What? I’m advocating the return of the mini skirt? That is very unlike me, what is going on?

It is the legging craze. So comfy, with bright colors, no zippers or buttons, easy on and off. Leggings are a great option for my very flexible youngest, who struggles with tight jean buttons. But schools are not keen on leggings and t-shirts (and there are so many t-shirts with great messages!) So here is my solution: the mini skirt. In particular, a knit skirt made from material that flexes like leggings but covers past the fingertips like a tunic or dress.

The skirt my youngest is modeling (she insisted our dog be in the picture, and he is so cute) is made from the bottom of a t-shirt. Following the rules and repurposing? Win win. I sewed some soft elastic at the top to help it stay on. I am going to make her some in every color! She gets to wear her favorite leggings and t-shirts, and we follow the rules. So, I’m advocating a mini skirt return… with leggings.

My puppy is getting old. He will be 7 this summer and it will be time to switch to senior food. Wha? I thought his middle aged bones might need a cushy bed. All previous cushy beds died a torn death, so he sleeps on a pile of blankets with no hems (he has a thing against hems and nibbles them off). He will still have blankets in his kennel, but when laying out in the living room with the family, I thought he needed something better than the concrete floor. We have tried the “chew proof” dog beds, but the thick canvas like material made too much noise for him (yes, I have prissy dog). I also didn’t want to spend much in case he rejected it. What I found on sale had a white fluffy top. All the fluffy soft quiet tops of reasonable price were white. I have a black dog. It only took a week to see the dog hair.

The good news is he likes it. So since he likes it, what do I do about that no longer white top? Recover it, of course. I found some beautiful fake fur fabric at the hobby store, and purchased some less expensive fleece for the bottom. Sewing square corners is not my favorite activity, so I trimmed the corners of the cushion (which is just two layers of egg crate foam glued together). Scissors couldn’t handle the thick foam, but a serrated knife slid through easily.

I also literally ripped out the zipper from the old cover and reused it for the new cover because I couldn’t find a zipper longer than 36” at the store. I did pick the stitches on the end of the zipper, but then it ripped out quite nicely (and much faster than using the seam ripper the whole length, ugh). I cut an oval out of the fake fur, and a matching oval out of the fleece, then cut strips for the sides. Sewing fake fur is a tricky business as the thick fur slides and doesn’t like to line up, but I finished sewing it and put it in the foam.

I measured for 1” seams, but ended up with an average 1/2” seam, so the fit of the cover is loose. The fur is forgiving, though, so I think it still looks good. Not neat and crisp, but homey and comfy, which fits our style. And I spent less overall than the high end beds at the store. Phew!

I tried a new method of rip repair on my eldest’s pants. It always seems to be the back pocket the pulls apart at the corner. Probably because this is where she puts her phone! I’ve tried a whip stitch, which looks bad and pulls apart, a mattress stitch, which also pulls apart, and reweaving which is effective but visible. I had the idea this time to use the weaving method, but only pick up fabric threads from the wrong side of the fabric. So I sewed back and forth across the rip rather than along the rip. The hope is that I caught enough fabric to support the thread, and the thread will hold the rip closed.

The idea came from browsing all the beautiful embellished repairs on Pinterest. However, my eldest likes subtle, so didn’t want me to use rainbow thread on the outside! I can report that at the end of the day, the stitching still held. Hurray!