Ruffle Skirts - They're Addicting

A couple years back I made a whole bunch of ruffle skirts for Bugs when she was 5 and now they no longer fit her. To buy them brand new, it is outrageous what they cost especially when you consider it takes probably $5 worth of remnant fabric and a few hours of time to make a better product than what can be purchased!

Problem now is that Bugs has grown. She  has grasshopper legs like The Marshmallow and the skirts are way too short for her gangle legs (isn't that descriptive?)

I have a hard time buying patterns for ruffle skirts because there are so many free tutorials. But beware, some of them are LAME with poor directions, inaccurate measurements etc, etc, etc. Take for instance the one I made last night.  I've made a lot of ruffle skirts so I knew where this woman was going wrong and made attempts to correct mistakes. But it was too far gone and while my result is wearable, the dimensions are screwy and I'd be better off unstitching it and adding a bit more fabric to make it more comfortable, let alone modest since it's really just too short. That's what I get for sewing when my kids are in bed and not available for try-ons.

The reason I tried this tutorial instead of going with one I already liked was that my very favorite tute I did a couple years ago was one I could not find for the life of me. I was sure I'd printed it off or bookmarked it somewhere but it was nowhere.  This is the skirt.We get compliments on it wherever we go.  Tink wears it now and it is adorable on her but I really wanted to make one for Bugs too! 

I finally did a new search adding "2009" to my search terms and it was the 2nd google result!  This was today and I am sooo happy! I'm definitely going to print it off and save it on my harddrive this time because it's tried and true and a total favorite.  So, if you're looking for a very excellent tutorial that is excellent for beginners (it was the very first one I ever made) then this one is for you. Not to mention that it has stood the test of time. It's been through two children, the washer numerous times, lots of ironings and play times.  Not a single stitch is coming out of place.  It's a very full skirt with lots of fabric but that's what makes it so cute.  Now that I have the tute again, I'm going to make several of these. Even as a beginner, I noted in my blog post that it only took me 1/2 a day to make it. Now that I'm a tiny bit more seasoned, I'll bet I can whip it up in just a couple 2-3 hours easy.  Now that's what I'm talking about.

Here's the link to the tutorial:
http://www.polkadotchair.com/2009/09/sydneys-skirt-tutorial.html

Have fun!