Thrifted Thursdays—and a Pillowcase Skirt Tutorial

Tis the season for yard sales…HOORAY!!! (Now I have one more resource to pull vintage goodness from.) So in the spirit of the garage sale season we will be bringing to our blog a little something that we are going to call “Thrifted Thursdays”.

Thifted Thursdays will start today and end in the fall (along with all the marvelous yard sales). So from now until then each and every Thursday will be filled with projects made from items purchased at yard sales or thrift stores!

I’m so excited…I love these kind of things. Let’s get started!

Today we have a tutorial on how to make a double layered skirt out of a vintage pillowcase.

You all ready for this? Here we go!
Here’s what you’ll need:
#1. A pillowcase. (As you can see I purchased mine for $1)
#2. Enough elastic to fit around the waist of the one who will be wearing the skirt.
#3. Thread
#4. Scissors

Here’s what to do:
#1. Measure the wearer of the skirt from waist to knee.

#2. Fold the closed end of the pillowcase down through the pillow until the space between the fold you are creating and the open end of the pillow case equal the waist to knee measurement.

#3. Now you are ready to cut. Cut off the excess pillowcase that is hanging out through the open end of the pillowcase. When I cut mine I didn’t cut it flush with the open end of the pillowcase…I left it about an inch longer so I could turn it under and hem it nicely.

#4. Iron it flat—especially along that top edge where your fold is.
#5. Now sew the casing for the elastic waistband. This part is easy because the fold is a built in line for the top part of the casing. You probably don’t need to sew around the top next to the fold but I sew around everything so I sewed a line 1/4 inch away from the fold and around the entire circumference of the skirt.

#6. Next measure down from the line you just made (or the fold if you didn’t sew the line) the distance that the elastic you are using is wide and sew around the circumference of your skirt again. This time however leave an opening about an inch wide to thread your elastic through.

#7. Thread your elastic through the casing of the skirt. (Note: I cut the elastic for my girls skirts to be exactly the same measurement as the waist of my girl. That way when I sew it together it is snug and fits nicely without being too tight…plus that way is gives them room to grow as well.)

#8. Once your elastic is through the entire length of you casing sew the ends of it together and sew the opening closed.

#9. Hem the bottom of your skirt by turning the unfinished layer under 1/4 inch and sewing around the entire circumference and then turning one more time and repeat the stitching. (Note: When I make these skirts I do this step right after step #6. However, I’ve had people tell me that hemming should be the absolute last step in making a skirt or dress so that is why I’m including it here. Either way it needs to be hemmed.)

#10. Possibly iron again and enjoy!

I love the double layer. It makes the skirt nice and fluffy. Perfect for summer fun.

And speaking of perfect, I’m off to sort through my vintage stash so I know what to be on the look out for this summer! (What a great way to spend an afternoon!)

OH!!! One more thing…before I started doing anything I gave this pillowcase a nice, long soak in some hot bleach water to whiten it back up. It worked like a charm. As with most vintage items they may need a little freshening up before use.