Watermelon Skirt Tutorial

I had this great idea pop into my head yesterday morning.

One I was SO excited about, I had to make a dash to the fabric store that afternoon.

The result... this adorable, Watermelon Skirt.

I am so tickled by how this turned out!

Ready to make your own?

Here's how I did it...

Supplies Needed:

- Red Cotton Fabric (I think a pink would be adorable too)... 2/3 yard for a youth medium, 1/2 yard for a youth extra small

- Green Cotton Fabric... 34" x 7 1/2" strip for youth medium, 32" x 6" for youth extra small

- White Cotton Fabric (You could use white ribbon instead, about 1" thick.  Light green might be a nice alternative to white too.)... 3, 2" strips the width of your fabric

- Black Knit Fabric... about 1/8 yard

- Elastic, 3/4" wide

- Thread, in red, green, black and white.

Directions:
1) Prewash all of your fabric!  Press if needed.
2) Cut Your Strips!
I made two skirts; one for my 4 year old (youth extra small) and one for my 8 year old (youth medium).  For the top of the skirt (the green fabric), I cut a 34" x 7 1/2" strip for a youth medium, and a 32" x 6" strip for my youth extra small.

I cut two strips in the red for each skirt.  The youth medium strips were 11" wide, and the youth extra small were 9" wide.

I cut three, 2" strips for each of the skirts in the white.  I LOVED how thick the ruffle turned out.  If you are using ribbon, will want about 120" in length.

3) Start Sewing!
With right sides together, sew your two lengths of red fabric together to begin forming your skirt.  (You will be sewing the two shorter sides together on each end.  I think I used 5/8" seams.  I also left the salvages on the fabric so I didn't have to finish the edge at all.  I love short cuts!

Press your seams.  I guess I should have pressed them to the back of the skirt to protect my seam... but I didn't here.

Next, sew the short sides of your green fabric, right sides together, to form the top of your skirt. Press your seam.

I also decided to go ahead and hem the one side of the red fabric at this time.  I did so by turning the fabric under twice, about 1/4" each time, and sewing along the top of the fold.  Press, and your hem is finished.

4)  Form your elastic wast band casing.
Turn one side of the green fabric down 1 1/4" and pin it all the way around.

Ok... here is where I like to cheat again.  I turn my fabric under about a 1/4" as I sew my casing.  If you are brave, it will save you some work/time.  However, you may want to pin this 1/4" under before sewing.  OR.... I have sat with the iron in one hand and my measure in another.... turned under, press.... turned under, press... which works well too.  Either way you do it.... sew along the edge of your fold, but remember to leave about 2" open on the casing to insert the elastic later!

And here is where I stopped stitching to allow for adding the elastic.

5) Gather Your Skirt!
I like to gather my skirt using my machine.  You can do this by adjusting your stitch length to the longest setting.  First, section your red skirt fabric into fours by placing a pin at each.  Use the two seams for two of your four markers.  You will sew your gathering threads from each of these points.

I stitched along the top edge of my skirt (without back stitching) from pin to pin at about 5/8".

Next, you will need to mark the 4 sections of your green fabric to match to your skirt bottom.  Use your seam as your back mark.  Once you've marked your green fabric, you can match the four points of your red fabric to the green, right sides of the fabric together.

Once it is pinned in place, carefully pull the outside gathering threads and smooth the ruffles in the fabric evenly along each section.  Add some pins to hold everything in place.

  

Now you're ready to sew your skirt together.  I sewed just under my gathering stitch, so I could remove the gathering threads afterwards.  Because I can't figure out HOW ON EARTH to thread the serger my mother gave me YEARS ago... I chose to add a couple rows of zig zag stitching to hold the raw edges of my skirt together here (just to the right of my seam).  That seemed to do the trick.

  

I then flipped the skirt right side out, folded the seam up towards the top of the skirt, and added a seam on the outside to secure it into place.

