Bubble Skirt From Tights Scraps

Don't you just hate to waste things? When I was making the last post with the knee-highs, I had a bunch of tops of little tights on my hands, and I didn't want to just throw them away, so I thought to make these little bubble skirts out of them! It works really well, and I may have over-complicated the directions a little bit, but it's actually very easy!

1) First you want to decide on how long you want your skirt to be. Then measure from the waistband to the desired length, and then back to the bottom of the tights. Add an inch or so for seams.

2) Then cut your fabric the length that you figured out in the first step.For the width, measure the length of the bottom of skirt that you have on hand in your daughter's size. For example, my daughter had a nice full skirt that was 40" around the bottom, so I cut my fabric 15"x4o" (which makes about a size 24m-2T)

3) Sew a gathering stitch on each of the longer sides of your fabric. (Fold over the fabric for the hem on one side, before you sew it, for the bottom of the skirt.)

4) Gather the top until it is the size of the waistband (don't worry, it will stretch out later!).

5) Then sew the short sides together, with right sides facing each other.

6) place the waistband (right side out) inside the skirt (right side in), until the ruffled edge is just below the waistband. Pin well, and sew on with a zig-zag stitch. This takes a little care and maneuvering, so that you don't sew the tights to themselves. :o)

7) Gather the bottom of the skirt until it's the same size as the bottom of your tights, and sew to the bottom of your tights, right sides facing each other, with a zig-zag stitch, the same way you did the top.

The underside of your skirt should look like this:

Then take out your gathering stitches (my fancy and professional way of doing this is to just stretch the waistband until the thread breaks. It won't break your zig-zag stitches!)

And your done!

My pictures aren't selling this project the way they should, because the skirts actually look completely darling in real life! They are super puffy, Paige looks like a little ballerina in hers :o)