Scrapheap Challenge

Have you ever seen the Scrapheap Challenge on tv? It’s a very sad and strange show where teams compete to build something (usually a car or boat) out of scrap from a junkyard. Well, we had our own version of the scrapheap challenge last night, albeit a somewhat less greasy & grimy one. Warning to all guys: you might want to stop reading now – this is definitely a girly post!

I have a friend’s wedding in a few weeks, and have been wondering what to wear. I was given a skirt a while back that I never wear because, although I like the top, I hate the bottom of it. So, I had the bright idea of chopping the bottom off and replacing it with some black satin that I knew I had in storage.

After trekking out to the storage unit to pick up my sewing bag and then to mum’s to use the sewing machine, I discovered the satin wasn’t in my sewing bag… which meant it was MIA somewhere in the depths of the bedlam we not-so-lovingly call our storage unit. Doh! It was just too hard to head back looking for it, so we plumbed the long-forgotten depths of my sewing bag (unused for many years) to find an alternative.

What we found was a huge amount of lovely soft black silk, a big length of black organza and a shorter length of broderie anglais black satin. After a bit of consultation, we decided to just make a new skirt from scratch, and settled on a layered wraparound that only required a few hooks and a vintage brooch found at the bottom of one of mum’s old jewellery box (no nasty zips or buttonholes). Mum definitely earned an upgraded Mother’s Day present by slaving away doing the actual sewing while my sister in law & I supervised.

The result is fantastic – just like a bought one, only better. Not bad for a ‘scrapheap challenge’ skirt. Thanks mum – you’re a star.