OK I am adapting a pattern; who has time to help me?

[KatyMac]

I have this leotard & this skirt

But I have just realised the skirt is attached by sewing the top of the leotard and the knicker bit together & the other leotard doesn't have that bit

Bugger

So do I put the skirt on a thick bit of elastic & sew it on or cut the leotard?

[KatyMac]

I have gone for the elastic - I think it's sensible

All cut out, I can't hem the skirts until DD is back in case they are too long......which I think they are

Her waist to ankle is 35 inches - so my diagonals need to be that long; I'll measure them

[KatyMac]

I still think its a bit long - dd is 3 inches shorter than me & it fine on me

So if I sew the skirt to the top of the elastic & then fold it it will be the right length

But if I do that the waist will look bulky

Hmm

[KatyMac]

Not going well

[KatyMac]

Things have calmed down

[r3dh3d]

Katy - am not seeing the link to the skirt. Am seeing the leotard twice. Hence a bit hard to visualise what is going on...

[KatyMac]

Whoops this skirt

Pratt

Now the leotard is OK - bit small but that means I can use poppers on the undercarriage so she can pee

The skirt is causing me problems though

[r3dh3d]

pee-ing is always a bonus, lol.

I think the skirt will work fine as a separate piece as long as you are OK with it not doing that dip in the front. (I would have cut the leotard, but I am a pattern vandal. :oops:)

[KatyMac]

I think it's more stable this way

The waist band is at her waist too, rather than dropped (which it probably should be)

If I drop it to her hips the skirt will be too long

But the waist band of the skirt is too wide for the elastic so I'm going to have to do something clever

[r3dh3d]

The usual method would be to pin at regular intervals (ie mark at CB, CF and halfway between on both the skirt and the elastic, and then pin together at those points). You will get a circle where the skirt droops from the elastic a bit in 4 even loops between the pins. I suppose you could do 8 if you are less of a bodger than keener than me. Then sew, stretching the elastic as you go along so the elastic and the skirt are the same length in that section as it passes under the foot. Quicker and easier than gathering the skirt and then taking the gathering stitches out again.

[KatyMac]

I did all that as far as pinning every 2cms but forgot the stretching the elastic

Thanks

[KatyMac]

It's damn near finished

Remember DD designed it

[KatyMac]

It's all finished and pictures are on my profile

DD looks very miserable and she had been dressed & undressed in it about 20 times so I could get the fit right

I'm not sure about it tbh - but she loves it

[teacherwith2kids]

I thought that you had solved my 'need to make a lyrical dress for DD but have no pattern' problem :) but then realised that DD at 8 is definitely not a 'Misses' size and there isn't the same type of long-skirted dress in the girls' patterns.

How tall is your DD? Mine is c. 135 - 140 cm (so a tall age 8) but I think even the smallest size of that skirt pattern would be a problem...

[KatyMac]

The handkerchief skirt is so easy to make

It's a square - you need to think about length the shoirter bits are the cross shape on the square and the longer bits are on the diagonal

Then you cut a circle out of the middle & I sewed it on to a thick bit of elastic and folded it under

DD's circle was a large(ish) dinner plate so yours would be a smaller plate (ish)

Then you pick a lovely leotard & some nice fabric & you are sorted

I envisage lots of these very easy skirts for DD in future