Tackle it Tuesday - Mixed Bag

It's been a while since I've posted a Tackle it Tuesday; I HAVE been busy, just not been reporting my doings faithfully!

This week I found I've accomplished several "projects" that I've had on my to-do list::

• I completed the NaNoWriMo challenge (50,000 words of a novel in the month of November) on November 29 - one day shy of the deadline. Tickle me pink for that one! I still have another chapter or so to go before I can say I've completed my first draft, but I am so much further ahead by taking this literary challenge than I've ever been in the past.
• The other project I've been working on is a two tiered skirt for my daughter's Christmas present. I made the skirt (without a pattern -gasp!) in the time space of just about 1 1/2 hours. That's not bad for a person who hates to sew and does a terrible job doing it.

To give instructions or explain the making of a novel would take way too much space, so I'll tell you abut the skirt :)

The first thing I did was measure Amanda around the waist. I cut two pieces of fabric double the size of her waist. I used solid yellow for the top part and a pink gingham for the bottom part. I made these two pieces the same length and checked to see that the skirt, once taken up for the elastic waistband and a hem at the bottom, would be the correct length. For my daughter, that is just below the knee.

I sewed the two pieces together, putting a couple of crocheted butterfly pieces on the front. Then I sewed a 1/4 inch hem around the bottom. I folded over the waist big enough for the waistband, leaving an opening to thread the elastic (cut to the size of Amanda's waist). After threading the elastic in (using a safety pin at the end to move the elastic through), I sewed the two ends of elastic together, going back and forth several times to make sure it didn't come apart. Then I closed up the opening.

 Then I ironed the seams flat and ironed the piece over.

Voila! A good old fashioned skirt.