A Dozen Reasons to Love Sassy Skirt by Children's Corner, part 3 of 3

 
This post wraps up my first 12 variations on the Children's Corner Pattern Sassy Skirt.  I am sure it will not end my desire to re-engineer this cute skirt.

9.  Turn the skirt to a skort.


Children's Corner patterns are unique in the fact they are made from the same set of slopers.  They add almost the same amount of ease into each garment, so it allows us to swap pattern pieces from their patterns to easily change the look of the garment.  So for this skort, I borrowed the shorts from Sara's Skort and sewed them as the bottom layer of the skirt.  I made a size 7 and it fit within a 1/4" of total perfect, and the variation may have been my cutting.

The skort is a perfect match for my daughter doing cartwheels everywhere she goes.

10.  Add a faux button front for detailing.

I used the gathered skirt pattern and before gathering it, I folded over the center front for a faux button front skirt.  I added the buttonholes, but never cut them and just added the buttons.  To make it more unique, I dug through my button stash and pulled out an assortment of red ones to use.

11.  Add an apron layer to the skirt.

I used the single layer bias skirt for this combo.  I cut the shorter skirt front in white for the apron and then took off a few inches on the side and rounded the bottom corner.  My white was a little flimsy, so I added another white layer to the back and bound them together with bias trim.

12.  Add a flair to the bottom of the bias cut skirt.

I had made myself a few Simplicity 2410 skirts.  So I decided to cut down the circular piece a little and use it for Sassy Skirt.

Simplicity 2410 for me

Sassy Skirt for her

So ..... for those inspired to make skirts, Sassy Skirt only goes to a size 10 for little girls.  I took a picture of the difference in size 7 yoke and size 10 yoke.  (Most of the variation is in length and elastic back.)

The seam allowance in 1/4", so there is not much more than 1/4" on the front yoke in sizing difference.

What do you do for a larger girl (tween or teen)?  Sassy Skirt was published in 2009 and I was delighted to find the Simplicity pattern book full of dropped yoke skirts this year.  The tough part is finding the yoke that fits well, but once you do, the sky is the limit on variations you can do.

So for those tweens/teens/adults try Simplicity 2410, Simplicity 2411, Simplicity 2257, and Simplicity 2449.  Serendipity Studio's skirts are almost all dropped yoke skirts and they go to a size XXS, which is a 24" waist.  ( I tried to add a picture of their skirt, but it wouldn't behave.)

Add caption

I didn't try all my ideas for Sassy Skirt, so one day I will tackle smocking the gathered skirt, making the bias skirt circular, and adding pockets to the skirt.  The sky is the limit.

Now for the complete outfits!

Amy Butler fabric and Target t-shirt

Walmart t-shirt and Lynnie Pinnie zig zag flower,

Michael Miller fabric, Target t-shirt, Lynnie Pinnie zig-zag flower

Target tshirt and Bunnycup flower embroidery

Now, for that Easter dress.............

A Dozen Reasons to Love Sassy Skirt by Children's Corner, part 2 of 3

This is the second part in my notes on variations to Sassy Skirt by Children's Corner.

5.  Add deep pintucks to the skirt.

This started out as a substitution for a rectangle waistband, but this skirt is so cute I had to add it to the list of options.  This skirt would shine done in a linen with a crisp white blouse.  I used the gathered skirt and added three 1/2 inch tucks near the bottom of the skirt.  

6.  Add a band of fabric at the bottom of the gathered skirt.

The band can be thick or thin depending on your fabric.  I just add a 6 1/2 band that is folded in half to the bottom of the skirt.  To make this fast, I will usually sew the band on and then finish the seams with a serger.  This is a great way to use those crazy prints that you bought and now can't figure out what to do with them.  It is also great to make seasonal skirts (Christmas, Easter, 4th of July, and Halloween).

 

Sometimes I have used a ribbon to look like a band at the bottom.  

