All I Want for Christmas.....

is my two front teeth! Well, not quite. I am sure her two front teeth will be here well before Christmas.

Just thought I would share a few pics from my nieces 7th birthday party. They had horses there for the kids to ride...Cant remember the name of the group of people, but they were great. The kids enjoyed riding the horses and they even did a little demonstration of what the horses could do.

Of coarse, these beautiful pics were taken by my sister in law, Lisa of B & L Photography. Check out her site here. You need pics, she's the gal to go to. Thanks, girl. You always take wonderful pics.

I have been busy busy for the last two days. I ran errands literally ALL day yesterday, and then today, had a comittee meeting for the school's PTO. I am excited about beginning a new year again, with new opportunity to make a difference.

I have started working on my Christmas gifts already. I always see things that I would like to do for my friends, but never have enough time to get them done in. So I decided I was going to begin very early this year in hopes of being able to share my love in the form of a gift this year. I am debating on putting pics of them up here, but I guess they wont be able to figure out who's is who's. HEHEHE!

As always, Love,

Bubble Skirt Tutorial

Okay, so here goes. This skirt is made from 60 inch wide taffeta. Basically, the skirt comprised of a pencil skirt, a full circle skirt, and a waistband.

1. How to cut out the pieces.

The measurements you will need for this project will be the waist, hip and finished length. For mine, the waist was 22 inches, hip was 24 and length was 9 inches. I also overcast all of my seams so that I wouldn't have fraying.

1. First we will cut the inside skirt. Measure the hips and add two inches to that measurement. Then determine the length. You will want the lenth to be about two inches shorter than the length that you want the skirt to be when you are finished. Cut out your fabric to those measurements. For instance, mine was 26x9. Sew the sides together with 1/2 inch seams to make a tube, Overcast seam, press to one side. ( you may also cut this out on the fold by dividing the waist measurement in half. Then you will only have one seam. This is how I did mine. So it would be 12x9, then when you open it up, it will be the correct size)

2.Next we will cut the waistband. Take the same hip measurement, and cut a rectangle to that width, with a length of 5 inches. This is also better if you are to cut it on the fold. So again, the rectangle would be 12x5, upon opening, it will measure correctly.

3. Now we will cut the circle skirt. Take your fabric, fold it in half. Then fold it in half again. Divide your waist measurement by four. Then cut a quarter circle to this measurement so that if you were to open the fabric up, you would have a hole in the center. (don't open your fabric tho!). Next you want to cut the length. The longer you make it, the more pouffy it will be. I only made my skirt one inch longer than the inside skirt. You may want to make yours a few inches longer. So mine was 10 inches long.

4. Gather the edge of your circle skirt. Set your machine to the longest stitch length and sew 3/8 inch in from the edge. Sew around again about 1/4 inch from that stitching. You will have two rows of stitching. DO NOT BACKSTITCH EITHER END. Pull the thread to gather until the edge measures the same width as the inside skirt. Overcast seam

5. Sew the gathered edge of your circle skirt to the inside skirt, having raw edges even. Use a 3/8 inch seam. Overcast seam.

6. Turn your pieces right side out. Now you may need to repeat step 4 on the upper edge of your circle skirt to make it fit your inside skirt, but I think I goofed on mine. It should measure the same. With your stitch length set to as long as it will go, and raw edges even, stay stitch the upper edges together. Overcast seam, Set aside.

7. Now to the waistband. With right sides together, sew the edges. Form a casing on one of the edges big enough to fit your elastic through. Be sure to leave an opening to feed your elastic in. Once you have your casing stitched, place the waistband right sides together with the skirt, having raw edges even and sew with a 5/8 inch seam. Overcast seam.

8. Feed your elastic in, and stitch the opening shut. VOILLA! A bubble skirt. You can always comment me too! HAPPY SEWING!!!!

Bubble Skirt Pics and Tutorial

So here it is...I dressed Mia up this morning and took her pic in her bubble skirt. It didn't come out quite as puffy as I wanted, but it was due to a small error on my part (everything was going a little too smoothly). I was suprised at just how easy it was to do...took me around an hour or so, but I've been sewing for 14 years. This will be my first ever tutorial, so I hope that it is easy to understand. I will be happy to answer questions, or try to clarify anything that needs clarifying... just leave me a comment. When I do another skirt, I will be sure to update with much better photos! Happy Sewing!!!

http://melyb.blogspot.com/2009/08/bubble-skirt-tutorial.html