It's become something of a tradition for me to make E a special outfit each year for her birthday. Two years ago, I made her a butterfly skirt and had a friend embroider a "3" on a tee to match. Last year, I threw together a Foofa shirt and easy tutu.
This year, I decided to go back to the number shirt thing, but since I didn't know anyone local who could do the embroidery, I had to dust off the cobwebs on my machine applique skills and put the "5" on myself (I used this method, which I first learned several years ago). I think I did pretty well, especially considering my printer was broken, so I had to freehand my backwards 5! For the skirt, I decided to try a double-layer ruffle skirt, from this tutorial.
I loved the way this skirt turned out! I added some topstitching above each layer of ruffles since I think it gives the skirt a more finished look. I will say though, even though the dimensions on the tutorial say they're for a size 5 or 6, the skirt was a bit smaller than I expected on my tall, skinny girl. I would put it at more of a size 4T/5T. Next time, I will add an inch to the width on the top band, and at least a couple inches in length to each of the ruffle layers, as well as do a rolled hem on the serger. I felt like the turned hem looked bulky.