I have also added subtle details of bias binding along the bottom of the skirt.

This skirt band is on the bias-cut version.  The print was wild and when I finished the hem with a black thread rolled hem, it looked whimpy, so I pumped it up with a thicker band of black.

7.  Use stripped piecing on the gathered skirt.

This is another great use of wild prints and seasonal fabrics.  I pick an odd number of fabrics to use (pink has 5 and Christmas has 3).  I cut them as long as the gathered skirt is and then about 3" wide.  Sew your pieces back together in a visually pleasing manner and then attach the skirt as if it was a single piece.  This looks best with a band sewn on the bottom to anchor it.

8.  Vary the length of the gathered skirts

I have used the Sassy Skirt pattern as written with 2 skirts, but I have also made it with just one layer.  If I do much to the skirt, I skip making a double.  Sometimes making the second skirt and letting it show is a great option. The skirt on the left (floral) just has about 1 1/2 inches added to the bottom skirt.  The skirt on the right (bubbles) has the same bottom length added, but a bias trim around the top skirt.  The pictures don't give justice to the cute factor here.

The bias-cut, green skirt is made from crinkled cotton.  I did take the elastic all the way around the skirt due to stretching of the fabric when I topstitched.  This is so nice and flows well.

Now a complete look at the outfits from this week's blog:

Michael Miller fabric, Target t-shirt, Planet Applique ornament letter

Michael Miller fabric, Target t-shirt, Lynnie Pinnie Retro Trees

Mod kid fabrics, Ava pattern for top and skirt bottom, SS waist band

Pink twill fabric, Modkid ribbon, Target t-shirt, self embellishment, Stitch in Tim embroidery

Michael Miler fabric, Target t-shirt, satin black ribbon

Modkid fabric and ribbon, Target t-shirt, Stitch in Time embroidery

Heather Bailey fabric, Target t-shirt, red ribbon belt

Forget fabric source and Target t-shirt

Heather Bailey fabric, Fabric Finders stripe for bias binding, and flowers on Target t-shirt are Steam-A-Seamed down

Heather Bailey & Sandy Henderson fabric, Target t-shirt, and Stitch in Time embroidery

Original kit from Sew it Up using "Amy" pattern for top

Lime green crinkle fabric and Old Navy t-shirt

Next week is the last in the Sassy Skirt series........

A Dozen Reasons to Love Sassy Skirt by Children's Corner, part 1 of 3

The following blog post was done for a SAGA local chapter program.  Enjoy!

Years ago I found skirts were fast and easy to make for my daughter.  Pair it up with a purchased t-shirt and I had an outfit in a few hours.  They are a natural combination.  So why were some skirts my daughter's favorites and how did I finally find a skirt to fall in love with.  

Follow my journey of the last few years.......

Above are skirts made of 2 rectangles of fabric (cute fabric).  The waist band is folded over and sewn down with elastic inserted into the band.  

Pros:  Quick and easy.  You don't need a pattern.

Cons:  The waist creeps up and down her waist area and bunches up.  The full width of the bottom of the skirt is also at the waistline.  I find that she never picks these skirts on her own (even though it is cute fabric.)

These skirts are almost like the first models, pairs of rectangles sewn together.  Now the top yoke is not the full width of the skirt making it a little better.  This time I folded the waistband closer to where I inserted elastic, which keeps the skirt from shifting and bunching.  

Pros:  Same as above.

Cons:  The waistband still creeps around her waist and I catch her pulling the skirt up and down.  I could tighten the elastic, but not many little girls like the feeling of that option.  My daughter is very thin, but a fuller figure is not anywhere near the same from the top of waist to bottom of yoke.  I found even on my daughter's thin frame a not very flattering silhouette emerge as the skirt gets too small.

This skirt tries to fix some of the draping issues from the above skirts, by cutting the rectangle on the bias.  It made the fitting situation a little better, but I didn't think it compared to my winner.

