Frugal Family--Saving on Skirts!

Hi Everyone!

Thought I would share a very simple method to save on making skirts.  Back in the olden days, I would have gone to the fabric store and picked out a pattern and fabric, thread, etc. and come home to sew a skirt "from scratch" so to speak.  Well, that was before patterns and fabric prices went so high.  So for a long time, I gave up on sewing clothes.  And I have never found a lot of clothes that fit me at thrift stores.  I guess that is what I get from being 5' 9 when the average American woman is 5'5.  

But I have now discovered something new--to me, anyway, and that is the option of looking at the thrift store as your fabric store.  

Last week I found this little beauty for .50 cents.  Not exactly my style, and definitely way too short for me.  It is hard to tell from the picture, but it was very much a "petite" in length, and I am very much a "long" in length! But I loved the fabric!  It just looked so summery and FUN!  Well, for .50 cents, you can't go very wrong, even it it ends up in the trash can--so I bought it and brought it home.

 First step, I chopped the skirt part off from the yoke of the dress.  I should have left the yoke in the picture for comparison, but I cut it off just barely below the yoke--trying to save as much of the length as possible.  Then pinned it together at the bottom hem since I was preserving the bottom pattern, and evened up my cutting edge up at the top.

 Next step was to turn it inside out, fold and sew the raw edge under 1/4th inch, then fold, press, and sew a casing for it.  Since the elastic I was using was 3/4th inch wide, I measured my casing fold to be 1 1/4th inch.  That way, by the time I took up 1/4th inch for sewing the casing edge, I would still be left with a good 1 inch space in my casing itself.  And don't forget to leave a couple inches open, so you can thread the elastic through!

 Here I am showing the little tool I have, but I am afraid I do not remember the actual name of it.  It is shaped similar to tweezers, but has a tiny ring that slips down and clamps it tight, so it grips your elastic (or whatever you are wanting to pull through).  If you do not have a tool like this one, you can just put a large safety pin through the elastic and pull it through that way.  Just for the record--I do recommend that you spend the little bit extra to buy the roll-free elastic for when you are doing a waist band.  Who wants to have your elastic fold over or roll once it is inside the casing and you start wearing it or washing it!  I had some elastic I had bought previously for making some jammies for Alison.  At the time, I "thought" I would never use up all that was in the package I had to buy, but today I was thrilled to find I had enough for this project!  I also do not usually have hot pink thread, as I do not usually quilt with any hot pink colored fabrics--but I had made a doll dress for Alison once, and bought the spool for that.  Yea!  Since the elastic and the thread were already bought and paid for with different projects, that makes them "free" in my book for this project!

 Once you get your elastic through, sew the two elastic ends together, then close up your opening in your casing.  Turn right side out, and there you have it--your new skirt! :)

 All it needs is a white blouse to match with it!  And one more thing. . .

Approval from the cat!  If the cat says it's a good outfit, it's GOOD!  Can't wait to wear it--hope this has helped give you all some ideas of using the thrift store as your fabric store.  This new skirt cost me just .50 cents!

~Susan