Once upon a time, we had a skirt. It was a very nice skirt. Handmade with lovely fabric-- the skirt fit just right.
But something was missing... the skirt lacked pizazz. So we took action. And this is the story of what we did! First, the before shot~
You all can probably relate-- a lovely item hanging in your closet that you never choose to wear, because, well... it's missing something. Lately, we've been trying to come up with creative ways to make not-so-new clothes feel fresh again. And this was a definite success! Here is the after shot~
For starters, we cut about ten inches off the hem of this skirt, making it knee length. Then, we cut 5 strips of 45" fabric (white with black polka dots-- find a similar look here) each 7" wide for the two tiers.
~join two of your strips at the side seams, forming a necklace.
~join your remaining three strips to form another necklace.
~run a gathering stitch on the upper edge of each tier.
~with right sides together, stitch the smaller necklace to the bottom of your skirt, pulling up the gathering stitches to fit.
~gather last tier onto the bottom edge of the first tier & stitch.
~hem lower tier using 5/8" hem allowance. (See more instructions for a similar project here.)
Now, the skirt was looking a lot better, but it still needed a little something. Enter vintage crocheted trim. (This particular trim was originally part of an old sheet. Aren't flea markets wonderful?!) We stitched it to the bottom of the blue skirt, so it would look as though we were wearing two skirts-- one on top of another-- creating a fun, bohemian look. And it worked! The skirt is now being happily worn.
The End!
How Fun!
Posted by: Amy Lu | May 29, 2009 at 03:19 PM
Can I just bring all of my clothes to you, and let you pizazz them? :) You girls are so creative!!!
Love and miss you all...
-Kailey
Posted by: Kailey B. | May 29, 2009 at 04:40 PM
Nice fabric combination! Thanks for sharing! I would like to use this idea to lengthen some shorter skirts!
Posted by: Kalani | June 01, 2009 at 09:18 AM
I have to say the skirt looks great. I will have to try that on my skirts. I also sew for my 13 year old daughter, she will like the new look I am sure. Very interesting.
Posted by: The Jersey Homesteader | June 04, 2009 at 05:58 AM
So beautiful! My four sisters and I are always looking for ways to dress up simple skirts or to lengthen them. =)
I love ALL your fabrics!
What a fun blog!
Posted by: Anita H. | June 09, 2009 at 11:32 AM
Great skirt Apphia! You were right,it is something I would wear. :)
Posted by: Brooke P. | June 09, 2009 at 03:30 PM
Like the idea...
But the fabrics DO NOT go together. The finished product looks terrible compared to the original skirt. Black polka dots just ruin the gentle feminine look of the damask. A gentle colored fabric would have looked cute.
Posted by: Hannah K. | September 09, 2009 at 03:17 PM