Sewing skirts

Wanna know a secret? I'm terrified of sewing patterns.  They always make things harder for me. Whenever I can find projects online or figure out ways to sew something cute without patterns, I jump at the opportunity. 

Neither this skirt nor this lion followed a pattern. I just tried to figure things out in my mind. 

A while back a had found this sewing tutorial where you make a skirt out of a dish towel in the wonderful Grace Violet blog, and oh boy, I wanted to try it out so badly. Then yesterday, I was at the fabric store getting some basic supplies (elastic, etc) and saw this adorable dish towel. Hooray! I grabbed it  right way (for less than $5 - it was on sale), so I could finally try out the skirt. 

Check out how cute! And the fabric that I cut off the sides, I used to make a matching headband. I can't wait for the little one to try it out. 

Cheap, easy, and cute sewing project - what else could I ask for?

Would you sew clothing out of home decor items? How do you channel your inner Maria VonTrapp?

Spring-y skirt tutorial for (very) beginner seamstresses

It's snowing again. A lot.

Sooo, in hopes of calling Spring to us I've been sewing lots of floral, fun skirts for N. to wear when Spring does finally come.

Here's what I did:

1. Cut your fabric of choice the entire of width you'll need (front and back of the skirt) - for N., a 2T size, I cut 24 inches
2. Measure 1/4 in on each side, fold and iron well.
3. Measure a 1/2 in at top, iron, pin, and sew leaving the middle open to pass the elastic through.
4. Pin and sew ribbon along the stitches at top (optional)
5. Pin and sew ruffles at bottom (optional) - this was tougher than I thought. The fabric was stretchy and keeping my stitches straight turned out to be mission impossible for me.
6. Cut elastic a much shorter length, so that the top will bunch up, but not too short that it'll be too tight. For N. I cut 18 inches of elastic and that worked out great.
7. Using a diaper pin or something similar, grab the elastic and pull through. Since there's more skirt than elastic, when the elastic end is getting close to the fabric opening, pin them together so it won't go completely through. Once both ends of the elastic are once more outside of the fabric, pin and sew them together (1 inch).
8. Cover the sewed section of the elastic with the fabric.
9. Using the 1/4 inch folds you ironed earlier, pin and sew the skirt closed - sew the 1/4" right sides together, including the ruffles.

Done!

Care to share your easiest, fastest sewing project? Or it doesn't have to be sewing - all crafts are welcome here. :)