A Really Sheety Skirt

Today was soooo much fun! I got to play with my pinking shears, some drafting paper and a pencil, my measuring tape and my straightpins. I felt like I was in Junior High School all over again! You see, I never learned how to make an A-line skirt in Jr. High. Somehow, I went from a crummy gym bag at age 13 to quilting at age 29 with only some unwilling car upholstery experience in between. But it's never too late, right?

I was especially excited by this little skirt book because it tells you how to draft your own skirt using your own measurements. Commercial clothing and patterns have never fit me, so the prospect of something fitting me is....frankly...quite thrilling. (What can I say? I lead a simple life....) After the initial trauma of having to take my own measurements, I drew up my own pattern according to my own exact waist and exact hip size, and made it exactly the length I wanted. I used an old sheet from the thrift store, and here is the resulting prototype:
Whooooo Hoooo!!!! I made a skirt that fits ME. No one else!! It's mine, all mine! Actually, I'm quite sure that no one else in their right mind besides me would want it, but that's okay. It's mine and fits me exactly right. Oh yes, right off the bat, I would do one thing differently. It's a little too flare-y in the A-line part (folk dancing, anyone?), but I can fix that on my paper pattern. I made a skirt that fits!

There's only one problem. This dorky sheet skirt prototype is very, very comfortable. There's a real danger here. I might be tempted to actually WEAR this skirt made out of a circa 1970 sheet around the house because it's made out of comfy, cozy sheets. The elastic waistband looks like something my Imaginary Grandma would wear, too. And you know what wearing something around the house leads to...yes...going out to the mailbox one day because I think no one is looking. THEN comes being too lazy to change out of it when friends drop by! Next thing you know, I'll be wearing it to the post office...and the grocery store! OH NO! Someone stop me!

The upside of wearing sheety clothes is that I won't have to make up my bed any more. I'll just make a really sheety blouse to go with my sheety skirt...and I'll actually BE the bedsheets! I can sleep right on the matttress! If I make a pillow hat, think of how much time I'll save.

Help me.

Okay, change of topic. You want to see what my thrifting adventures netted me this week?

Lusterware! I bought this sugar bowl for two dollars. It's so shiny that you can hardly take a picture of it. I don't know much about lusterware, but I think this sugar bowl must have been made in the early sixties, I'd guess, just because the little wheat motif looks sixty-ish. It was made in Japan. And just like Fifi, it's missing its partner. I'm sure the creamer got broken and may be at the same dump as Fifi's long-lost partner...but I'll keep looking for both.

Fifi tries it on for size. I think the color, shape, and size of it is so pretty! I love how it reflects my handmade doily, too.

I must have been in a turquoise mood that day, because this was my haul:

Some wool/nylon sock yarn from the U.K. and some fabric came home with me too.
I just love the little berry thingies on this fabric. I have no idea how old this fabric is either...I just like it.

And while we're rapidly changing topics, look what was in my magical mailbox today!!

I'm such a lucky woman! No, seriously, I am. I won another blog drawing, this time at Crafty Bits 'n Bobs. This package came all the way from Australia, which made it extra-special. There's an adorable little wristlet, some cute little buttons sewn onto creature-decorated paper, some lurvely chocolate, and this pretty pin:
The green bead has butterflies all around it...so pretty! I'll use this to pin my knitted Clapotis shawl together around my neck. Thank you, Crafty Bits. I love everything. And I promise not to wear any of it with my sheety clothing. You're welcome.