Puffy Skirt Tutorial: The wait is finally over..

Puffy Skirt Tutorial:
I love these skirts. They are awesomely fun to wear and really versatile. It's really easy to make, especially once you get your first one done. I highly recommend that if you have some fabric, elastic and an hour or two of time, definitely give this a try!

NOTE: You can really change the pattern however you like. I just made this up to suit my preferences, but there is no correct way! Also, I'm not using any technical sewing terms (mainly as I don't know any) so, yeah. Sorry. (But then again, that's what always gets me confused in patterns.. so, maybe my lack of sewing-vocabulary is better?)

NOTE 2: Pretend the piece of paper is fabric - it's mainly to show you where to cut/ sew.

What you need:
- 0.5 yard - 1.5 yards of fabric
- 0.75 inch - 1 inch elastic
- Sewing basics (machine, thread, scissors, pins, etc.)

1. Purchase your material.
Any fabric that is not too thick is suitable for this project. I usually use this cheap cotton that ends up being a few dollars for 1.5 yards. Depending on how puffy you intend your skirt on being, purchase 0.5 to 1.5 yards of fabric. (the more, the pouffier. I usually use 1.5 yards for a very pouffy affect)

2. Cut the fabric in two pieces, lengthwise. I usually to cut on the folded line of the fabric.



3. Make an elastic holder. (Do this to both pieces of fabric)
Pin the top of the fabric down about 0.5 inch. Press (iron).


Remove pins and fabric should remain folded. Pin this fabric down again, about a half inch bigger than your elastic. Ex. the elastic I'm using is 0.75 inch, so I pinned the fabric down 1.25 inch. Press.




Sew along the seam, so the folded fabric remains folded down.



4. Sew fabrics together. Pin the right sides of the fabric (i.e. side that you want showing) together. Sew along the seams, up until the elastic holder.




5. Put in elastic.

Measure the length of the elastic by placing it around your waste. It should be comfortable, but fit snuggly. (Overlap the ends of the elastic.)


Place a safety pin at the end of your elastic and thread it through, bunching the pieces of fabric as you go. Ensure that you pin the other end of the elastic at the end of the skirt's opening (so you do not lose it).



Sew the ends of the elastic together. To ensure stability, you may want to cross stitch it several times.


6. Close the ends of the skirt. Distribute the elastic evenly between the two pieces of fabric (so there is equal bunching all around). Once content, sew the open ends of the skirt (the elastic holder) together. The thread will not show because of the bunching.


7. Hem the skirt. (NOTE: you can hem the skirt however you please - I know that there are many methods. Do as you prefer! I think that this is the easiest one to explain and do.)

Pin the hem (bottom) of the skirt 0.5 inch. Press and remove pins.


Put the skirt on and pin it up at the length that you would like it to be.


Remove the skirt and pin it up at the length that you had pinned. Ensure that the 0.5 inch remains folded (for clean lines). Press.



Sew along the hem.


8. Voila!


Enjoy your brand-new skirt! :) You can embellish it however you like, or keep it as it is. It looks really cute sinched at the waist with a belt, but maybe you'll find new ways to wear it!

If you have any questions, definitely go ahead and comment and I'll happily clarify any of the instructions. If you do make this (um, I love you!) then please post a picture - I'd love to see the finished result. I personally feel that everyone should enjoy this wonderful experience and should therefore make one.

Have a good day!

I don't have, nor want, a cell phone. I bring shame to my technology-driven generation.

Hello people! I don't really have an exciting introduction or rambling of whatever is on my mind. So, I will just jump to the bait. (How does that catchphrase go? You know? The one about jumping to... the end. But not. Seriously, if anyone know what I'm implying, could you please share to me the proper words?) Anyways...

Yesterday: The fam-jam and I headed off to Toronto (about an hour away from where we live) to hit the exhibition with some of our extended family. While the older sector of the group went to hear Bill Clinton, us youngsters looked around. There was a lot of cool stuff, but the highlight for us was spending hours at the giant warehouse sale! Lots of signs with "3 for $10" and "50%" calling our names... It was a lot of fun!

Some night shots I took at night...



We wasted a ridiculously large amount of money ($12!) playing these carnival games, winning nothing, but a tiny stuffed elephant. Discovery - don't buy into the carnival games - they all have catches! Discover 2 - I have really bad aim. Just saying..

Outfit:

(Hairband - DIY, Blazer - Value Village $7, Shirt - California $15, Shorts - Aritzia - $15)
All in all, it was an awesome Saturday!

