Sew easy...try this at home

I went shopping at JoAnn Fabrics yesterday. I like going there sometimes just to check out the goods without the pressure of children or husband hanging out and asking me when I'll be ready to go every five minutes. While I was there, I stumbled upon some material labeled "Garden Party." It was priced at 35 cents an inch (doesn't sound like a lot but this ends up being $12/yard which is expensive BUT I had a coupon.). The one end had a bunch of elastic in it and the other end was just free.

This is what it looks like when you buy it and wash/dry it.

Here's an up close of the material after you buy it.

So basically, you can buy however many inches you need and can easily make a tube top type dress for your youngster. I estimated that I would need 21 inches to make a dress for Ella. I bought two different types of material: One pink with green frogs and one green with pastel colored lady bugs.

Aside from the material you need:

One willing volunteer.

Your sewing machine and coordinating thread.

A spool of ribbon (bought on clearance for 25 cents. Yeah, that's right. I said 25 cents)

An iron and ironing board.

Now, take your material and sew the edges together.

Have your child put the newly constructed dress on (yes it was constructed with only one straight line of stitching plus I zigzag stitched the edges because I don't have a serger). Next measure out some ribbon to use as straps (see also below).

Sew on the straps. I left a little bit of extra strap on the ends so that if she grew over the summer, I could easily adjust them later.

Have your child try on the dress again to mark the hem.

Beg your kitty to get off the ironing board so you can iron the hem where you want it.

Iron the hem with your kitty still laying onthe ironing board because you can't force her to get off.

Take the dress back to ye old sewing machine and sew the hem on.

Have your child try the dress on.

Total price: 21 inches X 35 cents an inch=7.35 BUT I had a coupon for 40% off a cut of fabric so $7.35 X .6 =$4.41

Plus the cost of ribbon and thread--maybe 50 cents total but that's probably overestimating the cost. So $4.91 total

How long did it take? About an hour including the time it took me to try and get my cat off the ironing board and a ten minute phone call.

The end.