Handmade Children’s Skirts

This article is written by a SAHM who is also a seamstress with a talent for making handmade, hand-crafted skirts. These skirts are made from material that would otherwise be thrown out, so she is also an eco-friendly, sewing maven. Additionally, these skirts are meant to be school appropriate with comfort, style and fun all worked into the design!.

It has taken me 39 years to come up with a unfinished definition of creativity, and it still needs some polishing. I used to think that I wasn’t creative at all. My creativity started to bloom when I started scrapbooking 13 ½ years ago. To take a scissor to a picture was almost horrific, yet when the page was done I liked the finished product. When I began, I had a hard time cutting a picture, dealing with scraps, disliking my handwriting, etc. As I have evolved, however, I have come to realize that everyone is creative in some way. Some decorate their homes in ways that I couldn’t possibly have imagined. Some people can dance. Some play their instruments and paint, others write stories and even others have the most beautiful gardens (flower and vegetable) that I have ever seen. There’s no difference when making a skirt.

It does bug me, however, when my “creative wave” gets interrupted. When I have neglected to put all my supplies away, I have to walk all the way downstairs to locate them. When my children actually want a meal, I have to leave the creative juices and walk all the way downstairs to make some sustenance for them. How demanding can children be??? I forgot my water bottle, I feel snacky, there’s an argument (okay I just ignore those), the doorbell rang, the dogs are barking incessantly, I forgot I have a child to pick up from some activity: all these things yell at me from the bottom of the stairs. I guess you could say that I get my exercise when I sew because of all the trips I end up taking each day up and down those 14 stairs, yes, I count them almost every time. Call me O.C.D., or maybe just weird. I guess I’d be thinner if I had a taller house. Hmmm. Nope, the honey-do list is tall enough! But, just like the endless choices of thread, so are the endless possibilities when I am sewing.

The thing I love about making hand-crafted skirts these days is that when it comes down to it, anything goes! It seems to me that there are so many people out there that love expressing themselves by the things that they wear. I’ll admit that I have my favorites in my collection of skirts. What is interesting is that when I show them to people, everyone likes a different one and it’s usually not my personal favorites. THAT’S GREAT WITH ME!!! I love looking over a sea of material, bits and pieces everywhere, and trying to conjure up something that someone else will like. Styles are so diverse that whether the skirt is a straight skirt, a twirl, if it contains hundreds of pieces or just a few it has the possibility of appealing to someone.

Here are some pictures of my work area, my tools and my models – enjoy!

To see the skirts pictured here, visit these links. Handmade skirts from left to right:

Handmade Giraffe Straight Skirt – made with Giraffe print material with braided and frayed leopard, tan, brown trim at the bottom.

Handmade Vintage Patchwork Twirl Skirt – there are 4 rows and 116 squares sewn together in this masterpiece that can be worn.

The middle skirt stayed with Emmalee – she says it’s not for sale!

Handmade Black Leopard Skirt – this is a full twirl skirt.

Posted by Julie Covey on March 30, 2010