If you are into precise measurements and exact steps this tutorial is not for you!
I love pillow case skirts. You can find pillowcases at all thrift stores for super cheap, and turn them into a skirt in 30 minutes. This pillow case is from Good Will in Austin back in September of 2011. Yep, only 9 months later…! (read more on that here) I do promise that pillowcase skirts are super simple and anyone can make it assuming a few things:
- You can’t have big boobs and wear a pillow case skirt unless you’re good at putting in zippers. The pillow case needs to be able to slip over your chest! My zipper skills are sucky at best.
- You need a sewing machine, and must know how to sew a staright-ish line.
- We’ll make 4 darts, but don’t be scared. The seam ripper is your friend.
First, cut the sewn together end of the pillowcase, so that you have a tube of fabric. Make sure it fits over your head and around your hips. I always use the pillowcase hem as the bottom hem for my skirt.
Next, get out the ‘ol tape measure, and lay it across your skirt. Min happen to be 20 inches wide. I decided to make my first 2 darts 5.5 inches from the center seam. I stuck a pin in at the right measurements, and then put the tube on me inside out. I pinned up about 2 inches of fabric for each dart.
Here is a close up… It just so happened that the main pillow case seam was at 10 inches.
Now, try on the tube of fabric inside out, and pin up what feel comfortable on your body.
*This might be all the darts you need.
I ironed my darts to make a good crease. Then pin the triangular piece of fabric, where you just ironed, so that you know exactly where to sew.You could even use an washable pen to draw a line. That would make the dart thing super easy to sew.
I decided I needed 2 more darts. The big butt/hips, smaller waste syndrome gets me every time. Here you can see my first dart sewn, and my second dart pinned up, ironed, and about to be sewn.
Here are my 4 darts…
From the inside you see this…
After I folded the waistband down, I did a crazy top stitch. I just picked out a random random, fun stitch on my machine. The goal was attempting to blend my not so straight lines together. Check out the above picture to really see what I mean.
I couldn’t seem to get my head in any of them. I’d say out of 30 pics I took, 60% were blurry and none included my head. Oh well, you get the point. It’s cute, simple ,and super stinkin’ easy to sew.
There you have it…
Just for fun, check out my ridiculous photo shoot. I had to tape the clothespins to the door, and then shoot super fast before the clothes pins fell off. I got a lot of this… Good times 🙂
Have you ever made a skirt from a pillowcase? Made anything else from pillow cases? Have you ever tried to take a picture of an outfit you’re wearing? It’s so hard. Any tips on that? I’d love to hear…
* I thought about deleting the post, but here is the first pillow case tutorial with no pictures. It’s kind of fun to see how the blog as evolved : ) This was post was posted in the first month of C.R.A.F.T.’s life 🙂
What a great idea! I love how simple and trendy the skirt is! I am definitely putting this on my summer diy list!
Great skirt! I have never made anything out of pillow cases (yet) and when I take pics of my outfits that I post to my blog I always force my husband to take the pics. He hates it! haha
SO cute!! Love this idea…especially the price! Thanks for making it look easy. Great job friend!!
It is so easy!
So there I was, spending a month in Reno, wishing I had a project for all the gorgeous unique pillow cases that pop up at The Bin…Thanks!
So cute! I love the lines!
Great skirt!! I have made some dresses from pillowcases. I just love how the hem is already there for you!
I like it!
LOVE this! We are going to Disney world in a few weeks and I am going to try to make a Disney themed one out of a pillow case I found at my goodwill!!
I have so many wonderful pillow cases that I have saved to make skirts. Thanks for making it look so easy!