Colette Challenge - Misadventure #1

I had my first Colette Challenge misadventure. It's not a failure because I learned a lot from it and I may yet be able to salvage the project. I call it my first because I fully expect to have more misadventures because, unfortunately, that's how I learn.

I really like the t-shirt skirts from Sew Like My Mom (here) but I also like the ruffle t-shirt skirts from Monkey See, Monkey Do! (here). I wanted to combine the two, having a t-shirt skirt with a shirred waistband and a ruffled bottom. I found this cute t-shirt at the local thrift store. I love the yellow bicycle!

 
Being a woman's medium, the t-shirt was too small for this project, so I decided to add dark blue panels on the sides from another thrifted t-shirt. Adding a ruffle along the bottom should  make it long enough. That was the plan, anyway.

Here's a list of my errors:

1. Measuring around my waist instead of my hips (the widest part of my lower body). Therefore, the skirt fits my waist but is too snug around the hips.
2. Sewing the shirring on the wrong side of the fabric. I was halfway around when I realized that the elastic bobbin thread was on the right side of the fabric. Oh well, I never tuck in my shirts anyway.
3. Not using a stretch stitch for the shirring. When I tried the skirt on (with 3 lines of shirring), I could hear stitches popping!
4. Not starting with a long enough t-shirt. It's going to take a mack daddy ruffle to get this skirt to a decent length for me (just above the knee).

 I stopped this project for now and I may or may not come back to it later. I think I'll go to my local big box retailer and buy an inexpensive man's 3X large t-shirt to try again.