Today - I always feel like Sundays were invented to be leisurely days. To spend some time with the family, and perhaps go on a stroll, visiting quaint little shops and frolicking through the parks. Unfortunately, the day was rather dowdy so "parks" were out of question. I went downtown, but discovered that "visiting quaint little shops" were out of question as they were all closed. So, I spent the majority of my Sunday sewing - I finished this denim skirt (which I will post very soon) and a puffy skirt (which will be coupled with the tutorial) for my sister. (By the way - I started typing the tutorial as part of this post, but my eyelids slowly started to shut close and as I read what I wrote, I didn't even know what I was saying. Moral of the story, the tutorial will be out soon!)
Outfit:

(Military Blazer - Value Village $7, Pink skirt - "Pacific Mall" $7, Tights - H&M $5, Socks - AEO, Shoes - Mum's)

Stole this bag from my mum's closet. Well, no. I borrowed it without asking and plan on letting it rest in my room :). My new-found love are bags with extra-long straps, so you simply let it hang over your shoulder. Much easier than handbags!

(Bag - NYC $10)

Purchased this funky ring at the warehouse sale yesterday!

(Ring - $5)

It was a pretty uneventful Sunday, but still enjoyable!

Today's shout out goes to my 13 twitter-followers! You guys rock. I'm so happy you guys care about what I'm doing each moment of the day :)

Dear Twitter,
I still don't get your point. I feel as though I'm typing stuff to make myself more stalk-able for the general public.
And I'm peeved about the fact that my name is too long and I have to combine "with" and "the," which just looks stupid.
Love,
Me.

Nonetheless, you guys are seriously awesome. Thanks for making me feel like I'm not just typing random ramblings to myself. Haha. Anyways, I grant you guys permission to stalk - ahem, "follow" - me via twitter! Also, shoutout to All My Love for doing me a feature on her blog. Check out her blog - it's brand new, adorable, and I'm sure she'd love your support! Okay, I promise for the skirt tutorial soon, as well as an outfit post with some of my new finds/ new skirt sewed!

What did you do this weekend?

She's got an itsy-bitsy, teeny-tiny, pink polka dotted..

Hello, my name is Lexy. Seriously. I was deeply pondering about my blog (not really) and I realized, "WOW. You guys don't even know my name." So, yeah. Now you do. It's Lexy. And -

We're sorry, but we interrupt this post for some breaking news. Lexy/ Girl With the Bow Tie now has Twitter.

WHAT? Oh yeah. I do! I just got twitter. I'm such a dork with 1 follower, so please follow me @ twitter.com/girlwithebowtie. - Yeah, the stupid URL only allows me to have a certain number of letters, so if you didn't realize, with + the = withe. Comment and leave links to your twitters and I'll be happy to follow you as well! :)

Yesterday's Outfit:
Pretty simply outfit for a day shopping in Toronto. Okay, let me give you guys a word of advice. If you ever go to Toronto to shop you must go to the Kensington market. A street full of vintage/ thrift/ indie designer stores must be amazing. And it is! Seriously.

(Denim Shirt - Dress-up box, Shorts - Value Village $3, Vest - Peru $17, Belt - Dad's, Jewelery - Assortment)


(Tights - DIY, Shoes - Value Village $7)

Today's Outfit:
As promised, I have a posting of the finished pink skirt. Ta-da!


(Blazer - Vintage/ Value Village $7, Skirt - Homemade, Tights - H&M $5, Shoes - Mum's, Tank top - Mum's)

I'm very happy to have finished this skirt and therefore, jumping shots were necessary. Plus, I just like jumping...


It's a polka-dotted explosion!


Also wearing the homemade hair clip, posted a few weeks back...

(hair clip - home made)

I had a lot of random scraps from the hem of the skirt, so I decided to make a t-shirt out of it...


(Jeans - UB, Shirt - homemade)

How to make it: 1. Cut out flower shapes from fabric/ scraps in various sizes. 2. Strategically place them on a plain white tee-shirt. 3. Once happy with the layout, pin the pieces down. 4. Try not to poke the needles through your eyes out of frusturation when hand-sewing the hundreds of flowers down for hours. 5. When you're finally done, you have permission to run around your house and shout, at full volume, "I DID IT." 6. Then, you can cut your t-shirt (collar, sleeves, hem) to a desirable cut.

At first, this was a fun project. However, after I started handsewing.. it all changed. Handsewing each individual flower. EACH FLOWER.


Anyways, I'm satisfied with the outcome. I'll be posting a legit DIY-instructions (with pictures and other fun things... well, just pictures. But those are fun!) for how to make those puffy skirts very soon. So keep an eye out for that!

So, don't forget to follow me on twitter. And don't forget to leave your twitter in the URL so I can follow you as well... Oh yeah, and what do you guys think of the new header? It turned out a bit bigger than I had wanted, but oh well... I feel like I should clarify some things about it. 1) I'm supposed to be pretending how to fly (it's what I do!), but I ran out of room. So I'm just holding a bird. 2) My heart-shaped glasses are broken. It's based on a true story. Where my heart-shaped glasses are broken. Anyone know where I can buy new ones?

Thanks for the last batch of comments! Visiting your blogs very soon! :)

EDIT: Big thanks to Little Clementine for this blogger award! Check out her awesome blog here. I'm not good at passing on awards. But I think that all you commenters deserve an award, so I award you all! Seriously. You guys are awesome. :)