Please, please ignore my model face. I have no idea what I’m doing. This was just the best shot of the skirt.
“Get a hobby!” Every time I get caught up in my issues, like the other day when I complained about my waist getting bigger (Mary Kate astutely commented, “Why are you measuring it anyway? Please stop.”), you guys remind me that one of the best ways to get out of my head is to do something else. And if I can do something for someone else, even better! (Look out Katie!) Sometimes I forget that being healthy is about so much more than being fit.
Since today it’s 91 degrees with 97% humidity and there’s an “extreme heat advisory” for the rest of the week, what better way to stay cool than a skirt? I’m a total skirt girl and wear them several times a week (on bikes even!) So when I mentioned I love making skirts out of pillowcases, several of you requested a tutorial. Two things you should know: 1) No one ever taught me to sew. This does not make a savant. It makes me a sloppy seamstress. 2) This is the easiest project ever – if I can do it, anyone could do it. Plus it’s really economical – for just a buck you can have an adorable skirt made to fit your exact shape!
Dear Men Who May Still Be Reading: I’m sorry. Tomorrow I have a totally butch post lined up with tire flipping, sledge-hammering and there’s going to be all kinds of grunting and sweating. (Yes I’m serious! I can’t wait to share this workout with you guys!) So please don’t delete me out of your reader yet.
Vintage dresses and skirts are one of my hobbies so now I want to hear about yours! Let me know in the comments what your fave hobby is outside of fitness. (P.S. I just realized that for some reason, my photo galleries are showing the captions on my site but they’re not coming through in Google Reader or through e-mail so I’m trying something new with this post. Thanks for your patience!)
Two Pillowcases. Two Tutorials. Two Ways To Wear Your Skirt. Let the fun begin!
The “before” of the pillowcase. I found this red checked set of two for $1.99. You couldn’t even buy the fabric that cheaply. As you will see in the remainder of these pics, my 8-year-old was my photog and, well, just enjoy the 70’s vibe of unfocused shots, closed eyes and random fingers in the frame! He does get better as the night goes on.
You see a pillowcase (love that ruffle!), I see a skirt, they see a bull fighting cape. Naturally.
Start by cutting open the seam at the top (bottom?) of the pillowcase. Fold down the top until it is the length you want. Pin sides to get desired fit. Obviously I was going for a wiggle skirt kind of look so mine’s tight. My motto is when in doubt, go tighter. My daddy’s so proud.
Make sure to check the side view to see that the hem stays even all around (learned this one the hard way!) Looking at this pic, I almost like it better inside out with the band of red at the top, ha! Also, like how I kicked all the clutter out of the camera frame so it looks like my room is all clean and stuff? Lies.
Following the guide set by pins, sew down the waist and take in the sides.
This pillowcase has quite a bit of stretch to it so I was able to just pull it over my head – no elastic or zipper required! How easy is that? The whole project took me about 2 hours. It would have been much less except that I refuse to measure so I had to pick out the side seams twice.
You like my assassin gloves? I’m like June Cleaver, the Alfred Hitchcock version.
Son #3 wanted in the pics SO BAD….
So he could do this. He’s imitating my lame-o posing. And he makes it look 100 times cuter. Stinker.
My favorite pillowcases are the vintage embroidered types like this one. (Yes, that’s all hand embroidered and crocheted! And now I’m going to totally geek out and tell you I did that myself. I love embroidery.) I had some fun gold ribbon I wanted to play with too.
I learned this cool trick from Marissa’s blog on how to make a sweetheart neckline using a safety pin to pinch the fabric together. I’m all about quick and dirty.
I cut the top off to get the desired length, hemmed the top, took in the sides about 2 inches each and then sewed gold ribbon straps on. Thanks to bad lighting it’s hard to see the cute little pinch at the neckline but it’s adorbs in real life, I swear. Oh and the pillow case was off-white and my t-shirt was bright white but there’s no contrast in the pics.
It’s so hot and humid here that the camera lens kept fogging up but I kinda like the effect. My son thought he saw a blimp. Oooh, shiny!
This whole project took about 45 minutes but would have been even faster if I hadn’t bothered to take it in and just cinched it with the belt.
I make the cutest kids ever!! I love my camera man!
So tell me about your hobby now – what do you love to do? Anyone going to try a pillowcase skirt or dress? (If you do, send me pics!!)
LOVE LOVE LOVE THEM BOTH! I hate you for being so creative! Okay, so I actually love you, but I’m not happy about it!! 🙂
Oh, and now you need to sew yourself a pair of jeans cause yours are all ripped! 😉
We totally, completely saw a blimp over Minneapolis yesterday evening, so it could be true!
Seriously?? I thought he was just messing with me!
There is a Zeppelin in Minnesota at Flying Cloud airport giving tours of the city this week.
Well, huh! He was right!
