Giving a Plaid Skirt Some Punch

If it wasn't for Thrift (second-hand) stores, I might just sink into a Post-Yard Sale Season depression. I do love a good deal.

I found this beauty recently.

Not so flattering, eh? Yep, it's a full-length, red plaid, wrap around skirt...about 2 sizes too big. Believe it or not, the fact that it reminded me of a blanket actually was a selling point for me (it's cold here in Michigan!). However since I didn't want it to remain blanket-like in appearance, I cut off the plaid dreads going down the one side.

and a quick flip and stitch to keep that edge from raveling...

Next I shortened it to just below my knee (in hindsight I should have cut it just a little shorter, but I was winging it).

Then took it in on each side.

It's pretty much fully lined... how awesome is THAT!?

Now that I had my basic skirt, I wanted to spice it up a little bit. So I cut a nice curve in the front panel.

I don't have a serger, so I finished the edges with a zig zag stitch.

Now as to the extra fabric I cut from the length... I cut the strip in half length-wise, then sewed a hem in one of the strips (the other still had the original hem) and finished the raw edges with a zig zag.

Zig zagged edge                                   Hem        

Sew these two strips together, and I could make a ruffle trim.

The last step was to pin the ruffle on and just stitch it down.

Fin