Circus, Circus

Lambchop #1 went to circus school this year with her class. They spent a week learning all kinds of acrobatics. Then, they came back and spent lots more time practicing to put on a circus for the parents. That's happening tomorrow. I got the invitation a few days ago, but with all the sick kids and other messes, I seem to have misplaced it without ever getting the chance to read it. I had the hubbie check with the teacher to find out what time it will be tomorrow. Good thing, too, because he also learned she needed to wear either something blue or something red. This is a five-year-old girl we're talking about. If it's not pink or purple, it doesn't get worn. So, why would we have any blue outfits lying around here?

Wait a minute! This gives Mommy the perfect excuse to make something on the sewing machine. Good thinking. In fact, I've got plenty of blue shirts from my drab phase. I'm trying to get rid of them all, anyway, so I pulled out a particularly blah one and got to work on it. Here's the end result. One long-sleeved t-shirt gave me this entire outfit.

The pants are made of the sleeves. I just laid a pair of capris pants down on the sleeve and was happy to see they were just the right length and width. Then, I cut the crotch seam area and left the side seams and hem intact. That meant I only needed to make a waistband.

The shirt comes from the body of the original t-shirt. I kept one side seam and the hem again. I realized later that the original shirt dipped lower in the center of the bottom hem than on the side (curved hem), and this meant that one side of Lambchop's shirt hem is higher than the other. I'm going with the words "design detail" to explain this. Those asymmetrical hem-lines are all the rage at the moment, anyway.

Then, all that was left was to add the scallopy stuff on the hems, collar and armholes to make it more feminine and something she'll be more likely to wear after this circus show, too. I figure, if nothing else, she'll have a new pair of pjs for the summer.

I'm all excited about how well it turned out and can't wait to see her in it. It was very cheap, considering the original shirt is a man's shirt that I had picked up for next to nothing after Lambchop #1 was born. I don't remember what I paid for it, but it wasn't much, because I remember it was on clearance and I refused to pay much back then for clothes that wouldn't fit me for very long since I was sure I'd lose that pregnancy weight some time. Considering how much use I got out of that shirt myself, the whole outfit basically only cost me whatever amount of thread I used, plus the bit of elastic for the waistband, both of which I had on hand. I think it took me a maximum of 2 1/2 hours to make it all from start to finish. It could have been much faster, but the scallops take a while to sew. In my opinion, they are well worth the time and effort for the effect they give, though.