DiY bandana skirt tutorial

One of my sweet little former students walked up to me the other day to show me the cute skirt her Mom had made her.  She told me it was 'so easy- just sew together 2 bandanas'!  Well, I think it was a little more than that, but I loved how cute it was, and was determined to put one together for Adi.

As I was literally running through Wal-Mart one day last week grabbing a couple of last-minute things for Kindergarten Come & See day I happened upon the end cap that held all of their cute bandanas.  For $1 apiece, I couldn't pass them up.  I was in a hurry, so I quickly grabbed 2.

I googled bandana skirt tutorials, but couldn't find one that I really liked.  I figured it couldn't be too hard to just make it up as I went, and if I totally messed it up- I was only out a couple dollars!

Today we had some pretty crazy stormy weather in MN, so I decided to dig in.  It worked!  And, most importantly- she LOVES it!


I started with 2 bandanas and a scrap of fabric that I already had on hand:

I noticed that the bandanas were really thin, so I decided to fold them in half and use the fold across the top to hold the elastic in:

When I measured around Adi's waist it was about 18 1/2", and I wanted the length about 10", give or take.  I cut the ends off the bandanas so it was 15".  I wanted a little bit of a gather:

I cut the bandanas to 9" in length.  I trimmed the scrap fabric to 4 1/2", and also made it 15" long:

I sewed right-sides together so the fabric scrap would run along the bottom (on the opposite end of the fold):

I now had 2 pieces that looked exactly the same.  I ran a stitch a tiny bit over an inch down from the fold for my elastic to run through:

 Across the raw-edge of the fabric scrap piece I folded up and ironed 1/4", and then 1/4" again.  I pressed it really well, then stiched it on the machine:

I sewed the front and back pieces together (right-sides together), but started from the bottom, and made sure to leave the top 1"+ a little, open for the elastic to run through:

 This is what it looked like when I ran the stitch up both sides, but left the top open for the elastic to run through:

I hooked a safety pin to one end and ran the elastic through:  

 Then I zig-zagged the elastic together really well.  After the elastic was sewn together, I hand-stitched the openings closed:

And she loved it!!!!  Of course, her waist is so tiny, that like all bottoms on her, I had to roll the top down so it would stay up:

It's perfect for her!  She will love running around in this at the cabin:

Now I'm anxious to try it again with a different pattern- there were lots to choose from!  Let me know if you give this a try!  I'd love to see it and hear how it went!

Linking up to Lowercase Letters

Writing random, and linking up to Carissa at Lowercase Letters:

1. Our weekend went by way too fast.  The Little's got to spend some time with their Grandpa and Grandma and had lots and lots of fun!  We spent time with our soon-to-be-married friends, and also had lots and lots of fun! 

2.  ECFE is done for the year.  Kids will surely miss it.  We will too, but we're also happy to have our Monday nights open now!

3.  The weather in MN has been awfully strange this year.  Our forecast is finally calling for some nice warm-ups.  We're hoping that's true! 

4.  Cabin season is here.   Every weekend from now on will most likely be spent there.  We love it, the kids love it, and Shelbie loves it.  Win, win, win for us all!

5.  Adi found a bottle last night.  It was sitting on the counter so I could pack it away.  She insisted that she's a baby, and needed to have it filled for bed last night!  We are not going down that road again....!

6.  Eli still has his obsession with Spider-Man.  It's so entertaining.  He's starting to get a little impatient, though, for the blue and red spider that's supposed to be coming to bite him.  He's got his little eyes open at all times for it.  Then he can climb walls, and stick to stuff, and shoot webs!

7.  Daddy is planning to clear out a little patch of lawn tonight for the Little's to plant their own garden.  They are excited, and are trying to decide what they are all going to plant.  We'll see how their garden fares!- It will probably produce more than ours!

 Have a Great Monday!

 

jump, SPLASH!

Only in MN can you be outside in a no shirt one day, a rain jacket 2 days later, and then wake up to snow the following morning!!!  What?!?!  Here's a completely picture-overloaded post of the littles fully enjoying the little rain puddle we had out front.  They had to live it up, because it didn't last real long!

Thank you, Cousin Ally, for the cute little rain coat that finally fits!- (kind of)!

Here's to hoping for beautiful weather for the return of our cabin season!!

Shelbie.

This is our pup, Shelbie.  I shouldn't really say she's a pup, she's actually about 6 1/2 years old.  And she's not little.  She's a fairly big dog, but as mellow as can be.  She's a boxer/st. bernard/huskie- (we think).  She's kind, gentle, friendly, and completely harmless.  She knows some great tricks, and even lets the kids ride around on her back.  One of our cabin friends once told us that she has 'good manners'- and that is exactly right!

I wouldn't normally write a post about our dog...but we thought we were going to lose her last week,  and I decided that I needed to capture her in a post that we can look back on one day to remember how important she is to all of us.
Chad and I had Shelbie for 2 years before Eliott came along.  We spoiled her rotten and treated her like she was our 'kid'.  Ever since we've had kids we've realized that we've kind of just taken her for granted.

Until last week when she was too sick to get up and move.  We didn't know if she would make it through the night.  We were sad, and upset, and heart-broken about it. I was so worried about how we would tell the kids.  We were thinking the worst.  

We checked on her before we went to bed, and had her all covered up and cozy in her house.  We were both so worried about going out the next morning, and wondered how we'd find her.  We went to work that day, and both of us thought about her all day.  We couldn't get her in to the vet until later that day, and were just hoping she would make it that long.  My father-in-law had to pick her up and take her in since Chad and I wouldn't have been home in time.  I made arrangements for my brother-in-law to pick the kids up from daycare that day, because I honestly thought that we might be putting her down, and I didn't want them to be there to see that.

I was completely shocked when I walked into the clinic, and the vet told me she walked in all on her own!  I was so happy!!!  The vet did an exam on her and was noticing that her back hips were a little sore.  He also found that she had 4 porcupine quills embedded in her face, and had to remove them with forceps!  He then did some blood work on her, which gave us our answers.

She had lymes disease, along with another tick-borne illness called anaplasmosis.  We were actually pretty relieved to have some answers, and were happy that it is something we can cure.  He gave us 75 pills for her.  3 a day for 25 days, and he told us we'd have a new dog in 48 hours.  He was right!   She is running around like crazy- and the kids are enjoying every minute of it.

We realize that we can no longer take her for granted, and have been showering her with extra attention.  With the scare she put us through, we decided that we aren't going to leave her back from the cabin any more.  She has earned herself trips to the cabin all summer- We are just happy that she is still with us!

Smile:)

Oh, it was another whirl-wind of a weekend.  We spent it at the lake with friends, and enjoyed every minute of it.  We look forward to cabin-opening from the time that we close the doors in the fall.  It was this past weekend for us...and we are set to go!
I glanced through my pictures, and decided that a smile:) post was due:


ROPE LADDERS make us smile:

DARING LITTLE GIRLS make us smile:

DETERMINATION makes us smile:

 

SUNGLASSES make us smile:

SUNSHINE makes us smile:

BIG GIRL BEDS make us smile:

4 HOUR CABIN NAPS make us smile:

LANDING THE PONTOON makes us smile:

FRIENDS make us smile:

PONTOON RIDES make us smile:

FISHING WITH FRIENDS makes us smile:

 

SIBLINGS make us smile:

BOOKS,

 AND MORE BOOKS make us smile:

Hoping your week is filled with lots of smiles!