DIY - Upcycling Denim Cowgirl Skirt Costume

I originally wrote this post five years ago, but wanted to repost with updated pictures.  My first attempt at costume making through upcycling!  I highly recommend it!

I've seen a lot of projects where people alter or upcycle used items, but I've never tried it.  Last week my husband had his church music camp where the kids performed "Jonah's Druthers".  It was a cute show set in the Wild Wild West.  I offered to get costumes for some of the girls and headed out to Goodwill.  I found this cute long denim skirt in a junior size 13/14.  It just had a little white spot near the ruffle.

I wasn't completely sure how to do this, but quickly decided I was NOT going to cut the side seams.  Instead, I took the girl's waist and length measurements and started by cutting the length to equal the length provided plus two inches for an elastic casing.  I measured from the bottom (to keep the ruffle intact) and cut off the top.  This was a little scary and I'm not sure I would recommend this way if it weren't for the ruffle.  The reason is that I was left with an even bigger waist to fit a size 8 girl.

Shockingly, it wasn't nearly as hard as I expected.  I made the casing by folding the top of the skirt to the inside and sewing a casing 1 inch wide.  I didn't completely close the casing, leaving open about 2 inches in the back so I could insert the elastic.  I used 5/8" elastic and a safety pin to thread it through the casing.  This is normally my least favorite part, but this time it was a breeze.  I just had to make sure the elastic didn't twist.  One I was done I pulled the elastic 4" shorter than the waist measurement and sewed the ends of the elastic together in an overlap.  I tucked it into the casing and sewed it up.  I then topstitched the top of the skirt, stitching a little into the top of the elastic so it wouldn't twist in the casing.  Voila - done!

It made for a really twirly long denim skirt and this little cowgirl loved it!

Used skirt = $4.99.  Time = less than 1 hour.  Satisfaction for two people = priceless.  I like upcycling.

cindy

October Project List

As promised in my last post, I'm picking some projects for October.  As usual, I'm being ambitious with 5 projects, plus I would like to finish the projects I've been working on.  Well, at least I can try.  I've picked some I've been meaning to do for a while, but I also found a few new ones that look intriguing.  All are on Pinterest, so if anyone cares to join me, feel free (but let me see yours too!).  So without further ado, here are my five projects for October:

1.  Tutu - Oh man, I have to do this because Mackenzie has been begging for a while and I bought the tulle over a month ago.  There's no way I would hear the end of it if I decided to do a bunch of other projects first.  Like so many of these projects, this one is from Make-It-Love-It.

2.  Redo Sneakers  - This is one I just found, and it's actually two separate DIYs.  The first one is a fabric recover on some Toms (although I'm using my Target knock-offs) and the second is a recover of the soles.  These look fun because it's not anything I need, but if it works, I could use it.  This first one is from Elemental Carbon.  The re-sole is from Dream a Little Bigger

3.  Easy Elastic Band Skirt - This is another thing I've been wanting to do for a long time and I've had the elastic forever.  If this thing is as easy as it says (and they never are), I should be able to knock this out in an afternoon.  Yeah, right.  Again, this one is from Make-It-Love-It

4.  Fleece Hat and Scarf - I've got some fleece I need to use and this looks pretty easy.  I'm not completely sure what I will do with them because I'm in Arizona, but I can always throw them in my Etsy store.  The picture from the DIY is very bizarre because the lady who made these (Nebraska Views) doesn't show her grandchildren's faces.  So, here are some fleece scarves and hats on some smiley faces.

5.  Braided headbands - This is also a new thing I found that also looks so easy.  It should be a quick craft, but that's just not my way.  If these work, I'll also put some in the Etsy store, but I would definitely keep some for myself.  These beautiful items are from Alisa Burke, Redefining Creativity.

So there it is.  Five "simple" projects plus a couple quilts and afghans in progress (and a special project for a friend).  I'm getting a little excited.  Maybe this is a way to get me out of my crafter's block.  Cross your fingers.

cindy

Back in the (School) Day

At the risk of looking really old, I've been thinking back on my high school days in the '80s.  It's September now, and I'm reminded of all those Friday nights when we went to the football games.  I went to a Catholic high school in southern Illinois and we didn't have our own football field, so we used the stadium of the big public school about 5 miles away.  (For those of you still in Belleville, that's my best guess.)  I specifically remember those games as a freshman, because we didn't have cars or rides from anyone but our parents.  God forbid our parents would drop us off at the stadium - NOOOOO.  We would have them drop us off about a mile or two away and then we would walk down West Main Street.  Now that I think about that, we were kind of stupid because that was a long walk and sometimes it was cold.

