Matching LEEOW SHOES and SKIRT.

So. I mentioned before that my daughter is now potty trained. And while I'm not going to talk about details (NO. Seriously. NO.) I will say that the most important thing about the whole process is finding something that motivates your kid. Mine? Was motivated by a combination of Bubbles, being a Big Girl, Yo Gabba Gabba Underpants, Elmo, Coloring, Shoes, and - I'm so not even kidding about this - me hula hooping.

Yeah.

Anyways somewhere during the middle of it all I took her to Target, turned her loose in the shoe aisle and said "You can pick whatever you want but you can't wear them until you potty all the time." (and now you have that Eddy Murphy song going through your head.  You're welcome.)

Shoes are a mighty motivator for this kid.

After examining every pair in the store she decided on the ones that I knew she would pick as soon as I laid eyes on them:

LEEOW SHOES. Leeow as in Meow with a L. I don't know why but she's always said it this way.

Kid loves her potty shoes. And wears them proudly. All the time. And since I believe that positive reinforcement is as important as negative (aka if you listen to mommy awesome things happen) I whipped up this little skirt to match:

I made it during a naptime after she was particularly good on a trip to the park. Listened to me, followed directions, left without a fight. All those things that make you feel like maybe something is getting through:

More gets through than you think, mommy.

The pattern is the MADE simple skirt. I didn't measure the fabric, just used selvedge to selvedge. Which meant this is less than an hour worth of sewing.

Less time sewing more time RUNNING.

I love how the tutorial calls for an extra line of stitching at the bottom and along the top of the elastic casing:

Details like that really take a project to the next level.

The fabric was, of course, picked out by my daughter. Jo Anne's is quite possibly her favorite place on the planet. Despite the um... trashy... tranny... shiny... insane... nature of the cheetah print with gold sparkles she loved it so much I had to get it.

I don't know what you're talking about.  Shiny and kitty cat?  How can that be anything but AWESOME.

Besides. Who cares if she looks like she's about to board a bus to Vegas with the over 65 crowd (or work there in one of the shows) when you get a reaction like this:

Her exact words? "OH. MY. GOODNESS. MOMMY MAKE IT UP A SKIRT. LOOK. HOW. SHINY."

Indeed.