Tutorial Tuesday: Sweatshirt to Flirty Skirt

I think all of us have that sweatshirt - you know, the one you just love for whatever reason (maybe it's super soft or maybe it has sentimental value), but you just never wear it. It's a bit bulky or it's not flattering. Well, Do Stuff (leethal blog) has come to the rescue and created a tutorial for turning that lovable old sweatshirt into a cute new skirt that's totally you. Click here for the tutorial

Making Anything Out of Anything

Obscure Homestar Runner reference aside (if you go watch it, wait a little while after the end of the toon, you'll see the funniest part), this week's focus will be on back to school fashions you can make yourself. More specifically, things you can make yourself out of things you already have. Amazing, eh? The reasons why are as follows: a) back to school shopping can be fun, but it can really drain your account. b) do you really want to show up to school the first day (whether that's high school, college, or dropping your kids off for their first day of kindergarten) wearing the same thing as nine other people? ugh, no thanks. and, c) what better way to ensure that your wardrobe is modest than to have made it yourself?

First up, a pretty awesome crafter on crafster.org posted a tutorial on how to make this awesome skirt out of a pillow case. I am absolutely in love with it, and really want to make one myself. I imagine you could make it out of any random textile you have lying around your house: an old sheet, a curtain perhaps?

Here's a link to the tutorial: pillowcase skirt

Skirt Tutorials

So, the week of incredible lameness is officially over. The search for a new banner is not, but that's ok. I'm on it. Sort of.

Actually, what I'm really up to more than anything is watching the Olympics. It's been a few years (say, four? no actually eight) since I really have gotten to watch the summer Olympics, so it's fun to be excited about the events again. I'm certainly jazzed about the gymnastics, and diving and swimming became new favorites during the 2000 summer Olympics (thanks to Ian Thorpe. Ah the Thorpedo. It's good to be cheering for the US this year though, instead of falling for that quick Aussie.) And look how cute the Beijing Mascots are: Oh, yeah, I do have something modesty-related for you today. I have to admit, I still have not done much legwork, but it's the beginning of a new week: I gotta build up slowly to daily blogging. Anyway, for today's treat, I will point you to ThreadBanger for what they call their weekly diy roundup. This week, it focuses on several web tutorials for awesome skirts - all very modest and some pretty simple and fun to make. Enjoy!

Memory Skirt

Well, I am happy to say that I put another one of the tutorials I've posted on this blog to the test--and it turned out moderately successful. I used the men's shirt t0 skirt tutorial to make a skirt out of three shirts I wore on my mission. These shirts were very dear to me, but they had really seen better days. I wanted to hang on to them and had some sort of half-planned ambitions of making a quilt, but I don't think I have quite enough old mission clothes to pull off a real quilt. So this tutorial was a great solution for my what-to-do-with-these-shirts-I-don't-want-to-toss dilemma. So, here's the finished product:

The front:
The back:

My favorite detail, the lace:

Unfortunately, even with the lace it's still a bit too short--guess I have pretty short arms. As you can see in the following picture, I have to sag it way down to get it to the right length. I've got to figure something out, because I think it's really cute and I don't want to have to abandon it. Any ideas?

Easy Fix

Ok, so I bought a really cute dress, um, last year, but haven't been able to wear it in a while as my husband pointed out that it is too short in the back and shows my garments. Whoops. So, taking some inspiration from vintage hem, I made my own lengthening underslip. Here's what I did.
First, I gathered my materials:
One, an old, knee-length slip I probably stole from my mom somewhere between 5 and 7 years ago. :) Love you Mom!
And two, about two yards of thick lace I bought for 67 cents a yard.

Next, I busted out the handy sewing machine and just sewed the lace to the slip, basically just using a straight stitch to tack the lace right onto the slip. And ta-da! Now I have a modestifying slip for whatever occasion :)


So now I'm happy cuz I get to wear my cute dress again, and maybe take a second look at some dresses that were not-quite-long enough. :)

Modestify in Action!

