It’s hard to believe, but Valentine’s Day is right around the corner! And you know what that means, it’s time for a party! I teamed with Glade today to share 5 tips for throwing a Valentine’s Day party, and a fun tutorial for my festive skirt at the end!
1. Make your house smell good.
There is nothing more inviting than a good smelling home, am I right? Glade sent me one of their brand new candle scents, Blooming Peony and Cherry (available next month!), and, you guys, this scent is amazing. It’s fruity, flowery, subtle, rich, and delicious all in one. It’s just a fun and flirty scent. It will have all your guests feeling happy and welcome, guaranteed!
2. Prep the night before.
Whenever I leave things to the last minute, I’m stressed and then I don’t enjoy my party. Whenever I throw a party I always arrange all the decor the night before, and get as much of the food prepped and ready as possible. It’s also always a good idea to do pot luck — I guarantee your friends will offer to help, so let them! It takes a huge load off of you and then you can enjoy your party stress-free.
3. Simple decor goes a long way.
Sometimes (okay, always) I overthink things, and when decor is overdone it be stressful, time consuming, and often look overdone. I kept it super simple with a few heart garlands (cut out a bunch of felt hearts and sew them with your sewing machine in a long strand), a cut of ikea striped fabric on the table as a runner, some paper heart confetti, and beautiful fresh flowers. If you only have time for one decoration, choose the pink roses and call it a day. They’re always a show stopper. Glade’s Pinterest page is also filled with pretty inspiration to get the ideas flowing!
4. Turn on some music!
The perfect way to set the tone of the party is with music. It’s always helpful in avoiding awkward silences, and it keeps everyone calm. I usually pick a low-key pandora station.
5. Wear something pretty!
Even as the hostess, as you’re running around crazy, you should feel beautiful and flirty during your Valentine’s Day party! Don’t worry — I’ve got you covered. Click through and find the super easy tutorial for my floral skirt!
a lovely skirt! Great tutorial 🙂
It looks great! What kind of fabric did you use? Was it cotton, satin…?
It’s a lightweight cotton 🙂
That skirt is gorgeous! It’s been a long time since I’ve done an a-line skirt for myself and now I’m inspired! I did have a question about step 3. Is there a reason the wasitband is cut along the selvage edge? Is it to prevent fraying? If I zig-zag along the cut edge of the waistband would that work, too? Thanks!
Zig zagging should work just fine. In fact, when I do it I probably won’t even cut a separate waist band piece, I’ll probably just add that extra three inches onto the skirt piece and then fold it over that way. Easier and gives you the same result 🙂 Merrick’s way still works great too though!
Thanks for replying to Heather! Yes, either way works!
Where did you get your fabric? I love that print!
LOVE that skirt! Thanks for posting the tutorial!
I love this look! Thank you for another great tutorial!
That skirt is so pretty! And your tablescapes are always so gorgeous!
Paige
http://thehappyflammily.com
Love it! Where did you pick up the beautiful floral fabric?
It was from a little local shop, but someone on my instagram found it on ebay (if you’re interested). It’s called “Modern Monet” from Maywood Studio. Hope that helps!
Super adorable!! FYI, Target has a lot of stuff right now that would match your tablescape perfectly 🙂
Kristina does the Internets
That skirt is so simple even I could do it! I’m going to have to go buy some floral fabric. Thank you for your awesome tutorials! And dang, what a gorgeous tablescape. You are so talented. 🙂
So cute and creative to wear the Donna Morgan dress as a top!! Love this!
Absolutely love the fun and creative way you styled our dress! XOXO Thanks for sharing!
So cute. I wish I had friends to invite to a Valentine’s Day party.
Love the tips and the tutorial!
http://www.geekyjessy.blogspot.com
I have attempted this skirt three times now — I cannot seem to find where the directions show how to actually form the skirt. You sew the two rectangles together, but when do you bring it to a skirt? I may be misunderstanding a step, but I have started over and retried multiple times without any luck. Was this step omitted in the directions or am I reading something wrong? would love to get this project completed and be able to wear it.
Oh no! I’m so sorry it’s confusing you! Step 2 is where you sew the skirt pieces together, then you add the waistband, insert the elastic, and then the elastic makes the big rectangles pull in to become a skirt. Hope that helps??
Thank You Thank You! I am still rather new to sewing, so I figured the misunderstanding must have been on my end 🙂 Thanks for The feedback!
