Ballet Folklorico/Cinco De Mayo

A friend and I were talking this last Friday about how her daughter came home last night and said she needed a costume for her class on Monday. They would be doing class presentations and would get extra points if they dressed in costume. Originally, said daughter's friend said she could borrow one but that fell through and she didn't know where to go to buy one. So I offered to make one. BTW, if you buy them off the internet they start around 85 bucks and go up! I think somewhere in the conversation I said "How hard can it be? Hubs is working the whole weekend so I'll have plenty of time available to do some sewing."

Ummmm, I couldn't find a pattern! Her mom and I googled like crazy! Thank you Google images. The white one below is what I used as inspiration (and I had tons of white fabric already so we went with that.) Thank you Humboldt State University for having a Ballet Folklorico club.

What I did learn on the Internet-(thank you Internet!)- is that these skirts represent different regions of Mexico depending on their design and that they are double circle skirts. I had no idea what a double circle skirt was. So I googled it. :) I have made a poodle skirt before and it is a single circle skirt. So you just make two circles and connect them together. That is how these skirts get their fullness and the ability to pull them up so high on the sides.

Back to no pattern.....

• I didn't have a true pattern for the skirt but I did have a poodle skirt pattern and doubled the recipe.
• I made a few adjustments like making it shorter and an elastic waistband instead of fitted.
• I used one of her t-shirts as a pattern for the top.
• I grabbed a sleeve pattern from one of my dress patterns.

She had lots of fun twirling around at school!

I had no idea how much fabric to have her mom buy. Like I said, I already had the white fabric. I think I used about 4 yards of white fabric. She picked up 1 yard each of yellow, orange, and hot pink fabric. When making the sleeves I also found some eyelet fabric in my stash. :) I also used a little ribbon and trim on the top.

If I ever make one of these again......

• I'll figure out how many yards of ribbon it takes and possibly try that. Almost all of the dress examples I saw were made with ribbon. But ribbon can get pricey when you need about 11 yards just to make one stripe around the bottom. But I do like how it shines!
• Edge the ruffles before gathering them!
• Look into buying a ruffle/gathering foot for my machine.
• I used lightweight fabric. Very important because the skirt can get heavy.

Wonder if her mom will let me steal it back to add a little more embellishment before Cinco de Mayo?

Knit Layered Skirt

How do you turn this white T-shirt into a skirt for your little girl?

First, go to Make It and Love It for the tutorial on how to make a Girl's Knit Layered Skirt.

Then, if you haven't done so already, raid your hubby's closet for a shirt he isn't wearing anymore. The ones I grabbed happen to be t-shirts from his academy days. He wasn't sorry to see them go. :) (just a Kirkland brand men's t-shirt)

Below is my finished skirt. Makes a cute little skirt to put over her Gymnastics outfit......or do a little "Thriller" dance in.

Not too shabby for being your daddy's leftovers.

If you haven't tried a tutorial from Ashley yet you should! She has the cutest ideas and her tutorials are easy to follow with lots of pictures. Thanks Ashley!

My Husband Loves Me

He really does. I know this because I went to the sewing super store the other day to look at machines with his Aunt Marianne. She was thinking about a new machine for quilting. As she was discussing machines with a sales person I was checking out sewing machines. Totally harmless, right? Well then I came home with this little gem. It was on sale! How could I resist? So my husband does love me because he didn't even bat an eye and even unloaded it from the car. It is a Baby Lock Sofia. I am now in love with Baby Lock A-Line series machines. I loved my Kenmore that my mother bought for me. I plan on keeping it and one day Julia will learn how to sew on that same machine. Thank you mom for my love of sewing! (and for putting up with me not always wanting to follow directions on patterns-hehe)This machine embroiders and sews. It is the perfect entry level embroidery machine for me. Not too big and very easy to use. I can use it without a pedal! How cool is that?