I had my first pettiskirt order! I followed the same tutorial I did last time, but I changed things up a little bit.
I used my sewing machine to gather the ruffle for me, just like I did last time, but it was a little different with my new machine. I adjusted it to the longest stitch length
and then I upped the tension almost the highest it would go.
I centered my needle on the 2" strip
And then I sewed all the way down the strip. This time I didn't cut it in half before I stitched it. I had a bunch of problems with this the last time I did it. I couldn't keep the piece from folding on itself. I had to keep stopping to unwind it. So this time I left it on the roll and it went a lot faster. I ended up with one nice long ruffle!
I also invested in a ruffler foot for the next ones I will make :) I am making Elsa inspired ones from the Disney movie Frozen for my girls for their birthday party! I'm thinking I can ruffle the strip and sew it to the 5" piece at the same time and make it even faster.
So this time I ruffled the strip with my sewing machine in one piece, and then sewed it on to the next tier. When I got to the end of the 5" tier, I cut the ruffle and started on the next one. It seemed to work out a little better for me.
The other thing I did differently this time was I double-hemmed the satin before I sewed the chiffon layers on. I thought this would be easier than sewing the raw edge down after the chiffon was attached.
Here are a few pictures of my finished skirt! It's on its way to its new owner! I hope she enjoys it as much as I enjoyed making it!
Next project is tank tops for my girls, embroidered with their birthday age, and the Frozen inspired pettiskirts for their birthday outfits!
I've also been working on my craft room. It was one big pile. Yesterday I was able to get through the pile, and I have it organized into smaller piles :) haha! At least everything is sorted by what it is. I have to find some storage solutions for everything, but my sewing table is almost cleared off...so I can move my sewing machine off the dining room table soon I hope! My yarn is overflowing my shelves...
So many projects, so little time!
I was looking for a good twirl-y skirt for my girls, and I came across this great tutorial. I followed her advice, and got all the chiffon for the skirts here. Getting the chiffon in the precut rolls made things super easy! Next time I may try getting it from a local store by the yard and sewing strips together, depending on how much time I have of course!
I did find out that my sewing machine was not cut out for sewing that much fabric though! After sewing through the initial 2 layers of 2" chiffon (30 yds per piece and 2 pieces),
it was moving pretty slow. The stitches weren't catching right, and it started to fall apart. So it was time to invest in a new one. So I got this great new machine that does embroidery too!!
Now I have to figure out how to make it gather the fabric as I sew...might be time to invest in a ruffler foot!
But it only took me about 6 hours to finish B's skirt. Now for S's....and skirts for their birthday party :)
B and I had a little mini photo shoot this morning and I got to play around with the pictures in photoshop too. I still have a lot to learn with photoshop, but I managed to extend the sheet in the background to cover the fireplace.
Now I have to get B out of the skirt...
This blog will be about my adventures in baking and crafting. Some of my experiments have not been as successful as others, but it's still great fun. This blog will be a play by play of the different things I try to do.
My name is Rose, and I'm a stay at home mom of an almost 3 year old (B) and a 15 month old (S) (both girls), and we have baby #3 on the way...due around the end of September. I decided to start this blog as a way to gain some "me" time to keep some sanity :)
Thank you for reading this blog, and be sure to leave me any comments you may have!
Rose.
