Fairy Skirts

Finally Friday!!! Did anyone else feel like this was the longest 4 day work week EVER!? On Tuesday night we were so tired, that we all were in bed by 8:30....and asleep! That was the best 10 hours of sleep I ever got for sure. I am seriously thinking of giving myself a 9pm bedtime. Sleeping is so luscious. Delicious. Dreamy. I never appreciated all the sleep I got pre-kids! What was I thinking? Why wasn't I appreciating every last wink of sleep? Oh yeah, maybe I was. Anyway...

Its pretty much June...and Princess's birthday is a month away. And I haven't done ANYTHING! Its time to get my butt going! After much deliberation we (I) decided to have it be a fairy party. I was debating between a pirate party, a fairy party, or a Tinkerbell and the Lost Boys party. And when I would ask Princess which one she wanted, of course her answer was yes to all of them.... So I had to make the executive decision. She has more boy friends than girl friends, so it is actually going to be a fairy/elves party. I didn't think the boys (or their fathers) would be too happy about them prancing around in fairy wings. I figured elves were a little more boy friendly. I have so much to get done for her party, tons of things to make and I haven't really figured out all of the details yet. So over the next few weeks, you will be seeing a lot of party related tutorials. First up, is the fairy skirts. I played around with different options for the first one I made, then I finally settled with this way.

For 1 Fairy Skirt you will need:

2 yards of white tulle
1- 2 yards of colored tulle (whatever color you want)
Coordinating ribbon, 1.5- 2 inches wide (I used 1.5, but would have liked bigger)
Fake flowers of your choice (mine coordinated as well)
Sewing supplies

1. Lay out your 2 yards of white tulle (still folded the way it came off the bolt) then place the colored tulle over it. Match up the tops on the long side and pin together. Pins are your best friend in this tutorial, trust me! Its ok if the sides and bottom don't match up completely. (I just had 1 yard of the colored tulle, so mine did not match up, but if you get 2 yards of the colored, they will match up) The bottom will be trimmed and the sides you won't be able to tell because they will be underneath. The way I did it just gives it a hint of color underneath the skirt and I was ok with that.

2. Sew over where you pinned but DO NOT reverse! If you reverse, you won't be able to ruche it.

3. Pull on one thread and push the fabric away from you, creating a ruche throughout the whole length of fabric. (Yep, I remembered how to ruche!) Be very careful with this part, because if the thread rips, you have to start all over again. You will want to measure your child's waist and make the length of the ruche approximately the same length. So Princess's waist is 21 inches, but I made it to be 23 inches long.

4. Cut some ribbon to be 23 inches (the waist measurement again), then another ribbon that is 23 PLUS 30 inches. This extra will be what you are tying the skirt with, so the length is up to you. Better cut more than less, cause you can always trim it later.

5. Pin down the shorter ribbon, lengthwise to the middle of the longer ribbon and sew down. Making sure that the pretty sides are facing each other.

6. Unfold the ribbon, then sew the skirt (colored tulle facing the ugly side of ribbon) to the short side of the ribbon.

7. Then fold the long side of ribbon over the top, match it up to the opposite side of ribbon with pins, and sew down.

8. Trim the skirt to desired length. I did mine approx. 15 inches. Trim ribbon to desired length (make sure to tie around your child's waist so you don't trim too much). Then burn the edges of ribbon with a lighter.

9. Add a piece of fake flower with hot glue.

And done! If you want your skirt to be a little less shear, you can add more tulle in the beginning. If I were only making one, I certainly would have added more. But I had to do less, because I am making so many for the party.

She has been such a sport for all this modeling she's been doing lately.

Yep. She's a pro.

So, they are a little more shear than I would like. Oh well. I will probably have her wear white leggings underneath for the party, so that will make it look nice. I am making the rest of the skirts now, but you will have to wait to see them when I show them all off at the big party reveal! Have a wonderful weekend!