Mad For Plaid

Hello Readers. We are in the middle of a severe cold snap where I live. I mean really cold. Like the air hurts your face when you go outside. It is harsh. So it's the perfect time for some wool clothes. I found this wool skirt at a clothes swap. (Free for me!)

It was new with tags on. And it was from J.Crew. I never spend money on nice clothes like this but I really like them. This was very soft, thick wool. It was pretty and warm. It was in perfect condition, so I got to work. 

(I always wash things from swaps or thrift stores before I wear, store, or refashion them.)

I decided to cut the skirt much shorter. It was easy to work with because the fabric was heavy and easy to sew. It was really stiff though. It didn't have any give to it either.

But what about that extra piece with the fringe?

I wanted to make a scarf that wrapped around my neck once. When I started playing with the material it looked a lot like a shawl. My daughter said it looked like the perfect outfit for a bagpipe festival in the Scottish highlands. I wasn't planning on going to a bagpipe festival anytime soon, so I tried to tone it down.

I folded the fabric under and made it more narrow. I also took some fabric out from the back to make it a little shorter. I wanted it to wrap around my neck once, and not hang as long as a traditional shawl.

Here is the finished outfit. I liked the slightly smaller scarf, but it still has a shawl-like look to it.

I think I might want break up this set and to wear the scarf by itself.

(No bagpipes in sight. Although I am Irish and I love the sound of bagpipes.)

*** BONUS TRACK ***

Where did I get the coordinating shirt? It was from last January. It was a big cozy sweater that I made smaller. It ended up in my daughters closet for quite a while. When It came back to me I decided to remove the cowl neck so I could wear it with this skirt and scarf I was making.

I simply folded the cowl in and stitched it down. It was easy and I just cut off the extra fabric. It was a tight knit fabric and it didn't fray at all. You can always refashion an old refashion.

Thanks for reading along, now go make something fun for yourself.