So I've been working hard on losing weight for the past 9 months or so. I've been doing a lot of exercise (90-100 minutes a day, aerobic (an aerobics video along with some stationary bike riding) and a little muscle toning/strengthening), being more careful about what I'm eating, drinking enough water, and recognizing that while I may not feel full when I'm finished eating, the main problem with that is that I eat super fast: I can be done with a meal in less than 5 minutes (a habit I picked up in junior high where there's little to no time to eat once you've been standing in the lunch line for the whole lunch period. It has served me well as a mother because it means I still get to eat in spite of the disasters that happen at every meal courtesy of my baby or toddler) - and 5 minutes is much less than the time it takes for your brain to get the message that you're full.
So anyway - between my exercise, water intake, and careful attention to how much and what foods I'm eating, I've managed to lose about 27 pounds in the last 9 months. Needless to say, this means that most of my clothes don't fit me any more - including several of the items I bought around Thanksgiving of last year. So I've been working on updating my wardrobe. Part of this has been trying to find, buy, or mend some skirts to fit me. I'm planning to take in several of my skirts to make them fit again once I've met my goal weight (which I'm about 5-8 pounds away from at this point, depending on how much I can do before June). But in the meantime, I had to do something to get me by. I went and bought two skirts at Target and then I scoured the web for instructions on how to make a skirt. Thus came about my pillowcase skirt.
I found this link online with a picture of a skirt made from a pillowcase and simple instructions. And it just so happens that I have a set of pillowcases we received as a wedding gift that I've never even opened because, while I love them, we don't have any matching sheets and I really hate to use mis-matched bedding. So I pulled one out and dug through my sewing box, finding just enough elastic to make it around my waist. So out came the sewing machine, and what do you know - now I have a new skirt, made from a pillowcase! I used the leftover fabric I cut off the end of the pillowcase and made a matching purse, using a snap closure I'd received from my mom (along with lots of other sewing notions) years ago. It's nothing amazing if you look closely at the stitching. I know how to do a straight stitch and that's about it. But from the distance it will normally be viewed from, the skirt (and the purse too) look great. And it didn't cost me a thing, except my time and the little bit of electricity it took me to run the sewing machine. :)
So if you have an old pillowcase you like and a few shirts that go along with it, consider making yourself a pillowcase skirt. They're fast (I'm really not that great at sewing and I finished mine in about 2 1/2 hours, including the purse and taking care of my 3 kids at the same time) and easy enough for anyone who can sew a straight stitch. And cute too!