Pros:  Tries to ease a little of the drape from the top of the yoked waistband to the bottom.

Cons:  Takes up a lot of fabric to cut this from the bias, with little improvement on the drape.

I tried other varieties of skirts.  I made this cute skirt from Children's Corner called Katie's Skirt.  It is a great skirt, but I found my daughter folding up the hem to make it shorter, so her legs could climb higher or jump farther. 

At this point you might wonder why I didn't just put her in shorts...... 

because I found something she loved.

Sassy Skirt by Children's Corner

I started sewing this skirt like most of us do......following the pattern.

This is view A from the pattern, minus the belt.  The top yoke is fitted in the front and back, with elastic  in the back waistband to allow easy on/off for girls.  I found the elastic in the back was just enough to hold this skirt firmly in place without the up and down motion I found when I used elastic all the way around the waist.  View A has two bias-cut skirt layers of different lengths.

View B has the same yoke, but with a double layered gathered skirt at the bottom.  This skirt on the left is too small for my daughter now, but it is still one of my favorites.

View C has the same yoke and has two long layers from View A's A-line, bias cut skirt.

From here I started to creatively add to and subtract from this great pattern.  I found I could substitute it for the yucky rectangle pattern piece on many patterns.  So, here is my first listing of a dozen ways to remake this cute skirt.

1.  Pleat the full skirt.  

I took the full skirt and instead of gathering it, I pleated the fabric with about a 1" inset pleat all the way around.  On a size 7, it makes the pleats about 2" apart.  You can play with it until you get your desired effect.  This is a very flattering skirt on a young girl.  

2.  Substitute it for the rectangle waistband on other skirts.

This cute skirt is from Pink Fig and is called Nei Nei.  As I was sewing all the ruffles together....and together..... and more of them together, I reached the waistband and found it to be a rectangle.  Since this skirt is gathered at the top, I simply replaced the rectangle with the yoke from Sassy Skirt.  It was a great success and makes this skirt fall gracefully from the waist.

3.  Add a drawstring to the skirt.

I had just finished this cute skirt when Lezette Thomason added a quick tutorial on her website on how to do this.  So, I will let her give the directions here.

4.  Add another layer onto the gathered skirt for a peasant skirt look.

 

These four skirts are some of my daughter's favorites.  She loves them long and full.  I think they feel great to wear and so these skirts are always in her laundry basket.  Lezette also gave directions for this skirt, which I actually followed.  

The navy blue gingham has red, white, and blue trim for the 4th of July.  

The lime green is made from a Robert Kaufman linen.  This skirt was a perfect match for what I wanted, so I proceeded with the linen even though I anticipated an ironing event after each wearing.  I was shocked to have this skirt look great straight out of the washer.  I just hang it to dry and it is ready to go.

The hot pink is made from crinkle cotton.  This skirt feels like cotton balls it is so soft.  I had never sewn with this fabric before and was frustrated when it stretched as I topstitched.  So, I added the elastic all the way around to keep it at a proper size.  I did sew the side seams onto the elastic so that the back and front elastic couldn't trade places.

The mermaid skirt from Michael Miller fabric was originally a View B skirt.  My daugher protested that mermaids needed long skirts, so I took off the inside layer and added it and a little fabric for the bottom layer.  ;)

Now for the complete outfits from this blog's skirts!

1.  Pink t-shirt embroidery from Embroidery Boutique.

2.  White t-shirt's mushrooms were purchased.

3.  4th of July rocket embroidery from Planet Applique.

4.  Flowers and birds embroidery from Stitch on Time and is called "flowerpower16".

5.  Mermaid applique from Embroidery Boutique.

6.  Yellow t-shirt purchased at Target and pin is self designed.

7.  Fushia shirt purchased at Target and pin is taken from Heather Bailey's fabric flower tutorial.

8.  "M" embroidery from Planet Applique and is called "Sweet Varsity".

Next week I will add four more ideas to go with this great skirt!