Hawaii Bound and Mermaid Ready

In a short few hours, my second family and I will be OFF to Hawaii to celebrate Spring in true hot weather fashion. :) I honestly can't decide whether I'm more excited that it will be above 40 degrees (and more like mid-70's) or excited because its paradise. I'm so serious too. BRING ON THE HEAT. :) Southern girl happy dance is going on right now!

So, naturally, I had about 5 solid projects in mind to prepare for Hawaii. There were the flip flop fabric luggage tags I was going to make for all 5 of us. There was the maxi dress that was started and abandoned after the maxi dress turned into a TENT and patience was lost. Then I was going to refashion flip flops with grosgrain ribbon... yatta yatta. It didn't happen. What DID happen was this cutie pie. She was first on my list of projects and well... I think you can see why.

Look at those dimples! Someone is ready for Hawaii. 

Annabelle and I will be on the hunt for mermaids in her special outfit. I wonder if we squint hard and look into the ocean ever so slightly if one will appear....

This is an easy beginner project that takes 30 mins from start to finish.

1. Grab a skirt that you already have and measure the length of the fabric. Add a 1/2 inch for the hem and a inch and a half for the waist band. Two inches total.
2. Take that measurement and cut the salvage width. 
3. Sew the two seams together. You now have a skirt formation. 
4. For the hem, turn in the bottom edge and sew. I serged mine, but you can double fold it and then sew. 
5. For the waist band, turn in 1.25 inches and sew the edge to create the casing. You will want to leave about a 2 inch opening for threading the elastic. 
6. Measure the width of the skirt and cut the elastic based on that. Thread elastic and sew the opening closed. 
7. Voila... 30 min skirt finished. 

Onsie

1. Cut out the desired pattern and apply heat bond to the non-paper side. 
2. Peel off the paper side and iron on onsie where you want it.
3. Sew the outer edges to secure. I used a zig zag here but you could also use a straight stitch. 

Easy peasy. :) 

Peace out mermaids, I'll be in an island state of mind for the next 7 days. 

Happy sewing! 

Jen