Great project!!! I, unfortunately, cannot do more than sew a sad sad button, so no pillowcase skirts for me. However, I could totally see doing this if I had a machine. Question though: Aren’t pillowcases rather thin? Even the darker colors would be pretty see-through in the bright summer sun, I would think. What do you do about that?
Also, if anyone finds me dead of strangulation/suffocation, it’s because Mother Nature injected me with humidity at 7 a.m. Ugh. This is the worst we’ve had in a LONG time, isn’t it? (Iowan here!). There were people at my apt. building pool by 8:15 this morning!
You could always wear a slip underneath the pillowcase skirt. I dunno if threadcount matters, that may help also.
That’s a good idea. I bet the more thread, the tighter it’s woven and the less see through it is. Thanks!
I’m in Iowa too, and it’s awful. We don’t have a/c and I’m seriously considering buying a window unit just because if this heat wave.
Wow, I’m pretty sure I would have surrendered long before now! I sweat when it’s over 75! If you don’t get a/c, make sure you have plenty of fans set up!
There are several ways to do it without a sewing machine if you’re interested! And yes, some pillowcases are paper thin but many are quite thick. Also, I’ve layered two on top of eachother (different but coordinating patterns each cut to a different length) for a fun look. And yes, slips work well too!
You have all my sympathy with the heat and humidity! The heat index here today was 113! With 97% humidity!!
I wish I knew how to crochet. I like having my hands be busy. Maybe at some point I’ll go to the store and pick up a some supplies and youtube a tutorial.
Pillow case clothes are such a great idea! For a sec I was thinking about Sound of Music.
My hobby is violin. It’s kinda sad, but if you randomly look at my hands, you’ll see me fingering either Pachelbel’s Canon in D, the theme to Masterpiece Theater, or the Can Can song (yea, I know the last two aren’t the official names, but that’s how I know them, and that’s how I’ll refer to them, by golly!). Or fingering some piano (teaching myself, but considering music theory uses the piano to visualize the notes in Western music, it’s pretty easy to learn). Hey, I did say I like keeping my hands busy =)
Crocheting is super easy! I love it – it’s very soothing. That’s so cool you play the violin! And I’ve always called it the can-can song too:)
So tell me about your hobby now – what do you love to do?
Photography!!! Seriously it makes me sooooo happy!
As does recipe development and baking/unbaking. I actually like developing, creating, brainstorming more than I like eating what I make. Well, unless there is chocolate involved 🙂 If I had a football team to feed, I could cook, create, brainstorm…all day long!
And it shows – your photos are gorgeous!
Hi Charlotte! Adorable skirt! I also like embroidering names and favorite little objects on the edges of pillowcases–for kids. But mostly, I love playing guitar and singing.
🙂 Marion
Is this a conspiracy? You and Mizfit are both blogging about pretty pink girly things that seem, against my will, kinda cool yet so, so off my radar as the most ungirly girl you could imagine.
So I’ll appreciate the pretty stuff today through alien eyes, but I’m holding out for the promised tire flipping tomorrow.
OOoh and actually the tire flipping is TOMORROW tomorrow (Tuesday night). Sorry about that! But the pics are well worth the wait!
Those pillowcases look adorable on you. They’d make me look like a sack of potatoes; I just don’t have the right shape!
I love using pillowcases and sheets for other projects, like curtains, chair pad covers and trick-or-treat bags. Great price per yard and prefinished edges.
You are so creative! I never thought to do chair covers! So true about the bargain fabric.
Gasp! I love it! I want to wear bedding too!
These are totally cool!
The pillowcase skirt/dress are seriously cute! But I don’t sew. At all. I make my husband hem my pants. Maybe I can talk him into making me one?
Hobbies… I draw/paint etc. And write poetry sometimes. Right now my biggest hobby is homework but I’m not sure if college counts as a hobby. 😉
I say college counts as a job!
I don’t even know what to say right now, you rule so much I can’t even express it in words. The skirt is the coolest thing EVER. Love the ruffle and that it is stretchy!! The photography with the kids….
Did you really embroider that pillowcase? I got into embroidery for a very brief time period and my grandma was WAY into it. I have about 4 sets of embroidered pillow cases from her! And dishtowels.
Yes I really embroider. And hardanger. And candlewick. And all kinds of other grandmotherly things… I’m a total nerd. Anyhow, skirt coming your way soon!
I just want to know why there is a barbeque spatula wedged behind the wall light. I’m thinking there’s a good story behind that….
Hahahah – I was wondering if anyone would notice that! I love it!! We put it up there because our kids use all our BBQ utensils as weapons.
Too cute! Love it! Love you! And now, you need to make a pillowcase DRESS for Rainey! Super easy!
I have one! I didn’t make it for her though… I keep meaning to, they’re adorable!
VERY cute!!!!! (I like the model poses, both you and the li’l guy’s!)
And my non-fitness hobby is reading. A lot. My Kindle may as well be a syringe.
