I love a good bargain, especially when it comes to craft supplies! When I go to Hobby Lobby, I am typically drawn to the sale signs so that I can make something fun and pretty for a good price. Another way I love saving money is with my clothes, so when I can put the love of crafts and bargains together to make some cute clothes, you better believe I am going to take advantage of that!
To keep you in the loop, my posts contain affiliate links! This means that if you buy something through one of those links, I will make a small commission at no additional cost to you. Thanks for your support!
A few months ago, I was cleaning out my closet of old clothes and clothes that no longer fit or bring me joy. One of the items that I parted with was a black knit maxi skirt that was old and pilling, so I decided it was time to send it off on it's merry way. Since I had made a maxi skirt months ago (see post here), I decided I would just make myself a new black maxi skirt with fabric from Hobby Lobby.
As I walked around the fabric section of Hobby Lobby, I did find some black knit fabric as well as some gorgeous black velvet fabric. Since Fall is my favorite season and Fall was coming up when I bought the fabric, I opted to skip the black knit and go for the black velvet fabric. Another deciding factor was a call to my mom who is an amazing seamstress and she encouraged me to buck up and get the darn black velvet! Good choice, Mom, you always have my back!
When I made my first maxi skirt, I had bought two yards of fabric and therefore, was able to make a maxi and a midi skirt from the floral fabric. When I was looking at the black velvet, I realized I could do the same thing and get a maxi and a knee length skirt for Fall and Winter. The price was right at being about $18 for the two yards (get that sale, girl!) and I bought some pretty gold elastic for about $2.
If you are good at math (haha, not me!), that comes out to $20. $20 for two black velvet skirts. That would be probably at least double if you bought two black velvet skirts in a store! I felt like a gosh darn queen walking out of Hobby Lobby, and really I wanted to run cause there was no way that price was real.
But hey, I am still here writing about making these skirts, so I assure you that it was real and I got that great deal. The fun thing about these skirts is that though you can't really wear them as a run out to Target sort of look, they are cute to dress up or dress more casually. I wouldn't say wearing black velvet is ever a true dress down look, but pair it with a cute sweater and some boots and you have a super cute day look.
The gold elastic band is cute to have out for more of a night-time look with a tucked in shirt and booties or heels. Wearing something over the elastic could be cute to dress it down with a chunky scarf.
These skirts were also extremely easy to make since I followed the handy tutorial that I used for my original post about how to make a maxi skirt. It took me around a half an hour to make each skirt with a little bit of time before making the maxi skirt to measure and cut out the fabric.
Even though velvet is a thicker fabric than a knit, I was still able to use the long stitch method and ruffle the fabric by pulling one of the stitches until the length of the fabric was the same as my elastic. I also found that sewing the ruffle to the elastic was a little trickier because of the velvet being thicker, so the maxi skirt (which I made first) didn't come out quite as well as the knee-length skirt.
Whatever, it is just a skirt, not heart surgery.
All in all, I really love how these skirts came out! I can't wait to wear them out and pair them with a few different tops in my closet. I also have two tops that I mentioned in my September Favorites post that are coming in from ThredUP that I am excited about and will go well with these skirts.
I find that with clothes, I have really enjoyed making my own skirts. Not only can I make things that look the way I want them to, they fit me the way I like them, and I can feel proud of the fact that I made them myself. It is quite a confidence boost to wear something out and have someone say they like your clothing knowing that you made it!
If you are looking for a skirt for a bargain head on down to your local fabric store, find a good deal, break out the sewing machine and make your own piece! It will give you a whole new appreciation for what you are wearing and give you a creative project to work on.
Leave a comment if you try making a similar skirt and what you think of it! Did you have fun making your own clothes? Where did you get your fabric? I'd love to hear from you!
xoxo
TBS
Comments