Dance Skirt

Here's a yoga style dance skirt I made for my dancing queen from two remnants. The skirt is a poly/spandex fabric. I had a 20" x 54" piece, which I trimmed to 16" x 48". Normally you can use the entire length selvedge to selvedge but there was a flaw on the print which I cut off near one of the edges. I pinned the two 16" edges rights sides together and sewed a 1/2" seam down the back.

The waistband of unknown fiber--but a nice stretchy gray fabric-- is one piece cut on the fold 11" x 15", so it measures 22" x 15" (to fit a waist measurement of 25").  The 15" edges are sewn together with a 1/2" seam to form the waistband tube. The 15" is folded in half so it is 7.5". Edges are sewn together before attaching to the skirt, which is gathered. Sew with a zig zag stitch and then remove the basting stitches; otherwise they could pop when the skirt is pulled on. I didn't hem the bottom edge because this fabric doesn't fray and the length is perfect. Normally, I'd sew a 1/4" narrow hem.

The waistband can be folded down again to create a visible 3-4" band. Very comfortable for dancing and perfect for tonight's jazz and ballet classes. It took a couple of hours to make and only cost about $4 using remnants.

Copyright©2011, Sharon Baggs 

End of Summer...First day of School!

Just returned from a couple of road trips. One was to Montana to visit a college with Becca.

Another was an anniversary/birthday trip to Victoria B.C., with Martin.

Really beautiful sunsets in Victoria...

On the way back, we stopped in Seattle to pick up David from a weekend visit with Sarah.

We had dinner at the Elephant and Castle in downtown Seattle before heading home.

Couple days to recover before the First Day of School!  Hannah is an official 8th grader and Becca is a senior. (Becca, however, declined to be photographed).

Excited to get to work on my September projects, in and around the house and yard. Lots of quilting for the fall is planned, mostly projects in the works that have been waiting for my attention.

Copyright©2011, Sharon Baggs

Happy Birthday David!

My baby boy is 20 today! We celebrated with the family + Natalie with a sushi dinner at Tani's and then cake & ice cream at home while watching the I.T. Crowd (funny British sit-com).  Very proud of our boy, a kind and responsible young man who has worked hard this summer as a head swim coach and swim instructor at a local pool.

And yes, there are 20 candles on the cake! Many happy returns of the day, dear boy. Love you!

Copyright ©2011, Sharon Baggs

Completion: Sunbonnet Sue

Ah, the old girl is done...finally! Finished with the red binding which frames all the ladies quite lovely.

Here's a few highlights of the quilting. Background of each block:

Feather design in the setting triangles along the sides of the quilt:

Smaller version of the feather in the four corners:

Placement of the label on the back of the quilt, which also shows the quilting:

An exciting bit of news for Hannah this week. She is cast for the role of Helen in A Christmas Story at Portland Center Stage  http://www.pcs.org/xmas-story-2011/

Copyright ©2011, Sharon Baggs