{Baby Bling}

With the new year comes the need for some new attire! Attire for the baby that is! And, what's 2012 without a little bling? I had some great material left over from a skirt I made my niece Holly..a shiny gold and also some creamy tulle. Since I've gotten back from the holidays, I've been trying to get my creative juices flowing again and they just started back up this week!

I decided to make my little Cora a fun tutu-esque skirt using the left-over material and also some elastic I had in my craft supplies. I first measured the elastic around Cora's waist. I usually measure it exactly and then take off a bit so it has a little stretch to it and isn't too loose. Once I had the elastic cut, I cut my gold fabric about 6 inches longer than the elastic (so it'd look a little bunchy when finished). I had about a 16 inch piece of gold material, folded over (now about 8 inches) to give it a finished edge on bottom..and I then sewed the top of the gold material (where the two open edges met) over about 1 1/2 inches (a big enough slot for my elastic to fit through..measure according to the elastic you use).

Tulle time! I started sewing my tulle on, and stitched on top of the stitch already made from folding the gold material over (see above). To get the gathered look, just pause and fold your tulle material over a few times (paper fan style) before stitching over it..and continue around. You most likely won't have a piece of tulle long enough to go all the way around, so just cut a piece the same length and add it to where you left off. I like to do layers of tulle to give it a little more bounce/texture. I typically cut about an 8 inch piece and the fold it over, so I'm adding a 4 inch (double layer) piece of tulle in two or more layers, all the way around. When stitching a lower layer, be sure to do the stitch where the top layer will fall over it (so as to hide the stitch somewhat).


At this point, you'll want to push your elastic through (using a safety pin). Next, fold your skirt over so the right sides are facing each other and sew down the open end.

Flip your skirt right side out, and voila!

I'll add a picture of Cora wearing the skirt sometime soon...and I'm planning to make a headband too! Watch out 2012, here I come!

I'm sure we're all trying to get our creative juices flowing again as we start 2012. Please feel free to let us know what fun ideas you come up with, and be sure to try out some of the recipes/projects we post!

sincerely fabuless, the windy city.