Megan being "The Dominican Republic"

Today we had a homeschool get-together and the topic was countries. (I am hoping to write more about our get-togethers in the future.) Each child or Family (some worked as a group) picked a country and then told about it. Megan chose the Dominican Republic as I have gone there and have things from there that she could show.

  And then I saw their national dress. A full tiered skirt with ribbons on it. and then a full top with a ruffly collar. It was so pretty and it actually looked pretty easy to make. So... I decided to make one for Megan.

 It was a fun project! I went together very easily. I just took a few of her measurements (like her waist, torso length, how long the skirt should be and how wide the shirt should be) and then I was able to start cutting.

  For the skirt I decided to divide it up in three tiers. The first tier was 1.5 x her waist length. The next tier was 1.5 x the length of the first tier. I was going to do the 3rd tier 1.5 x the 2nd tier but ended up deciding to make it even fuller. I am glad I did. I gathered the 2nd and 3rd tiers up and then attached them to the tier above. Then I sewed ribbon over top of the place the tiers joined. I put elastic in the top of the 1st tier. Then I sewed the back seam and then put the hem in with ribbon added.

I made the shirt with raglan sleeves and then just made a full ruffle for the collar. I added elastic at the neckline for ease in getting on and off. I also put elastic near the bottom of the sleeves to give a little ruffle there.

  Megan was all ready to represent the Dominican Republic. Her plan was to say "I am the Dominican Republic" but she got a little shy so I had to explain that she was "from" the Dominican Republic.