Tea Pahty

Here we go with the last of these coral tops, whew. This one is a little different, since I planned it in my head quite a few months ago...before it started to get kinda hot. It's really more of a Spring outfit, a season that is pretty brief around here. More accurately, our Summer starts in May and goes until November. What I would give for a REAL Spring, the kind that gives you a chance to breathe and appreciate the flowers before the Hell of Relentless Summer begins!

Okay, I know that there are places that are way hotter than here, but I just have a really low tolerance for heat. And I like to whine.

DD likes to be in sleeveless clothes for Summer, but she is pretty in love with this outfit. I'm crossing my fingers that it will still get lots of wear.

Fabric: Sweets Tea Time and Sweets Hearts, both by Michael Miller. The two quilting cottons don't exactly match, but I am all about sort-of-matching, so I made it work. Mystery cotton/lycra jersey for the t-shirt.

Patterns: Modified Hopscotch skirt by Eva on SewingMamas. Top is Ottobre 3/09 #29.

Upon reflection and DD wearing this outfit all day yesterday, I think I made the skirt a leetle too full. The standard width for this skirt is two full widths of 44" wide fabric. It works great for a single layer of fabric, but I think it is just a bit much for 2 layers of fabric on what is basically a drop-waist. This much fullness works great for her dresses that have a slightly raised waist and a longer skirt, but I think if I were I to make this again I would take out at least 1/3 of width .

All that said, DD adores ridiculously full skirts, so she might disagree with me.

I made the ruched tie about 1/3 of the way in from the side seam, before I gathered the skirt. The ties are just strips of the jersey that were left over from when I cut up this coral jersey. They naturally rolled in to make a nice, round tie, so I decided to save myself some trouble and use them as the ruching ties. Yay for lazy shortcuts!

I put this applique on the same as the last shirt. Just Wonder Undered on & then stitched on with a straight stitch.

One must have tea when one is wearing a tea party skirt.

Mmm, muddy outdoor tea set.

I am so in love with this fabric. The second I saw it on Fabric.com, I had a moment of weakness and ordered it on the spot.

Another reason I wish the skirt weren't quite so full is that it you can't see the fabric as well because it's so gathered. Ah, well. Like I said, she is all about it, so whatevs.

One must have a centerpiece for a tea party.

P.S. I am so totally sold on nicer quality sandals this year. She wears these basically everyday, with everything, and they are holding up bee-yoo-tifully. I mean, how many shoes does a kid really need? Just one really good neutral pair, and you're done.

Hmm. I just realized she's not supposed to be picking my mom's flowers off that particular bush. Whoops.

Coming up I still have that tutorial, and then some DRESSES!