wasn't as cute as I thought it would be.  I didn't get enough length on my middle fabric.  A couple more inches on the cupcake fabric would have led to a probable success on this one.  Oh well! :)

Not realizing my mistake, I went ahead sewing the skirt.  I did a zig-zag around the top and bottom edges since I do not have a serger.  I ironed up a hem on the bottom layer of the skirt and zig-zag stitched to secure it.  After this I sewed a long single stitch on a tension of 5 across the top of the bottom and middle layer. This will create your ruffle! :)  I was able to pull one side of the thread to ruffle the fabric.  It took a little time to figure out just how to get the fabric to bunch, and it's hard to explain, but one I got it, I was able to ruffle it pretty quickly.  She probably does a better job of explaining this process on her website. 

I then tied my strings to the string on the other layer of fabric to complete the full circle of that layer and zig-zag stitched them together wrong sides out.  I did this to both the bottom and middle layers.  I then took the middle layer and turned it inside out and put the top of the bottom layer inside of that to pin together to sew together wrong side out.

I ran this through on a zig-zag stitch to connect together.

Looks cute so far right?  Well attaching the top layer is where I went, "huh?"  I prepped the top layer by ironing the top over to create a space for the waistband to go into.  I threaded the elastic through using a paper clip that pierced the elastic and a pin to grab it and pull through.  I really should get some safety pins!  That would have made that process a little easier.  Oh well! I got it through and sewed it together.  I then attached the top layer to the middle using the same method as before.  It was at that moment that I though, "This doesn't look right."

Where it was supposed to tier out it was almost gathered tight.  I had my daughter try it on, and she was excited at first, but then decided that she didn't like "lumpy" skirts.  I had to laugh b/c she pretty much hit it on the head. :)  The tightness of the skirt on the middle created a bubble on the top part. LOL! 
I am going to try this again with some changes.  I will DOUBLE check my math this time.  I am thinking it was user error and not the fault of the pattern as I look back.  I would also tighten the waistband about an inch tighter.  It said to add an inch to your child's waist size, but for my daughter the waist was a little big, so I think I will keep it exact next time.  I will post an update with a hopefully better looking skirt! :)