Starting on Monday, October 12, Melissa of One Crafty Mumma is hosting a five-day Lazy Days Skirt sew-along. She already has over 20 people signed up! See her blog for details and to join.

photo by Melissa

And while you’re there, check out her amazing smocked Popover Sundress! Really beautiful work, Melissa.

Here’s a little trick that will prevent an elastic waistband from turning and getting twisted.

Leave a little extra space in the width of the casing, and edgestitch the top edge of the waistband before you feed the elastic through. For some reason, that top row of stitching will prevent the elastic from folding over on itself when the elastic is added.

You can use this little trick in any elastic waistband, but it seems to be more of an issue in waistbands that have elastic all the way around; back-only elastic waistbands have less of a tendancy to twist and turn.

Try this little tip in the Lazy Days Skirt, the Bedtime Story Pajamas, and the Puppet Show Shorts and I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised at the results!

We continue to be amazed at the popularity of the Lazy Days Skirt pattern. If you take a look at the Flickr group you’ll see a large number of skirts made from this simple, free pattern. I’m sure we’ll be seeing many more of these appearing there in coming weeks with the warm weather that is arriving in the northern hemisphere.

We made this linen skirt the other day to show you that you can also use bias-cut fabric strips in place of the ribbon hem on the skirt, much in the same way our hem facing is done–but reversed so it shows on the outside of the skirt, instead of discretely finishing the inside of a dress.

As with the ribbon hem on the Lazy Day Skirt, the inside of the skirt will have a clean finish. Keep this technique in mind if you want to use a printed fabric for your hem or you don’t have any ribbon handy. You can see that we edgestitched the top of our hem with red thread to give it that je-ne-sais-quoi. (And to avoid blindstitching the top edge of the hem fabric. It’s supposed to be a quick skirt, after all.)

As you can see, the finished skirt is getting lots of wear. The wearer, however, is not practicing the name of the skirt. She just keeps going! And going. And going. Here’s to a relaxed and enjoyable summer ahead.

Have you seen all the wonderful Lazy Days Skirts that are showing up in the Flickr group? Lots of great fabric and ribbon combinations, and some really adorable little girls enjoying their new skirts.

August is meant for relaxing and hanging out on the porch. At least, that’s what we had in mind for this skirt. It’s about as easy to sew as a skirt can be, since it’s made from a single width of fabric. And when it’s finished you’ll still have plenty of time to contemplate the day from the porch swing.

We’ve been testing it on several little girls, and it’s perfect for dog walks too.

With a simple elastic waistband, it’s also comfortable, which is a crucial element for hanging out during the most relaxed month of the year.

But our favorite part is the ribbon at the hem. You can use almost any sort of ribbon in any width you like. It makes a clean finish to the hem, as you can see.

Download and print your free instructions for the Lazy Days Skirt here. We hope you’ll make a skirt or two, and when you’re finished be sure to post photos of your finished skirt (or skirts) to the Oliver + S Flickr group.

And then go enjoy the rest of your summer. Maybe you’ll find a hammock to share with your favorite active little girl.