Thrifty & Chic: Easter Outfits

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Last year’s Easter outfits were really fun to shop for, but this year I wanted to make something (like my mom did for us girls when were young). I didn’t have much of anything in mind when it came to our outfits; especially with Penelope’s, I just flew by the seat of my pants on that one. I just knew I wanted the boys to have matching bow-ties.

I came across this rad bed sheet a few weeks ago & scored it for a whopping $2.50. I fell in love with the ikat-style pattern, the muted color palette and the hem. I hate hemming clothes, so I was particularly excited when I saw how great the hem was on this bedsheet.

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Inspired by theĀ Cotton & Curls’s paper bag skirt tutorial, I made a paper bag-type skirt with a few differences. Because I wanted a fuller skirt, I opted out of the box pleats & did an elastic waistband instead. Want to make your own? It’s super simple:

  • measure your waist & the length you want your skirt
  • cut out fabric 2.5 times the width of your waist (for a full skirt like mine) at the desired length + 1 inch (two inches if you need to hem the bottom, too)
  • hem the top & bottom of your skirt using a 1″ hem
  • cut out elastic at the same measurement as your waist
  • pin the elastic about 1 inch down from the top of your skirt, in sections of eighths
  • using your widest zig-zag stitch sew the elastic onto your skirt, stretching the elastic to match up with the fabric as you go
  • sew the two ends of the skirt together & trim threads
  • wear the skirt with a belt just below the ruffled top
  • VOILA!!

If you’d like pics of this tutorial, give me a shout out in the comments & I’ll get one published soon.

undefinedundefined For Penelope’s dress, I flew by the seat of my pants. Again, being inspired by the box pleats from cotton & curls, I thought if I did a square dress + pin-tucks at the yoke + a ribbon around the waist, it’d be simple & still have shape. Done. Perfect. Looking back, I think I would’ve made her dress a little shorter. On the bright side, she is growing like a weed, so the length will be perfect in a month or two. BONUS, Penelope likes this dress!! YAHOO. She was more than happy to wear this ALL day, which says a lot. She opts to sport just the diaper most of the time.

I totally cheated on the bow ties. I meant to make real bow ties, but since my sewing machine was almost completely broken at this point, I just made bows with my hot glue gun & glued them onto elastic. I cheated, but at least Chris (and his brother) didn’t have to learn how to tie a bow tie just minutes before church. Each bow tie I made took 2-3 minutes. Not bad.

Overall, I spent under $3 (including notions) for our Easter elements. For more pictures & a break down of all of our Easter outfits, head over to the fashion section.

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  1. Anita says:

    Adorable. I can recommend a great place for machine repair that’s in the SLC area if you’re interested. If you’re not…they also sell machines. :D

  2. meredith says:

    i made a skirt like that too since the paper bag look is so cute and simple. i wore it today actually. love the no hem here though, like you, i hate hemming! seriously, i hate it.

  3. Emily says:

    So pretty! I don’t love hemming either. That sheet was a great find! I like the shape the pleats give Penelope’s dress. Your family is adorable! I tried to leave you a comment on your other blog the other day but I got an error.

  4. Aja says:

    These turned out really cute! And I am pretty sure my parents had sheets in this print when I was a kid! :)

  5. Bellesme says:

    You couldn’t really tell in the family photos, but the pattern is so nice! Love it! I love matchy-matchy , but Im glad its not too much, a dress and a skirt is so cute! =) Can you be my (Supercool) aunt? ;)
    Bellesme

  6. Stephanie says:

    You are a beautiful family! I especially love the added touch of that brown belt with your pastel skirt.

  7. Nessa says:

    Love these! Penelope’s dress is really adorable and with that extra length it will be great even next year. It would be a great tunic top too.

  8. Angela says:

    both the skirt and dress are so adorable!!

  9. Rachel Dell says:

    AH. that’s brilliant. for realsies. and cute too which doesn’t always happen. also i’m now a follower. thank the lovely morgan from MVD for me, k.

  10. Um I am obsessed with the fact that you used a $2.50 sheet for these! I personally am interested in a tutorial on the skirt, even though it seems quite simple.

    Thank you for your lovely blog!

  11. […] made this skirt exactly how I made my Easter skirt. It was super simple & took about 30 minutes to make from beginning to […]

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