After making those Valentine’s Day skirts for Kayla, and falling in love with the quick and easy results, I decided to see what other fabric I had in my stash. I pulled out these two pillowcases I purchased at a yard sale for $.25 each. While the light peach color didn’t exactly jump out at me I loved the lacy edge detail so I grabbed it knowing I would put it to good use someday. Why not dye it and just add elastic for a fun skirt for Kayla?
Supplies:
Rit Dye: Petal Pink
Elastic
Iron and Ironing Board
Pins
Ruler
Elastic
salt
Safety pin
Coordinating Thread
Sewing Machine
1. I went on the Rit Dye site to check out their color formula guide, which is an awesome resource for creating custom colors. Trying to the match the pink in a shirt of Kayla’s I decided on Petal Pink. I wasn’t sure how it would dye since the fabric began as a pale peach. But at a quarter a piece I felt like I had nothing to lose.
2. I added 4 cups of hot (almost boiling water) with 4 tablespoons of Petal Pink dye and 1/8” cup of salt. I wet my fabric beforehand and rung the excess water out. Then I soaked my pillowcase (I cut it down to about 16” in length) stirring it to promote even color for 40 minutes making sure to keep the water hot on the stove.
3. I rinsed it with hot water, then warm, then cool until the water ran clear. Then I washed it in the washing machine and dried it in the dryer. The color is definitely more coral than Petal Pink but since I had no notions of what color it would end up I decided to just jump in with both feet and I love the results.
4. I measured Kayla’s waist and subtracted 1” and cut the elastic to that length.
5. I ironed the top edge under 1/4” and then under again 1” creating a casing for the elastic. I sewed the casing shut leaving a 2” opening. Then I attached a safety pin to the elastic and ran it through the skirt.
6. Next I sewed the elastic back and forth a few times and then sewed the casing shut. Easy, peasy project! Literally the sewing part took me about 10 minutes.
“Mom dressed me”
“I dressed me”
“Yes all pinks are created equal. Ruffles and twirly skirts should be paired together. And yes I dressed myself, do you actually think my mom has this good of style? Psssh! And who said ruffle skirts can’t be worn as a top?” — Kayla Farrant as translated by her mom
Kayla actually sewed this project. Yep I just directed the traffic but she drove the car (aka. sewing pedal). She loves telling people she made her skirt, and I will let her take credit for it. 
P.S. I just noticed that Kayla’s…ahem…ruffle “shirt” is on Groopdealz again today There are only 18 left if you want to grab one.
Does anyone else have a Punky Brewster dresser in their house?
We love Punky Brewster style dressing! I let my daughter go. She picks out what she wants and she is easily the most fashionably dressed child at her bus stop. (The other 2 are boys)
CUTE!!!! I love it, Beckie, and I love her spunk. My younger daughter is the fashionista. I once let her wear a one-shoulder, sequined pink and green leotard over her clothes when we went to my brother’s for dinner. I figured it wouldn’t hurt anything, and we all got a good laugh out of it. 😉
Super cute!!! Now I need to go scavenge the thrift stores to find some lace pillowcases!
She is so precious! Actually, her skirt to shirt idea is a favorite of mine! If you have stretchy skirts that you rarely wear, just hike them up tube-top style and belt it. I used to do this back in the day when stretchy a-line skirts were super popular. Okay, maybe they never were, but still. 🙂
First of all…very cute skirt, but I think that your model stole the show! My little one has Seasons 1 and 2 of Punky Brewster, and watches them often! I forgot how cute those shows were!
Jessica @ Mom 4 Real
She is so adorable! A real girl in pink! 🙂
Excellent idea with the pillow cases!