Easy Bandana Skirt

My cousin asked if I could make some bandana skirts as favors for her daughter and her friends for her cowgirl-themed birthday party. They are pretty inexpensive to make since you just use one bandana per skirt and the sewing is definitely beginner level. So of course, I put together a tutorial for you :)

These will fit up to about age 6 or 7 with tights underneath. For older or taller children you might use 2 bandanas to make it longer, or add a strip of coordinating fabric to the bottom to add some length like V and Co did. I found the best selection of bandanas at Hobby Lobby. They have some really great colors and they were the cheapest.

Start with one bandana (unless using 2 as mentioned above). After you’ve washed/dryed and ironed your bandana, cut it in half. They are a rectangle, not a square so make sure you’re cutting across the short side (making each half about 10 3/4” long). Also they are a little wonky, so don’t expect your cut to be perfect. But you can correct it later. Just try to get the halves about the same.

Now with right sides together, sew a straight stitch down each side seam. Iron your seams to one side or open it up and iron it (I don’t think it really matters which way you iron it).

If you have a serger (lucky!), serge the top all the way around. For those of us (losers) without a serger, just zig zag stitch around the top (or you could probably use pinking shears to cut the top). See the picture below.

Now, depending on what size elastic you’re using, fold, pin and iron down your casing (my elastic was 3/8” so I folded over 3/4”).

Next, sew a straight seam around the top to form your casing. Make sure you leave about 1” opening to feed your elastic through. (I used about 20” of elastic for the birthday girl who wears a 5/6T).

Use a safety pin at one end of the elastic and begin feeding it through the casing. Once you’ve fed it all the way through, sew the 2 ends of the elastic together and then sew the opening closed.

And voila! You’re done and you have a super cute skirt for about $1. This was an easy and quick project. Perfect for a beginner!

And just in case you're not the sewing kind...and since you all requested it, I am now offering the skirts in my shop!


Linking up here:

Show and Share Day with Just a Girl
Show and Tell with Blue Cricket Design
Strut Your Stuff with Somewhat Simple

Checkbook Covers

This week marks the end of the school year for my son. So as any good (or overachieving, whatever) parent would, I decided to make end-of-the-year-thank-you-gifts for his teachers. It was hard to come up with a gift that I thought would be appreciated and used by 3 different women. But I was lucky enough to have bookmarked 2 Little Hooligans’ tutorial for making a ruffly checkbook cover. So that’s exactly what I made.

I love, love, love how they turned out! I had so much fun picking out fabric to go together and the ruffle really gives them the cute factor that puts them over the top!

Here’s some more pictures because they’re just too cute not to share ;)

Didn’t they come out soooo cute? I really ought to make one for myself! These were pretty easy to make (though it took me slightly longer than the 20 minutes it takes her ;). It’s a fun way to use up those fabric scraps and play with pairing up different colors/patterns. I will definitely make these again. And I really hope my son’s teachers love them, too! I figure that even if they don't carry a checkbook, these would be great for coupons, business cards, even cash.

What do you usually do as a “thank you” to your children’s teacher? Or do you do anything? What is the proper protocol?

Linking up to:

Show and Tell with Blue Cricket Design
Creative Share at Trendy Treehouse