6) Make a Ruffle!
I don't know why I didn't think of using ribbon for this part, but I do have to say that I love how the cotton fabric turned out.  It was just a bit more work than ribbon would have been.

I chose to sew my two lengths of white strips together to make one big loop.  I pressed the seams open, then folded each side under twice and stitched along the fold to finish it off.  See...

Now... if I had used ribbon, I would have skipped all of that and gone right onto the next step...

Next, I sectioned my fabric into fours, marking each with a pin, and sewed a gathering stitch down the middle.  Hard to see the gathering stitch in this photo, but I promise you, it's there.

Now, just as you did with the skirt, you match your four pins of your ruffle to four pins on your skirt, so your ruffle comes out evenly.  Once you've done that, gently pull your gathering threads and smooth out your ruffles as evenly as you can along each section.  Pin them into place.

Then sew along the middle of your ruffle, careful to keep your ruffle from bunching as you go along.

I went along and carefully removed all the gathering threads that I could.  If you used white thread, you can get away with leaving those you can't easily remove.

7) Add Your Waist Band!

I measured my kiddo's tummy by wrapping the elastic around her waist and cutting it where it met.  I then added a large safety pin to one end to allow me to work it through the casing on the skirt.

And look!  It's morning!  My photos are actually decent looking now!  Sorry about that!  :)

Once your elastic is pulled all the way through, over lap the ends about an inch.  Make sure that your elastic isn't twisted anywhere along the way, then stitch your ends together.

I guess I could have used a different color so you could see my stitching here.  I make a seam up and down on one end 4 times, then diagonal from top left to bottom right 3 times, then up and down on the right 4 times, then diagonal from top right to bottom left 2 times.  Perhaps that is a little excessive??  ha ha... just how my momma taught me!

Don't forget to sew up the hole left in your elastic casing!  I also like to add a little stitch on the right and left sides of the elastic casing just to keep the elastic from ever turning.

8) Time for Seeds!

I found a cup in the cupboard and used it to create a pattern.  I then cut a stack of circles from my black jersey knit.  I think I used 20 for the smaller skirt.  I am not sure yet, but I may add a third row of seeds to the larger skirt (haven't finished it yet).

To create your "seeds" you have to fold each circle as I have down in the photos below...

Fold the circle in half.... then fold into thirds by folding one third over the front, and the other side behind, forming a little seed-looking shape.

Pin each "seed" onto your skirt in an arrangement that is pleasing to you.  You may chose to add them randomly.  I liked the patterned look, so I went with that.

Ignore my band aid.  Just tried to cut off my finger while cutting my child's hair.  I'm not a hairdresser ;)  I used the scientific technique of spreading my fingers to measure my spacing of my "seeds".

Ack!  Sorry, again, for the crummy photos.  The bad lighting and red fabric really didn't work in my favor here.  Next, sew on each of your seeds by adding a stitch, back and forth a couple of times, to the top of each "seed".

I went from "seed" to "seed" without stopping, and cut all of my threads between at the end.  That saved a bit of time.

And here is the finished skirt.

Oh, I just LOVE it!

Hope you do too!

Notebook Paper Bag

I am in LOVE with this little bag!

My children and I made these as part of our teacher gifts this year.  Inside, we will include the Summer Checklists they created and a little package of goodies.  I am thrilled with how these turned out!

I'm sharing the tutorial for these cute bags here...

Stop by this awesome blog and be sure to check out the other great things Laura is sharing!

Guest Post - Come Together Kids

Today I have a special treat for you!

I am doing a blog swap with Laura, from Come Together Kids.  Laura and I both started our blogging adventure around the same time.  We have so many things in common, it is just crazy!  I absolutely LOVE her blog and the great ideas she is sharing.  Make sure you stop by and see the fun things Laura is doing with and for her kids!

Hi, I'm Laura, from Come Together Kids and I'm so excited to be guest hosting here at Sun Scholars!  I started my blog as a way to share some of the ways my kids and I have come together through crafts, projects, activities and outings.  I hope you stop by to check it out!