“My kindle may as well be a syringe” ROFL. I love you!
so happy you took my comment the right way! i love to make those flowers people wear as pins or in their hair. all you do is cut circles(different sizes big to small) out of polyester lining-type material-all that silky- satiny material that prom dresses are made from- then singe the edges with a candle. The longer you let the material sit under the flame the more it will curl…which makes for a cool looking flower also! stack them together, add some jewels or beads in the center and it makes pretty flower!
you would probably like thetearosehome.blogspot.com website. i drool over their creations!
Of course!! You guys are a great reality check and I appreciate that you care enough about me to hold me accountable. Love your hair clip idea (and Jelly Bean always needs more clippies!).
Oh and thanks a lot – I just spent WAY too much time browsing through that site!
These skirts are SO adorable!! I was advised in high school sewing class to never sew again. I just can’t wrap my head around sewing!
Hobbies….I read. A lot. Also love scrapbooking, writing, and cleaning. Cleaning is the best therapy ever for me. I’m sure this will change when I have children and it is not just my mess I am cleaning up!
Ignore high school! I sewed the legs together on my PJ pants that I made in middle school. High school makes everything unfun;)
My hobby is sewing too! I love it and love your inspiration. I’m gonna have to check out the pillow cases the next time I go thrifting. Great job on both of them!!!
Well, I don’t own a sewing machine AND I am old enough to have been forced into sewing & cooking in junior high and even then, I had somebody else sew the outfit we had to do cause I could barely thread a needle! I was never made for this stuff! 😉
I hate to say but I love my weights! I do love getting out & people watching… I am just that type of lady… boring OR maybe it just leaves time for whatever suits my fancy! 😉
I LOVE THOSE PICS & you look beautiful! Kiddos – CUTE!
Hobby? That sounds suspicious. Is that like some kind of thing that the government gets us to do so that we stop focusing on work and they can outsource our jobs to Thailand?
I’m not a sewer of any kind but yours little projects look awesome. And the gloves? I’d totally believe you were capable of knocking out a spy while wearing those.
(My hobby is golf. Expensive, takes forever, and separates me from my family. Whoops. Hopefully the family separation part is only until my boys are old enough in a couple years 🙂
YOu really need to put this on a t-shirt: My hobby is golf. Expensive, takes forever, and separates me from my family.” !!
I love the skirt! You’re amazing. And yes, I was looking at the skirt in the pictures, but I also noticed in the first couple of shots that you moved your furniture around. Yep, I’m weird like that.
I love you Beth!!! And yeah, I had to move the bed away from the window when the winter got super freaking cold this year.
LOVE LOVE LOVE the pillowcase skirt idea! I am totally gonna make one this weekend.
Hobbies? Well my hobby is totally contradictory to my healthy lifestyle. I make specialty cakes. You know like the ones you see one those ‘cake’ reality shows. Thats what I do. cake with lights? You got it. Cake with fireworks? Sure no problem.
If you do, pleeeassse send me pics! I wanna see! Also, now I want to see a cake with fireworks.
Charlotte, that is so creative! I love any type of creativity, I think it’s such a beautiful thing.
I use to be into sewing several years back, but I mainly made performing costumes, I’ve never tried to make regular clothing. I think creativity is a huge stress reliever and the best part is that anyone can do it.
My main hobbies include aerial training which I haven’t done in a while cause I can’t find a good place, and I really love writing songs, but I never share them with anyone cause I am way too shy.
You look so adorable on all those pictures and I think your model face is pretty funny :).
Yeah, I’m no model!! And I bet your songs are better than you think:)
oh my!! So cute! I may have to break out the sewing machine and try to make a pillowcase skirt 🙂 Sewing intimidates me, but I do LOVE to craft. It’s my hobby!! I am a crafty addict. I see something and instead of buying it I just say to myself, “oh- i’ll just make it.” It’s definitely an illness 🙂 I’ve gotten a little better. 🙂
Sparkles & Bugs: Crafty Adventures of a Fit Mama WannaBe
I have the same illness, my friend.
Cute- the pink one is so retro- a look that you rock. And the other one is adorable- I don’t do embroidery or crochet but I love to knit- it’s so therapeutic!! You did a really nice job here!
Love this post! You are adorable and I can’t believe you embroidered that pillow case! I would never have the patience! I love taking pictures, decorating, and writing. I also love film and theatre. I SO WISH I could sew but I can’t. AT ALL. It makes me so sad!
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I’ve been working out for over a year now starting as the scrawniest kid in the gym. I workout nearly everyday for an hour. You might get stronger abbs with this 5 minute workout, but u won’t see changes for years with this intensity. There is no actual energy loss in this excercise either so dont expect weight loss. You’ll have a light stimulation of your ab and lower back muscles but you’ll never get a sixpack from it unless u do this atleast 3x in a row. For maybe 3 or 4 x week
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I have never sewn anything. I found your pillowcase skirt when I did a search for images on google. I love it! I am gonna save it and make it. Thank you for sharing.
2 Ways To Wear A Pillowcase [What’s Your Non-Fitness Hobby?]