Everything Old is New Again

As Geoff, who has weathered three moves with me in the four and a half years we have been together, will tell you - I don't like to throw things away.  This extends to clothes that are, perhaps, okay definitely, no longer in style.  At some point during high school I bought two long, light-weight hippie-looking skirts.  They remained in my wardrobe for years and made appearances with tank tops when the temperature became too hot bear.

This picture is three years old, but I got excited and cut up skirt before taking a new picture!

I'm anticipating that too hot to bear will be an accurate description of south Texas starting in just a month or so, it is already in the 80s every day!  So I wanted to give new life to these skirts to make them fit in better with my current style.  Oddly, the blue skirt was lined with the same fabric which allowed me to cut out four panels for an A-line skirt and preserve the embroidery which is really the only thing that made this skirt worth saving.

You know the saying measure twice, cut once?  I learned it while building things in my grandad's garage, but it applies to sewing as well.  My first attempt at this skirt was nearly six inches too large around the waist!

The red skirt is a little more straight forward - just a single layer of fabric.  I liked the detail at the bottom so rather than just hemming the skirt shorter, I cut off the top and added new elastic.  Simple gathered skirt!  The hardest part was getting the elastic through the casing.

I had set a goal for myself to remake things from the thrift store - but how much more budget-friendly is it to remake things you already own!!