Back in the day, we wore big hair and clogs.  I was never too much into the big hair thing, but I did have clogs.  You know, backless shoes with wedge heels.  Our heels were never that high, but they were wooden and made a lot of noise when you walked.  I can also remember how much my feet hurt at the end of the day - my heels from walking on a wooden block and my toes from scrunching them to keep the clogs on.  But as my mother would say "Beauty knows no pain."  (Although I definitely don't remember her saying that about those clogs.)

Yeah, we went through some weird clothing trends during my high school years.  I started high school at the very beginning of the 80s and went off to college toward the end.  We started with the "preppy look."  For most of you who were born after my high school years, that consisted of plaid skirts (preferably pleated), long knee socks and loafers.  You could wear a button down blouse with a ribbon tie at the collar, with a muted sweater over the blouse.  You could always wear clogs instead of loafers.  By the end of high school, we were teasing our hair and getting "punked out" with the big shirts/sweaters, bright colors, leg warmers and leggings.  Yep, we wore some crazy stuff.

I remember my freshman year at Homecoming.  We had a parade down West Main Street and every class (freshman, sophomores, juniors and seniors) also had their own floats on flatbed.  Everyone used wood forms, chicken wire and tissue paper flowers to make figures for the float.  I made so many of those tissue paper flowers, my fingers were cut up by the floral wire we used to keep them together.  (See, even then I was crafty!)  The freshman float always looked pretty sad.  I remember that year the seniors made a giant Pac Man eating a player from the other team - impressive.  That year at football games, we saw the appearance of a new mascot - the Crusader.  Here was a guy dressed in armor (yep, the real thing), riding a big white horse and carrying a banner.  It was very cool.  We never knew who the Crusader was until the last pep rally of the football season when it was revealed to be one of our school priests.  Oh man, was he awesome!

Yep, the 80s were a very strange decade.  We saw the birth of MTV and music videos, very crude video games (remember Pong?), crazy fashions and awesome music.  I was there and I wouldn't change that for all the world.

Go Althoff Crusaders!

cindy


I'm participating in the SITS Girls "Fall Back into Blogging" this week.  

Upcycled Girl's Gauze Dress

I haven't done much up cycling (taking old clothes and making new ones), but after doing a simple project with a denim skirt, I wanted to do something a little more challenging.  I found this adorable white gauze skirt at Goodwill in a junior size 9-11 without any stains or rips.

I wanted to downsize the skirt so it could be the bottom portion of a girl's size 6 dress.  I also wanted to keep the hem of the skirt because of the pretty tulle on the bottom.  I cut off the top of the skirt so I had the length I needed for the length from the bottom of the bodice to the hem.

For the bodice, I used an A-line pattern, although it might be easier to use a pattern that has separate bodice and skirt pieces.  I cut out the underskirt so I could use it with the new skirt.

I measured the bottom of the bodice and compared it to the circumference on the top of the skirt.  I figured the measurement on the skirt should be double the measurement of the bodice so I could put in gathers at the top of the skirt.

The measurement of the top of the skirt was way too big, so big in fact that I cut the side seam and then cut the excess (vertically).  I did the same thing with the underskirt, although I cut it so the waist measurement was much closer to what I needed.  I sewed up the side seams of the new skirt and underskirt separately (do not sew them together at the side).  

I used a new tool on this project - a ruffle foot for my sewing machine.  It looks like an implement of torture and isn't the easiest to attach or use - but I'm getting used to it.  I will admit it does make the process go faster.  I made the gathers so the skirt fit the bodice.  I sewed the underskirt and the bodice to the gathered skirt at the same time - a little difficult to keep it all even while sewing, but then I only had to have two seams at the top of the skirt.  I made a couple of rolled satin roses and braided (twisted) some rid-rac for the waist.  Here's the (almost) finished picture.  (I really thought I took another picture of the finished product, but evidently I didn't.)  Here it is with the pins still in the rid-rac:

I couldn't be more pleased with it.  It's so airy and comfy.  I would hate working with gauze and tiers from scratch, so this was an easy and inexpensive alternative.  Can't wait to see it on one of my little models before I get it in my Etsy store.

cindy