there have been many mornings when we get em dressed for her day in practical playclothes (jeans and a t-shirt), then i get dressed for my day at the office in a skirt and jacket.  she suddenly gets very upset.  “i wanna wear a skirt like mommy!” she says.

so in a sudden burst of inspiration, i made her a skirt inspired by one that i often wear (mine is store-bought from ann taylor loft a while ago).  when i first showed it to her, she giggled.  as i dressed us in the same outfits this morning (down to our metallic ballet flats), she said “hey mommy, we match-match!  we got the same skirt on!” with the biggest smile on her face and more giggles.  someday, this may embarrass her.  but today, to my little 3-year-old, it was a dream come true to look just like mommy.

her skirt is midnight blue linen.  i drew on a grid with tailor’s chalk, figured out how to make the design by connecting diagonals, and outlined it more heavily.  then i carefully machine-stitched on the satin ribbon following my chalk-lines.  i did this all while it was still just a rectangle of fabric.  after that, i constructed the skirt as usual (a good tutorial for a simple skirt can be found here), matching up the ribbon design the best i could at the back seam.

the linen was somewhat see-through, so i lined it with another layer of linen.  i love that the lining gives it a bit more fullness.

i didn’t have much room left at the bottom after the design grew a little larger than i expected, so hemmed it with a baby hem.  i’d never done a baby hem before, but recently saw it on vivat veritas’ scallop waist skirt tutorial (which i’ve yet to try for myself, but looks beautiful).  it’s a really nice effect.

sewing, as my personal creative outlet, can be so empowering.  an idea comes, a few hours are spent to execute it, and then my little gal gets to enjoy the product.  she is made so happy by little things, and proudly says “my mommy made this for me!”  it feels so good.  i know her enthusiasm may not last forever, but i’m sure enjoying it now.