I made this skirt for Zoe one morning before a birthday party which she was going to straight from swimming lessons.  I was in my pj's and the present wasn't wrapped and the swimming gear wasn't ready....a fairly typical Saturday morning really.  When Zoe went to get her favourite party skirt on we found it was in the wash.  My response, which should have been to tell Zoe to go and choose a different skirt, was to tell her I could sew one just the same in time for the party.  And so I went to my stash, picked my favourite European cord, and started to cut, using the other skirt as a pattern.

 

Fast forward 45 minutes...I'm still in my pj's, the present still isn't wrapped, the swimming lesson starts in 15 minutes, and I'm sewing on the waistband.  By now I'm seriously berating myself for once again allowing such a ridiculous situation to eventuate.  

Anyway I push on, and fast forward another 20 minutes...we are only 5 minutes late for swimming and as I watch I start threading the elastic into the waistband.  I get Zoe dressed, wrap the present in the car park before we go into the party (hey I've done this at traffic lights on the way before so this was comparatively calm), and Zoe enters the party wearing a lovely new skirt.  

And did the other parents hear the hint of desperation in my voice as I ordered a coffee?  No - I don't think so. 

 

What really excites me about this skirt though, is not the way I managed to sew it in an hour without suffering long term psychological scaring, but the fact that it is now Zoe's favourite skirt, and it is the one she reaches for when she is getting dressed for a party.  That doesn't happen too often.  I mean she often likes and wears what I sew for her, but rarely does the item become a favourite.  

This was a comforting thought this morning as we were madly rushing to get ready for a birthday party...