When you stop by Come Together Kids,

be sure to check out my Summer Fun party!  

Be inspired by the great ideas submitted by others 

and share some ideas of your own!

I can't quite remember how I "met" Rachel a couple months ago, but we quickly discovered that our lives were eerily similar.  We both have backgrounds in teaching and education, we both have three young children ( two girls with a boy in the middle!), and we both have very similar tastes in the activities and projects we like to do.  Aside from the fact that I live in Maryland and she lives in Iowa (soon to be China!), it's like we're crafting twins!

Anyway, on to today's project ~ a Beanbag Toss (with a Math twist!)

As a former teacher, I know how easy it is for kids to forget so much of what they've learned when they're out of school for Summer break.  I also know that the best lessons are those when the "learning" is wrapped up in something entertaining.  This fun little beanbag game is a sneaky, yet effective, way to get in a little Math practice while still enjoying your Summer vacation.

The "Equipment"

The game pieces are simple ~ 5 numbered mats and 5 numbered bean bags

How to Play:

( We came up with three versions so far, but there are tons of variations you can play!)

Version One:  Match Up (great number recognition for younger kids)

Spread out your numbered circle mats.  Try to toss each of your numbered beanbags onto the mat with the same number.

Version Two (two or more players):  Add it Up ( fun addition practice)

Players take turns tossing their five beanbags onto the mats, adding up their score as they go.   If the beanbags misses the target, no points. If the beanbag lands pattern side up, you get the number of points on that mat.  If the beanbag lands number side up, you get the points on the mat PLUS the points on the beanbag!  Player with the highest total sum at the end of the round, wins.

Version Three ( one player ):  Race to 50 (awesome mental math practice)

Play with the same point system as Add It Up, but keep playing until you get to 50 ( or 100, 200, or more!)

Trying to hit the target for the most points!

Make Your Own!
(It's really quite easy!)

1.  Cut 10 circles out of felt.  I traced a 9" plate for my circles.

It looks like only 5, but I cut two at a time so there are 10.

2.  Cut 10 five inch squares for your beanbags.  I used felt for one side and a fun fabric on the other.

Oops, the other 4 didn't make it in the picture.  (See, I'm testing your Math already!)

3.  On your computer, find some numbers in a style you like, increase the font to enlarge them, and print them out.

4.  Trace the numbers backwards onto the paper side of some iron-on adhesive ( I like using Heat n Bond Ultra hold for things I'm not going to sew ).  Iron it on the wrong side of the fabric you'll use for your numbers.

You'll want to trace the numbers backwards so they're right side up when you cut them out.

5.  Cut out your numbers and peel off the paper backing.  Iron the smaller numbers onto the bean bag pieces and the larger numbers onto five of the felt circles.

6.  To make the beanbags, put the wrong sides together and sew two seams next to each other around the edges, leaving an opening to fill the bags.

7.   Fill your bean bag with rice.  I found a small paper dixie cup worked even better than a funnel ( Plus my kids took my funnel to play with and never returned it to the drawer!).  You'll want the bean bag full enough to weigh down your bag, but not so full that you can't stitch up the opening.

Filling was much easier with an assistant's help!

8.  Stitch your opening closed, again using two rows of stitches.

See my old sewing machine?  It's as old as I am!

9.  Next, take each pair of felt circles ( one with the number and one plain).  With wrong sides together, simple sew around the outer edge.  ( I suppose you could just use a single layer of felt for your circles if you'll be playing inside, but I found for outdoor use, two layers gives it slightly more weight so it doesn't blow around.)

10.  I decided to make a little storage bag for our game using one of the free little tote bags my husband picks up at conferences and seminars.

11.  Using the iron-on adhesive again, I simply cut a large square of fabric to cover the writing and then made my son's initial since this set is for him ( my girls tend to get all the fun craft projects and my little guy gets left out)

That's it, you're all set!  You have a fun set of beanbags, target mats and a storage bag.   Play a few rounds every once and awhile and you'll be right on target for Math class in the fall.