Someone really did it - and did it well - she used one of the ideas on the site! My excitement is unparalleled. I hope she doesn't mind, but I'm going to share some of the pictures of the awesome skirt that my sister in law's sister (aka my brother's sister in law, aka my neighbor, aka a very nice person, aka a friend, aka she has an awesome garden, aka she's cool!) made using the men's shirt sleeve idea. Yay for her!



Any one else try anything lately? Or want to try something and don't know where to start? Leave a comment, email a picture, tap a message in morse code on my front door (and as soon as I learn morse code I'll get back to you), anything! :) Thanks for reading.

DIY Skirt Idea

Here's a fun and really simple idea for making a skirt out of some old men's button-downs. Looks like a great way to make something unique and modest to add to your wardrobe without much pain in your wallet. :) Enjoy.

Keep Cool Secret #2

I think during the summer a lot of people underestimate the power of skirts. We think, it's so (so, so, so) hot outside, the only thing I can do is wear shorts - short, short shorts. That'll keep me cool. But the short shorts expose your skin to the sun and don't honor the beauty that is your body. Something I realized when I had to wear a skirt every day for a year and a half was that these things are AWESOME! They are like little, wearable air conditioners. As you wend your way through the world, they waft the air softly around your legs. And they are adorable and attractive. Here are a few of my favorites from Christa-Taylor:

For Instant Modesty

Add one of these:





















To this:





















Or add this:
















To this:

Visit vintagehem.com to check out these awesome modestifiers, and make your own modest fashions!

Modest Makeover: Adorable Skirt

Here's a super cute tutorial from craftydaisies on how to take an old pair of jeans (or perhaps a pair of too-short shorts) and some fun fabric (maybe some old t-shirts or tank tops?) and turn it into a very awesome and very modest skirt. Enjoy!

T-Shirt Jumper

Oh the DIY joy! I found this awesome tutorial on how to make a t-shirt into an adorable jumper skirt at threadbanger.com, which is rapidly becoming my top favorite site. I personally hate wearing t-shirts - something about the way the neckline is so tight or maybe it's the loose-fitting sleeves - I'm not really sure. But I do think some t-shirts are adorable and/or fun and wish I only had the disposition to wear them. Now that I've found a way to wear my t-shirts and like them too, this is a project I'm definitely looking forward to trying out for myself.

Scrap Skirt

I'm dying to make one of these!


What I'd really love to do is mix up the colors and the fabrics to be a little more similar to this one I saw on Pretty/Modest. And that's what's so great about DIY - I can make it look however I want! (In theory.) And so can you :) Here's the tutorial: (You're going to want to click on the pictures to enlarge them and actually read the instructions.)


This tutorial is courtesy of craftleftovers.com. Definitely go check it out - lots of fun, adorable crafts to engage in. :)

Also, please note there is a poll now to the right of the screen. Cast your vote, express your opinion - let me know you're reading! :)

Be Original

I don't know about you, but I've never thought it was much fun to look like everyone else. That's why I think DIY clothing is so much fun. Find a cute fabric, some fun trim, and make yourself a skirt that no one else will ever have. And, as a bonus, you can make it exactly as long or short as you're comfortable with. I'm not much good at sewing, but I can have fun with simple patterns and projects, such as one I found on crafster.org. You have to start by making this circle skirt:


Then follow these instructions*:

a) make a simple circle skirt (there's a great tutorial for that here on craftster!) but INSTEAD of cutting an arc to get rid of the squared-off fabric, leave it. It'll give you the aysmmetrical hem.
b) hem the bottom so that your hem line is about a centimeter above the bottom edge of the fabric
c) pin lace ON TOP of the fabric (right-side up!) so that the extra centimeter overlaps- or, rather, bottomlaps, I guess
d) sew on lace, using same coloured thread as the lace colour
e) bunch up the top a bit at random places. this will allow the skirt to fit you better, and looks prettier
f) hem the waist-edge of the skirt
g) make an elastic band for the top. I just cut up an old blood donor shirt, but anything with some give to it with colours that match should work!
h) attach elastic ON TOP of waist hem so that there's a bottomlap, like on the bottom with the lace
i) BY HAND, sew on pearl strands that are of varying lengths. If you do this by machine, you might accidentally kill yourself. I know I did.



*Originally posted here by Crafster member odile.