The challenge

The Girl needed some new tights, having grown several inches since last winter.  I may have actually bought them the winter before…well, anyways, she GREW.

I got some good universal knit tights in black and white from Target, and was told by the girl that she wasn’t a fan of the non-colorful tights.  She still wore them, at least.

A few days later Zulily had a sale on some funky colorful tights, so I snapped up three pairs.  Unfortunately, she really had nothing that matched them.

I know, right?  How can that be??

Well, that is the truth, People.

That gave me a challenge to match the tights to an outfit.  As you know, I like to have challenges!

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Outfit #1 matching the white/teal tights

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This dress is a nice twirly one.  The top has overlays on both the front and the back.  The fushia heart print knit is not very thick, so I needed to bulk it up a bit for winter warmth.  The backside has a heart cut-out and the front has a top overlay.  I used some iron-on crystals I found at Michael’s for the hearts.

The fabric is actually fushia, and not red.  Dang Nikon camera.

The bottom part of the dress is an A-line skirt with flounces sewn between each layer and finished with a rolled hem using acrylic yarn.  This yarn is like wooly nylon only a bit thicker and not so stretchy.  It worked okay, but I prefer wooly nylon.  Sometimes you just have to deal with what the local store has to sell you, though.

Here she is…oh so happy early in the morning (Disclaimer:  This was after me telling her to smile!!!).  The flash washes her out a little bit, but shows that it is truly pink.  I was too lazy to walk down the stairs to get my nice flash.

Neither one of us are morning people, apparently! 😉

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Outfit #2 matching the owl pink/green/yellow tights

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This one was more of a stretch.  I decided to match it more directly with a painted stencil.  I tried to draw up the owl design to match the tights, but it isn’t quite perfect.  I think it still works, though!  The main knit is leftovers from a tank top I made out of fabric I designed and printed at Spoonflower.  This was bought probably 1.5 years ago and I much prefer their cotton knit now (softer feel and more stretch).  This is pretty thick, but it should be warm.

I wish I could have made the skirt longer, but was limited by the length of the material I bought.  I only got a half yard, and it wasn’t quite enough for the circle skirt to have much length.  The outside is a glittery chiffon and the inside is a matching polyester knit.  It is a full circle skirt, so it should be plenty twirly.  Good thing the tights will hide her underwear when she twirls!

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Outfit #3 matching the orange hearts/pink/grey  tights

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This fuschia knit shirt was a drafting experiment.  Much like this shirt for me, I used the slash and spread method for making it.  The front has two pieces sewn on top of each other, and both are lined.  This is a pointelle knit, which is thinner and has holes in it.  By having the front lined, it makes it warmer and not see through.  The back is unlined, so it won’t be too hot for our warm blooded girl.

The metal glittery pieces are from Dharma Trading.  As usual, I used the mylar sheets to place the pieces before ironing it onto the shirt.  When trying to match a seam line, you need to place the pieces on the reverse side of the fabric.  That way it will be in the right spot on the right side of the fabric when you go to iron it on.

In placing the pieces for the sleeves I drew out the swirly thing on tissue paper with a sharpie, which bled through to the other side.  That way I turned it over for the second arm piece and they are now mirror images of each other.

The skirt ended up shorter than I would have liked…again.  This was a mathematical error on my part.  It looks fine on her, though.  You get to see more of the fun tights, that way!

This woven fabric is orange with a pink background, so it works well for matching the tights.

The girl does not agree, though.  I told her I did my best, and that was all she was getting.  I am a meannnnn mommy!

This skirt is a yoked, flat-front and elastic back concoction.  I added pockets and bias trim to the front to make it look fancy.   I randomly pleated the front before attaching it to the yoke, though both sides are randomly pleated in the same way.  I also added the bias tape before attaching the yoke.  It is easier to do it that way than trying to attach everything at the same time, whilst keeping it even.

The front is supposed to be a flat front, but I think I made it a little too wide.  I attached clear elastic as I was finishing the top hem (the last part of the skirt to be sewed up).  The thin clear elastic will keep it snugger and it won’t droop that way.  So…it’s mostly still a flat front.

I finished the hem with grosgrain ribbon, so it wouldn’t be any shorter than necessary.  I just ironed it in half, heat sealed the ends and stitched it on.

So…challenge accepted and completed!

Onto the next challenge…

*Make something suitable for both kids to wear for the holiday card photo.

I know what I want to do this year, now to execute my ~vision~. 😉