avoidance

Wednesday 11 May 2011
Sooooo, the denim jacket and I are still not seeing eye to eye.  Actually, it's still sitting on my dressform sleeveless, hemless and with a wonky collar. I put it aside momentarily while I waited for some buttons I ordered online to arrive, and while the buttons have since arrived at my house my inlaws have too so my time in the sewing room has been extremely limited lately.  Thankfully they're off to China this Friday, so I hope I can get to the bottom of my wonky collar problem soon and finish this project.  I am determined not to let it become another UFO.

But I did manage to slip in a teensy bit of sewing before the inlaws arrived last weekend, and made a simple denim skirt for Anna since I still had blue thread and denim needles in my overlocker.  This is from the fabric leftover from the jacket - gotta love being able to use up those larger fabric scraps instead of stashing them for years!

I used Simplicity 3040, which is a 1970s pattern that I've made before in a bright yellow cotton with back topstitching.  What I like about this skirt pattern is that it is a quick and simple sew, but it's also appropriately modest for a little girl's skirt.  I don't want to sound preachy, but it disturbs me a little (ok a lot) all the toddler clothes that are short, tight or just tacky. 

This skirt is so simple, just an a-line skirt with an elastic waist and it was also good practice for my top stitching - between this and my nearly finished denim jacket I've become quite the pro at it! The skirt front has patch pockets:

I used a decorative stitch across the back patch pockets and added a little bias ribbon tab to the pocket to give it a bit of RTW look:


Here's the finished product on my budding model who is becoming much better at smiling for the camera:


It seems this skirt is good for practising one's tai chi moves:




And for just being a cheeky little monkey too:

25 comments:

  1. The skirt and very cute and the little girl is absolutely adorable.

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  2. She's so cute! I'm sure that little skirt will get so much wear. I completely agree with you about the tight, tacky clothes. My girls are in the 8 - 16 age range and it's a real struggle to find appropriate clothes. Good thing we know how to sew:)

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  3. Tai Chai? I don't think so. This little girl is up for Kung Fu :) Great skirt

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  4. Anna is getting so big and grown up looking!! And her skirt is adorable. And age appropriate. I've stopped even going into the toddler girls section anymore. It's too crazy.

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  5. Cute skirt! Anna's adorable little face and poses make me smile every time I see her.

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  6. Anna is more adorable every post. Lovely little skirt!

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  7. O-M-G! She really is just tooooo adorable...and she looks good in the skirt too!

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  8. She is absolutely adorable!

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  9. Cute skirt! I like the decorative stitching on the back pockets. And the kiddo- totally adorable.

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  10. amen, Sistah! on the trashy little girl's clothes. I have started cutting off pants to be shorts for my 3 year old. I'm glad to see someone else on my bandwagon.

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  11. Damn, she's cute & so is that skirt! I like both versions of the skirt. You're right - why should it be so hard to keep a little girl from looking like a tart?

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  12. Such a cute skirt! And an adorable model! I love the stitching on the back pockets.

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  13. The skirt is cute as cute can be, but your model is the key element in that outfit!

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  14. Ooh, love the skirt! The martial arts moves are pretty impressive too. Very funny!

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  15. The skirt is adorable, as is your daughter. Good luck with your jacket.

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  16. Cute skirt and those poses from Anna are adorable.

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  17. Great job! The monkey approves :))

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  18. A beautiful job on sewing the skirt but even a better job on such a precious little girl. She is Simply gorgeous and I love to see a little girl dressed so cute.

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  19. That skirt is super-cute! I have to admit sometimes I shop for my toddler girl in the boys' section... you can get jeans that aren't skin-tight, and jumpers that are actually warm! I do sometimes sew for her too of course :-)

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  20. Lets face it Kristy, when given the choice between the engineering task of making up women's fashion and piecing together simple, sweet children's wear, the latter wins hands down. Anna is such a cutie.

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  21. Great job mom!!! Way to put her into modest clothes... starting early may help later too.
    She looks like she is having fun.
    The skirt turned out really cute. And good for you using up your scraps now instead of later...

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  22. LOVE those front pockets. I would totally wear that skirt, but I wouldn't look as cute in it as Anna.

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  23. I love the tai chi moves! Anna is SO cute! I'm jealous of that new machine!

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  24. Sooo cute! I, also, find the trend of too short and too tight little girl clothing very disturbing. I much prefer to see a little girl in something like what you've sewn than something that looks like it came from Brittney's closet. :/

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  25. Kristy, you & Anna's incredible CUTENESS very seriously nearly contributed to the permanent death of my iPhone as I was reading your post *whispers* in the bath and was on the point of dropping it giggling at the last pic.
    Thanks for sharing your beautiful work and GSOH!!!

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