I’ve been wanting to try making a skirt out of thrifted sweaters. This wasn’t as easy as I hoped it would be, even though the concept is pretty simple: cut up pieces from old sweaters, sew them together and sew them to a piece of elastic. The first thing I had to figure out was how to get a zigzag attachment on my sewing machine. You see, my sewing machine belonged to my grandmother, who got it as a wedding present in 1939. My grandmother taught my mother to sew on this machine and I made many summer projects on this machine when I visited my grandparents as a child. Now my daughter sews with it, too. The fact that four generations of women have used this very machine gives me goosebumps. I LOVE that kind of history. My mom has joked (or stated as fact) that my grandmother would NEVER let a man touch her machine. Anyway, my sewing machine is a workhorse when it comes to regular stitches, but I had never tried the zigzag. It comes in this cool little case with the original directions.
Once I figured out how to attach the well made, heavy piece of equipment to my sewing machine, I started sewing. It didn’t work as well as my straight stitch. Maybe I’m just inexperienced with this device, but I definitely like the consistency of the straight stitch better. A bit more practice might be in order. The off white sweater was tricky, too, since there were threads jumping out all over the place.
I cut the sweaters into pieces like you see in the photos. I just kept cutting pieces until I had enough to go around my waist. I made the pieces bigger at the bottom. I also made sure that the bottom of each sweater piece was the finished edge of the sweater so I didn’t have to worry about raveling.
I sewed two pieces together, then added another, and another. I wanted the seams to be on the outside of the skirt, so I made sure to sew the zigzag stitch with the right sides both showing.
Here’s how it came out. I don’t like it as much as I thought I would. It’s definitely not my most flattering skirt. I was a good adventure to discover the zigzag attachment. I found a button holer while I was looking through the accessories, too. I’ll have to try that next. Mom says that’s the best button holer she’s ever used.
To see what else I made with these sweaters, click here.
Linking up:
Get Your Craft On @ Today’s Creative Blog
One Stop Shoppe @ The Southern Product Queen
Feature Friday Free for All @ Five Days 5 Ways
I absolutely LOVE this. I know you say you aren’t thrilled, but I think it’s fabulous and now I need to make one of my own. I’m thinking maybe a bit wider at the bottom so it hangs better? But otherwise – it looks great!
Thanks, Betsy! That’s a good idea. Another tip would be to wear slippery tights. My skirt kept sticking to the tights in this photo, so I think a different style of tights would be better to wear with this skirt. I’d love to see how yours turns out!
[...] to Wednesday! This week I made headbands out of the sweaters I thrifted for a (possibly failed) skirt project. All the sweaters had turtlenecks, so I just cut them off, sewed a seam and ta-da! Since these were [...]