Metamorphasis: Tablecloth To Skirt

When the local secondhand store has its annual half off everything sale, it's like a holiday. I call my mom to make sure she knows, and she excitedly calls up Grandma for the shopping trip.  Why would we be so thrilled to paw through racks of used clothing and wares? Because we are quilters. Quilters are the bloodhounds of the sewing world...we can smell a deal on fabric a mile away!

The store is full of ladies that think it's Christmas and their husbands that wonder why they bothered to come along (there's nothing that would interest them...like fishing lures).  As I'm looking at each sheet, drape, and blanket, something catches my eye... a pretty denim-blue border. "That would make a pretty skirt!"  It turned out to be a rectangular tablecloth.

Here's how I used that tablecloth to make a fun and flow-y skirt:



Here you see the border that caught my attention. It's so pretty, but still casual. As you can see I got a great deal on it, too!

1) First things first. It was a rectangle, and I wanted to keep the corners, but I needed to square it up so it wasn't lopsided. There was also a stain in the middle.  So I measured, and then cut a chunky strip from the middle so that when I sewed it back together it would be a square. (If you're piece of cloth is already square you can skip right to the next step.)



[caption id="attachment_20" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Chunky strip cut from the middle"][/caption]

I then sewed the two pieces together.

2)  Now for the waist. This was to hang like a simple circle skirt. That means you are going to cut a circle from the center for your waist. The easiest way to do that, is to fold the tablecloth in quarters just as you would to find the exact center, and cut only a quarter circle through all layers. But where do you cut? Here's the fun (read: get out your calculator) part...

To make the cut for your waist, use this formula: Measure your hips; Multiply your hip measurement by 3.14; divide by two. The quotient will be how far down you measure from the corner (the exact center). Make markings as shown and you will be able to cut a perfect quarter circle.

[caption id="attachment_21" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Here you see a template for cutting a regular circle skirt. In the upper right is illustrated where you measure and cut for the waist."][/caption]

**Thanks to www.indietutes.blogspot.com for this Illustration**

When you unfold, after cutting, you will have a circle. To finish, I simply sewed in casing and elastic to cinch the waist. That's it!

[caption id="attachment_22" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Finished product. I really like how leaving the corners kept all the boarder intact and gives the skirt a Flamenco feel."][/caption]