Homemade Sequin Skirt and Shirt

Hazel turned five last week!  As per tradition, I made her a birthday outfit.  It seems that sequins are the "in" thing this year.  I looked at skirts in stores, and some were upwards of $30.  I had to go to the fabric store before Halloween for costume fabric and I happened to pick up a 1/2 yard of hot pink sequins for about $4.50.  Using some leftover white cotton fabric and pink sparkle tulle for a ruffle, combined with  the sequin fabric, I was able to whip up a simple cute and slightly more elaborate skirt for her than the ones at the stores for a fraction of the price.

For the skirt, I used the full length of the fabric (about 44" for the sequins and the white lining each).  I measured from waist to knee and cut that length.  The sequin fabric will not fray, so I did not have to hem it and I was adding a tulle ruffle to the lining so I did not account for a hem. I sewed the edges of the sequin fabric together, then I did the same for the lining.  I sewed the ruffle to the lining and then I placed the lining inside of the sequin skirt so the right side of the lining was facing the wrong side of the sequin fabric.  I basted along the top edge of the fabrics to anchor them together (when basting, I used a long stitch and high tension, this caused the fabric to gather).   I pulled the thread to gather the waist to be the same length as the waist band I was going to make ~27".

I cut a waist band out of some dress lining I had lying around, it was 4" by 27".  I ironed the top down by .25" and then again another 1 ".  I sewed along the ironed edge of the original .25" fold.  This created a tube for me to thread the elastic through.  I measured her waist, and cut a piece of .5" elastic about .5 inches larger than my measurement.

I attached the waist band bottom to the right side top of the sequin fabric and sewed it on.  Flip up the waist band, top stitch along the sequin fabric edge.  For the final step, insert your elastic into the tube you created on the waistband, sew the ends of the elastic together, and then sewed closed the two ends of the waist band.  This took me about an hour from start to finish.

I used some leftover fabric to make a sequin "5" applique for her shirt.  The applique-ing process has become so easy for me since I discovered fusible web.  Using this stuff between the item you are applique-ing and the item you are applique-ing onto, makes pushing the fabric through the machine a breeze and the whole process a lot less stressful!   I got my pack at JoAnn Fabrics, so it's not something that's hard to find at all.

I hung up one of my new backdrops on the wall for her princess party.  I was excited to try it out.  I'm not sure she was:

Happy Birthday Hazel!