Blue Rose Bridesmaid Barrettes

One of my amazing bridesmaids agreed to braid everyone else' hair for the wedding, but to do so she had a very special request. The bridesmaids needed some beautiful flower clips to hold their hair in place. I tried looking at shops like Icing, and even my local pharmacy to find what we needed, but alas, I didn't find anything that fit the look I wanted and also had the kind of clip we needed to hold the hairstyle in place!

Pretty Flower Clip from Icing

I first bought these pretty off-white flowers at Icing, and considered Frankensteining (my new word for taking pieces from a couple different things to make something new) the flower with a different clip that had the right kind of backing. This probably would have worked fine, but I wanted to see if I could get the right thing with less work and less money.

As usual, JoAnn's provided the answer (I promise, they don't pay me to say this). I took a trip there with Momma Cat last week and found:

• An entire bag of the clips that I needed, with nothing attached to them, so no Frankensteining necessary!
• Some beautiful blue fabric roses that were much less expensive than the flower clips I got at Icing
• Some navy blue ribbon wide enough to cover the top of the clip and give the rose someplace to sit

Beautiful Blue Rose

I think the blue roses are even prettier than the first flowers that I liked. I glued a piece of ribbon to the top of each clip, cut the stems off the roses, and glued them on top of the ribbon. Voila! Now that's the last time I'll think it's easier to buy something in a store than make it myself!

-Baby Cat

INSTANT HELLO KITTY SKIRT!

Baby Cat made a new skirt in about 5 minutes! How is this possible? This fabric is made with a smocked portion at the top, so all you need to do is sew one seam to make a dress for a child or a skirt for an adult!

This is what the fabric looks like before any sewing is done.

Step 1: Buy instant-dress fabric long enough to go all the way around your hips, with a 5/8'' seam allowance.

Fold top to inside for narrower wasteband.

Step 2: For a narrower wasteband, fold over top to inside, pin, and stitch along existing smocking stitch line.

Stitch along existing smocking stitch line.

Step 3: With right sites together, pin edges and stitch 5/8'' from edge. Zigzag stitch or use pinking shears to keep edges from unraveling. Trim seam. Be careful stitching through multiple layers of smocked material, Baby Cat broke a needle that way!

Iron if needed, and you are DONE! You now have a cute new skirt and it didn't even take all day! Baby Cat loves her skirt and the Hello Kitty faces and black and fuscia polka-dots just make it too cute!

JoAnn Fabrics has this type of fabric in multiple colors and patterns in case you are not a Hello Kitty fan or even if you just want to try something different! Some of the designs are longer in case you want an instant dress or longer skirt. This one is only a little longer than mid-thigh.

I hope this post inspires you to make your own cute instant skirt!

-Baby Cat