Spring Dresses Tutorial

So this isn't a very detailed tutorial. I have a tendency to start pretty good, then forget to take pics later down the road. I saw a dress on etsy that was so cute and I thought I'd give it a try. Of course my sewing abilties are not up to par, but the dresses turned out well enough for Easter.

Take a basic A-line skirt pattern, or you can try doing it with no pattern like me. I measured the waist and length. Then divided them in half. Cut two pieces of fabric (I used two different patterns), with a small curve on the bottom. One of the pieces is going to have the ruffles.

Mark where you want your ruffles to be. I had 5 rows, not including the row around the bottom, so I needed 5 sections. Make sure to leave a seam allowance at the top and bottom.

Cut lengths of fabric measuring an inch wider than you need them to be, and twice as long. Hem along one side.

Sew a basting stitch along all of them. Hold onto one thread and slide the fabric along it to create the ruffle.

Pin the ruffles upside down on the right side of skirt. (Remember to leave the seam allowance on top and bottom.) The hemmed part of the ruffle should be toward the top of skirt at this point.

Sew the ruffles, then flip the ruffles down so the hemmed part is toward the bottom of the skirt. Sew again.

Pin the two sides of the skirt, right sides together. Sew.

Measure around bottom of the skirt. Cut a strip of fabric twice that length and the same width as the others. (You might need to sew pieces together to get that length.) Hem one edge. Sew right sides together.

Flip it and sew again.

Add an elastic waist and the skirt is done.

For the top, I used one center piece and two matching side pieces. You could just use one piece if you wanted. Measure from arm pit to arm pit. That's how wide the top needs to be, not including seam allowances. If you do the three pieces, the middle piece needs to measure half that amount plus an inch for seams and the two sides measure a quarter plus an inch for seams.

Measure from arm pit down to waist and maybe add an in or two, then double it. That's the length. My tops ended up being too short, so I had to go in later and add a few inches. Sew the side pieces to the center, then fold in half. This picture shows before I folded it.

For the back, measure arm pit to arm pit around the back, then double it. That's the width. The length is the same as the front. Fold in half and sew a few thin elastics along the length. Pin right side of front to right side of back, and sew. Hem the bottom.

For the sleeves, I measured from collar bone to arm pit for the front of the sleeve and a little shorter for the back. Then meaured up over the shoulder and doubled it for the length.

Hem both long sides and add elastic. Pin right sides to inside of top then sew. All done.

How to Have a Butterfly Party (Games, Crafts and Snacks)

Invites: I found invitations at the dollar store that had the information on the front and was blank on the back. So I printed up this poem taht I found online and glued it to the back:

Butterflies are pretty and fly so free,
Come to Z's 5th birthday partee.
There will be games to play, and wings to make.
We will enjoy a butterfly cake.
So dress up as pretty as you can be,
and join the fun at Z's butterfly partee!

Craft: I don't have very good pics for these so bare with me. While the girls were coming we had them decorate their wings. Earlier I had gone to the dollar store and got white posterboard 2/$1. Then I cut out the wings, leaving enough space between the wings to punch holes and tie ribbon through, so we could tie them around the arms of the girls. I had also made antannae out of pipe cleaners and headbands.
Games:
Butterfly Hunting--I cut out 6 butterflies of different colors (I used my Cricut, but there are lots of templates online,) for each girl. Then I numbered the butterlies so there were 12-1s 12-2s etc. Then they took their butterfly bags, (another dollar store purchase, I just added the ribbon so they could carry them,) and had to find 6 butterflies with their number on them.

Musical Leaves--I cut out several big leaves out of construction paper and numbered them. Then I put them around the room. While the music played they flew around the room and when it stopped they had to find a leaf to land on.

Butterfly Pinata!

**For the prizes I made the butterfly clips, and I also gave out mini butterfliers. (I taped cut out wings to mini butterfingers and crossed out the "ing" and wrote"lie."

**For the food we had sandwiches and jello cut into butterlies. We also had butterflies made out of half a cheese stick, 2 pretzels for wings, and a stick pretzel broke into 2 pieces for antannae.


The Cake! I didn't go all out on this, obviously, but it was really easy. I made the cake in 2 round cake pans and cut the body out of one and the wings out of the other.

**Before the girls left they got to take home a butterfly cookie wrapped in plastic, (that I made before hand.) It had a "thank you for coming" tag attached.

How to have a Butterfly Party (Butterfly Clips)

I wanted to make something to go in the goodie bags so I looked for a tutorial on butterfly clips. I already had everything to make them. This was a good way to get rid of alot of my growing stash of ribbon.

1. Take a piece of ribbon and hold it so there's two loops. One on each side of your fingers. The ribbon can be however long you want it. It depends on the size of butterfly and the thickness of ribbon. You can adjust it when you make all the loops.
2. Pull the middle of each loop into the center to form the wings. These loops can be done different ways. Decide which way is best for your ribbon.

3. I don't have a picture for this, but I glue ribbon on the clip first, before I put the butterfly on. It makes the ribbon or flower or whatever you are using stay on the clip better.

4. Then glue another piece of different color ribbon on top of the wings to form the body. I leave a little extra ribbon at the top to roll down and make the head.

5. Then add eyes (I used plastic gems) and antanae. I just used florist wire, but pipe cleaners or something more stiff can be used.

How to have a Butterfly Party (Butterfly Pinata)

My daughter wanted a butterfly party this year so we came up with some fun things to do for her party. First I decided that, if I could make a disco ball pinata, then a butterfly pinata was MAKEABLE so, I went for it.

1. Draw a butterfly on cardboard and cut out with a craft knife. Make 2.

2. Cut small strips of cardboard and tape around inside edges of butterfly to hold shape.

3. Make a paper mache paste of 1 part flour and 2 parts water. Take small strips of newspaper and dip into paste wiping off excess, and cover entire pinata. I hang the pinata on something while I do this with the paste bowl underneath so it can drip. Let dry. Cover entire pinata again. I only did two layers and it was still pretty hard to brake. Next time I might cut holes or something in the big cardboard parts to make it more fragile. 4. Glue crepe paper over the whole pinata. 5. Glue crepe paper on again, layering evenly around it. Glue only the top of the crepe paper to layer. 6. Use craft paper and pipe cleaners to design the butterfly. Then cut a hole in the top and fill with candy. (You will definitely need something harder than a foam bat.)

Shoe Makeover

I had a couple pairs of shoes that have been sitting around for a while because of problems. The white shoes had awful yucky soles, but I still loved them. The black shoes had some silver straps that didn't go with much, but I still like the style of shoe. So, I used some fabric and hot glue and redid the soles on the white. Then I took a Sharpie to the black, (which was just easier at the time, but probably could have come up with something nicer), and glued some black glitter on. I think they turned out okay. What do you think?

Before

After

Start Up Post

I'm starting this blog to motivate me to actually make those things that I see and think, "I bet I can make that." Hopefully, I'll use up my fabric scraps and craft stuff, and be able to redo my wardrobe at the same time. I'm also probably going to post some recipes, as I also think the same thing about food. Anyway, the posts may or may not be useful to anyone, but hey, if it gets me making things, then it's worth it.