I’m a beginner to sewing and I am attempting to make this skirt. I was able to make it, but it is so big…..I measured my waist and multiplied that by 1.5 but the skirt has so much volume and fabric. Is there something that I’m missing??? I just can’t figure out the right proportion to what should go around my waist. Also, when I started to pin the rectangles to the waistband, there is so much fabric. I pleated it but I wasn’t sure if that was the right thing.
Any help would be greatly appreciated!
Did you make each skirt piece 1 1/2 times your waist? Or the total measurement of both pieces 1 1/2 times your waist? That will definitely make a difference. Also, you’re not supposed to pleat it — it will gather automatically when you add the elastic waistband. Hope that helps!
Ooooh!!!! That’s what I did, I measured my waist, multiplied that by 1.5 and cut two squares that size. Was I supposed to divide that full number by 2 and then cut the two squares by that number? So sorry for all of the questions but I’m new to sewing!!! I’m going to attempt this again, thank you soooo much for all of your help!!!!! 🙂
Yes, take your waist x 1.5, then divide by 2. So when your two pieces are sewn together, it should be 1 1/2 times your waist. Good luck!
This wasn’t clear to me either, so I’m glad for this comment!
oh no! I was wondering why the skirt had so much volume!!! didn’t see this before I sewed mine!
I just followed this tutorial to make this skirt here: http://mollyandstacie.com/diy-bright-midi-skirt/
It was so easy! Thanks for this!
If you were to adjust the length to make it maxi-length would it effect the design? Thanks in advance!
not at all — it would be super cute as a maxi dress. Although I’d recommend going with a knit fabric, rather than the cotton fabric I used. The drape of a knit fabric will work better for a maxi.
Just remember that if you use knit fabric to ensure to use a serge machine or the stretch stitch to avoid breaking seams….btw….love these ideas…going to try this weekend!
This is amazing! I am going to have to do this for sure. Love the idea.
And can I just say… if this is your house, it looks like it came straight out of a magazine.
Come decorate for me please.
I love this skirt, thanks for a great tutorial!
I had a go at making a knee-length version myself, I posted about it here:
http://poppyallanorma.com/2015/06/07/diy-floral-knee-length-skirt/
Love can be communicated from multiple points of view and regularly there is a form of love,appreciation and profound respect inside of the family.Valentine’s day will be over and quite a few of us will fall once again into our same routine of trying to bring home the bacon,trying to keep one another fulfilled and raising our hopes for the future,yet then that special moment may have been lost when valentine’s day has come and gone.Despite the fact that this is not the same for all lovers,numerous may continue to treat every day as though valentine’s day had never wrapped up.I am certain this is quite rare however.
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Match
My Spirit
Where did you get that material from its stunning?
I got it at a local shop, but here’s the info on it: “Modern Monet” from Maywood Studio
How wide was this fabric? 45 or 60 inches?
i’m pretty sure it was 45.
Oh no! Yes, I did 1 1/2 times my waist, but you can do up to 2 times your waist if you want it to be more full!
Hi Merrick! Can you share what fabric you used for this skirt? I love it! I know this was last year but I was hoping to see if the fabric is still available. Thanks!
shoot, there used to be comments with people who found it. But when I transferred my site a few months ago, the comments didn’t transfer over. I’ll see if I can hunt it down!
Could you just leave the the cut fabric prices whole and do one seam down the back?
yes you could!
I am sewing ot by hand so the fewer the better. I believe instead of cutting the band piece; I will leave the 3inches on the body fabric and sew the elastic into it.
If your hips are quite a bit wider than your waist, this will appear more fitted. You need more fabric.
Just for everyone’s info, this is a gathered skirt, not an A-line skirt. An A-line skirt is made from wedge shaped panels with curved bottoms. Also the elastic will be more comfy if it is overlapped and sewn that way, not sewn as a seam. It’s a great tutorial tho and one of the easiest ways to make a skirt.
I was just reading through this tutorial, and noticed I would have the same problem. My hip measurement is 10″ larger than my waist (w=27, h=37). After some math, it looks like waist x 1.75 will be a better fit. That will give about 8.5″ of ease around the hips. Curvy girl problems 😉
I had the same problem, hips too big. also, how do you keep the elastic from turning in the casing??
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[…] Floral patterns and the designs are so much in fashion and style with the arrival of the summer and spring, and you can enjoy them in your wardrobe in so many fun ways and making this lovely skirt would be just perfect. You can easily sew up this skirt on your own by getting the details of it here merricksart […]