Sewing Again!

It's been a while since I've done any significant sewing. At our last house, there was just no good place to have the sewing machine set up, and it was therefore rarely used.

One of the things I love about our current home is that there is room in the laundry room (a nice bright cheery room) for my sewing desk and "stuff." I finally got enough stuff unpacked and put away that I can now access the sewing machine easily, and I got busy last Thursday on some skirts for the girls!

I've had this thought for a while that I should be able to make skirts for them from pillowcases (inspired, I'm sure, by Vanessa at V&Co.). I picked up three recently for a quarter each, and decided to give it a go!


Each of the skirts is a bit different. Ellie's the purple one. It was super-simple; I pretty much just cut off the sewn end and make a casing for the elastic. I didn't shorten it at all, because she really liked it this long.

Katie's was pretty basic as well. I cut a decent bit off to get it the right length, made the casing, added the elastic, and hemmed it.

Grace's is the short one. It was a bit more adventurous, as I used these guidelines for an A-line skirt. It was still very easy and fun to make.

I mis-figured on the length of Grace's, so I decided to use the polka-dot trim from the pillowcases to make a ruffle. My first ruffle ever! I grabbed a floral skirt, tore out the hem, ironed it, and proceeded to make and attach the ruffle with the help of this tutorial. The ruffle was so fun and looks adorable. It also is attached to Katie's skirt, not Grace's. Oops! There's no way I'm taking it off, so I'm going to look for some other material to coordinate for a ruffle for Grace's skirt. I'm thinking I might have some denim that is a similar weight to the flannel. Or I could find some flannel that coordinates. Any thoughts?

I have enough left over from Kate and Grace's pillowcases that I'm planning to make them some hair scrunchies.

Oh, and I almost forgot a funny part of this project. I was thinking all along that the flannel pillowcases were homemade. See why?

Well, when I turned one of them inside out, I was shocked to find that these uneven pillowcases were not only store-bought, but a nice brand!

Just goes to show that you can't judge a case by its cover. Or is it that you can't judge it by its brand??