Lazy Days Skirt Sew and Tell

The Lazy Days Skirt is a complete misnomer.  This piece is so quick and simple to make that rather than wanting to spend the rest of your day relaxing, you'll want to churn out a basket full of skirts in all sorts of colors, fabrics, and lengths.  Casual backyard birthday party for your daughter's ballet buddy?  Just whip up a pink mid-calf skirt with a satin ribbon hem.  Need to find a project for that popsicle and ice cream sandwich print that your neighbor dumped on you?  Sew up a knee length number and celebrate the beginning of summer!  Got a lot of odd-colored scraps piling up?  Practice your patchwork and make a tea-length skirt for your little girl to wear at her school's "Crazy Dress-Up Day."

Lazy Days Skirt, Day 6

Now that the Biscuit Quilt is complete, I'm free to work on the Lazy Days Skirt.  I've stitched up the sides and made the waistband casing, so now it's time to run the elastic through.  You can use a safety pin to help the elastic along, or you can use a bodkin, which is what I will be doing.  The bodkin looks like a pair of tweezers but has a little ring to lock the ends down onto whatever you're pulling through the fabric.  It works really well, even with tight fitting casings like the one on this skirt.

Lazy Days Skirt, Day 5

I decided to take a break from the triceps/biceps workout that is the Biscuit Quilt and spend about five minutes on the Lazy Days Skirt.  Even though I had four fabrics to choose from, I couldn't make up my mind on which two I wanted to make the skirt.

Week 12: Lazy Days Skirt

This week is all about catching up with my blog posts.  At this moment, I've yet to complete my posts for the Biscuit Quilt, the Ruffle Top Romper, the Crinkle Quilt, Pretty Patches Placemats and Napkins, and the Chenille Hot Pads.  I'll therefore need to work on a project that is quick and easy, one that'll leave me enough time to finish my posts.

Lazy Days Skirt from Oliver + S
Image and design © Oliver + S

Week 10: Ruffle Top Romper

My on-time record hasn't been great these last few weeks.  In fact, I've not yet completed The Crinkle Quilt, and it's possible that it won't be finished until mid-week.  I wanted to make a dress for Darcy to wear on Easter, and had picked out Simplicity 2668, but after reading the directions, I realized that I wouldn't be able to finish The Crinkle Quilt and the dress by this Saturday.

Ruffle Top Romper and Dress from Make It & Love It
Image and design © Make It & Love It

Reversible Bucket Hat Sew and Tell

The Reversible Bucket Hat from Oliver + S is the first hat project I've ever done.  The pattern and the steps were easy to follow, and the illustrations were very helpful.  This is a free pattern on the website, but it is also included in their book Little Things to Sew.  I've been looking at a few other patterns on the website, and if the directions are as clear as this pattern was, I'll be really looking forward to making those outfits.

Reversible Bucket Hat, Day 6

No sooner had I written about the warm, spring weather in the Bay Area do the March winds come sweeping in.  It turned out to be fortuitous, though, because as I watched tree parts tumble down the street, I frowned thinking how Darcy wouldn't be able to wear her hat in this kind of weather.  But then I realized, "Oh, yes she CAN!"  I decided to add straps to the bucket hat so it won't blow away during blustery days.

Reversible Bucket Hat, Day 5

It was hard to choose which two fabrics to go with for the bucket hat, especially since the Cheep Talk collection had a lot of great designs.  I finally went with a light/dark orange combination, because it made me think of the warm sunshine.

Baby Darcy is only 9-months old, but according to the pattern, her head is the size of a 3 to 5-year old!  I get the feeling that I'm going to be making all of her hats because she's apparently the Bruce Bochy of the baby kingdom (for those of you non-Giants fans, the World Champions' manager has one of the largest hat sizes in the Major League)!  Fortunately (or not), her body is proportionate to her head, so no, her head does not look like an orange on a toothpick.

Week 7: Reversible Bucket Hat

Spring has come early to the Bay Area.  The weather's been warm, and I've been taking Darcy out for walks in her stroller.  She enjoys being out in the sunshine, but on certain pathways, the sunshine hits her face a little too much for her liking.  I've given her sunglasses to wear, but she thinks they are for chewing and not wearing.  Since she does alright with headwear, I'm going to make her a hat.

Reversible Bucket Hat from Oliver + S
Image and design © Oliver + S

Belt it Out Sew and Tell

The Belt it Out belt is one of the easiest and quickest projects you'll ever do.  It doesn't take a lot of materials or fabric, and in fact, it's a great way to use up your scraps. 

Belt it Out, Day 5

Silly me!  I finished this project so fast that I almost forgot to write about it!

After choosing some fabric for the belt, I cut them up into varying widths.

Week 6: Belt it Out

The Tax Man cometh this upcoming weekend, and I need to find all my receipts and other tax documents for last year.  Since this'll take up a majority of my free time, I'll be working on a project that should be quick and simple, the "Belt it Out" belt designed by Erin Harris and published in Pretty Little Patchwork. 

Toddler Pinafore Smock Top Sew and Tell

I don't know if it's because it's just so cute or what, but the Toddler Pinafore Smock Top is my favorite project so far.

Toddler Pinafore Smock Top, Day 8

By yesterday morning, all I needed to do to finish up the pinafore was to hem the ends of the ribbon ties and to add the last of the topstitching.  I had planned on doing that after dinner, but all of a sudden I was hit by a wave of exhaustion.  Not sure where it came from, but I was out for the night.  So I ended up finishing the pinafore this morning instead.  My record for getting these projects done within a week is now 2-2.  Now that I think about it, it's acutally 1-3, because I ended up finishing the pillowcases after midnight of Day 7.  Gollee, what a bummer.  I hope my record improves.

Toddler Pinafore Smock Top, Day 4

Today I just worked on the skirt gathering.  I've been kinda nervous about it because of The Ruffled Pillowcase Disaster, but I've also been hopeful since it's on the sewing machine and not the serger.

Toddler Pinafore Smock Top, Day 3

What's a pinafore?  It's for wearing!  Ha ha, bad joke.  Might need a rewrite.  But really, a pinafore is basically an apron that young girls wear over whatever outfit they are wearing.