Thrifty stitches
There’s a relatively new Goodwill store within 1/2-hour of home, so we all hopped in the van today and took a field trip. I was hoping to find a funky sheet to use for the swap. What I found was this very neutral taupe sheet – not exactly funky, but sometimes neutral is good – and a beige shower curtain with red roses on it. The shower curtain grabbed me immediately and said “make me into a wrap skirt!”
And so I did. It’s been a while since I made one of these, and it’s somewhat more complicated than my usual elastic-waist numbers, so I had to get out my trusty copy of Sew What! Skirts for reference. Love that book. And now that I’ve made this one, I’m realizing it’s not as hard as I remembered. I guess I’ve improved since my first attempts almost a year ago! Now I’m thinking that the taupe sheet would also make a nice wrap. Maybe that can be tomorrow’s project 
Aidan’s First Communion is in a few weeks, and I’m going to have to find something to wear – I’m thinking that this skirt might just be perfect. And I’ll probably have a nice little chuckle to myself as I sit there, thinking that I’m wearing a shower curtain to Church. It almost feels rebellious. (I’m all about those minor rebellions, you know.)
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THANK YOU for the skirt-y inspiration : ) I have a stack of sheets (and tablecloths!) all ready to become skirts. Too bad I just discovered your blog … I would have loved to join in the swap. Can’t wait to see the results.
Ooh, stacks of sheets and tablecloths! I’m jealous! My local thrift shop has the occasional gem, but is not reliable enough to lead to a stack.
I like the shower curtain one.
I started cutting out a skirt today that has godets…it took more than 6 yards of fabric! I like my skirts long and flowy, although when I think about the number of pieces to this one (16!), I do get a bit nervous about my ability to make it look decent. That’s why I decided to start it in my last sewing class, so that I could get the teacher to show me what to do, and I think I should be able to handle it — it doesn’t seem all that complicated; there are a lot of pieces to put together, but it’s pretty much all straight lines.
I also finished the skirt I started last week in class, the one with the darts and zipper. Your necklace matches it pretty well, so I’ll have to take a picture once I wash and iron it. I am still never making anything with a zipper again, though — elastic is my friend! (Plus there’s not enough flare to it — see above about the kind of skirts I like. I’ll wear this one, but that’s the last one like it I’ll make. It’s just that the point of the class was to show us zippers and darts, so I didn’t have a lot of choice.)
Okay, that got long enough that I should have put it in my own LJ, but I’m not sure anyone who reads it cares much about sewing, so I’ll leave it here.
I’m glad you linked to the description of godets. I’d never heard the term before, but I recognized them when I saw the image. I can see how putting all of that together would be tedious!
If you like long and flowy, but prefer really easy, you should try that sheet skirt tutorial I posted. Just make it much longer than the 21 inches I did. The cool thing about that is the material costs next to nothing and it goes together really quickly. If it looks terrible, you haven’t really lost much.
I’m afraid of darts and zippers – never done either one. I am starting to thing I might like to at some point, though. It might be nice to be able to make something more fitted.
I tried to do a buttonhole yesterday, but it was a dismal failure. I feel so obtuse sometimes when reading manuals!
Love your skirt! I can’t believe I missed your vintage sheet/skit swap!! I just saw it today. I have loads of those old sheets. Ah well, at least I discovered your blog. Great stuff here!!
Thanks! I wish I had known how to sew when we were cleaning all of the linens out of my grandparents’ house several years ago. I bet I’d have a great pile of sheets myself!
You are so funny! Yes, wearing a shower curtain to church is on the rebellious side. Makes me want to do the same thing!! The skirt is awesome. I love it!
I let the rebel in me come out and wore it this Sunday. Fun
Does that taupe kind of go with the shower curtain? You could make a sort of underskirt out of it–sew a small ruffle on it and wear the two together!
Funny, you’re not the first person to make that observation! I do think it might go fairly well. I already made a skirt out of the sheet, too, so there isn’t enough for another, but I’ve been thinking they might make a nice lined tote bag together.
This is why I bought that book with my birthday money. I love how the shower-curtain skirt turned out!
Thanks! Have you gotten to flip through the book yet? I have only actually made two types of skirts out of it, but I’ve made at least fifteen of them! Clearly, I have a bit of a problem
In case you didn’t see my good wishes on Flickr, Happy Birthday!
Thanks, I did–I check my Flickr updates WAY too often…;)
The book just arrived today (along with a Decemberists CD and an art book). I’m still afraid of zippers too, but some of the others don’t look too hard–and with a bunch of fabric headed my way, I figure the inspiration won’t have a chance to dissipate. I also have a wonderful neighbor-mom friend who’s an expert seamstress, in case I get into big trouble or get really ambitious….
Gorgeous skirt, Lisa! I got a chuckle about you wearing a shower curtain to church, too. It sure does beat hands down the Kleenexes the nuns used to bobby pin to our hair before Mass if we forgot our uniform hat!
-Karen
We had uniforms in school, but there were no hats with ours. Your school must have been real hard core
lol, that shower curtain is in my bathroom! btw love your blog.