In With The Old

Blouse, Skirt (altered), & Sandals- Thrift Store, Earrings- World Market, Hair Comb- Me Made

I found this skirt at the Goodwill Bins a few weeks ago and it just took my breath away. It had been a particularly awful day. The kind of day where the least awful part was watching a grown-ass man clear his throat and spit on the floor of the courthouse. After two hours of line waiting, 30 degrees hotter temps than it was at my office, no air conditioning, and being stuck in a stuffy room with screaming kids, dirty diaper smell and the ground spitter, I took myself to Goodwill in an effort to de-stress. If you have never been to a Goodwill Bins before I seriously recommend getting yourself to one asap. It is just a room full of bins of donated items. It is really pretty amazing. It's gross and you will want to bring body hand sanitizer with you, but the treasures to be found are pretty great. So after the long awful day it was a lovely reward to come across this absolutely beautiful skirt.

When I bought it the waist was itty bitty, and it was floor length. I've been dreaming of a skirt like this for ages and so I bought it intending to shorten it and make a new waistband. Initially I thought this was an 80's-does-Edwardian skirt or a reproduction. As I began to take it apart I found that every single part of this skirt had been hand sewn. The thread and fabric were fragile, and until I bleached it, the skirt was a beautiful tea-dyed shade of cream. The eyelet and lace at the hem are all hand stitched together. The seams are all hand French Seamed. There are spots where this skirt was mended and where little crocheted flowers were carefully stitched over stains or tares... It is a literal work of art.

I shortened it by probably a foot and re-did everything by hand save the waistband. It took me about three hours in total (I am a slow hand stitcher), which blows my mind in comparison to how much work was originally done by hand. I like to think that whoever this skirt (let's be real, petticoat) originally belonged to is happy it's still around and deeply appreciated.