Re-fashion #5: Plaid skirt

The beautiful thing about thrift stores is, they have lots of clothes for cheap. The even-more-beautiful thing about thrift stores on half-off days is, clothes are so cheap you don't need to try them on before buying. To me, it's shopping at its very best: you can go by the feel of things, checking the tag (if there is one) and sizing things up with your eyes. After all, who really cares if it doesn't fit? You paid two bucks. Move on.

Of course, if you're me, you end up lugging home huge bags of great clothes which, let's face it, may or may not fit. Sometimes, I get lucky. Sometimes, concessions must be made.

I fell in love with the fabric of this skirt in an instant. It's lightweight cotton jersey with a really nice swish to it. Truthfully, I probably would've bought this skirt if it was four sizes too small; lucky for me, it was only off by one size.

Once home, a radical zipperectomy was performed. Zipper removal, I've discovered, is usually the first step in refashioning a skirt or a dress. Once that was done, I had a tapered tube of fabric with a jagged gap in one side (where the zipper was).

The magical thing about A-line skirts (besides being extremely flattering to just about every body type, heavens be praised...) is that they get wider as you go down. For this skirt, I measured my waist, divided by two, and then slid my ruler down the skirt until its width matched my own. Then, I cut.

I made a new waistband by turning down the top two inches and stitching, and I added some elastic around the back. (All the most comfy skirts involve elastic.) That all was straightforward enough. But how to close that gap? What to replace the zipper with? Tea in hand, I commenced to pacing. And then it hit me.

Little loops and buttons! This was way easier than it looks, trust me. The only really tricky part was making (and sizing) the loops. And the minutes hours I spent dumping and sorting my button collection was mighty therapeutic. These petite little wooden guys were in the jar I bought last weekend. Good stuff.

Now, all I need is a slate gray crochet cotton cardigan, some lace and knee-high boots. Hmm. Do I feel another thrift trip coming on?