Happy Black Friday! This is the perfect DIY to inexpensively satisfy your personal shopping urges if you’ve been spending your cash on Christmas gifts for others. I found a wooly pair of tweed shorts for $3 at the thrift store and was inspired to turn them into a funky-fall/winter look.

Here’s what you need for the project:

• Long high-waisted shorts (easily thrifted!)
• Fabric scissors
• Fabric pen (or Sharpie, as I used)
• Tape measure
• Fray Check

Step One:

Trim the length of the shorts. I did this a couple of times, trying them on after each time to see how the length felt on me. Be sure to save some room for the scallops- they will shorten the length a bit.

Step Two:

Measure the width of the leg. I wanted 3 1/2 scallops across the leg, so I divided this length by 3.5 and found a circular object around the house that matched this diameter. It just so happened that a candle lid worked perfectly! You can always fudge the diameter a little, but if you are going to do this, I suggest using a washable fabric marker rather than a Sharpie for the next step.

Step Three:

Trace the circular object across the width of the fronts and backs of each leg. A fabric pen would probably be better for this step, but I had confidence, and more importantly, I did not have a fabric pen. :)

Step Four:

Use super sharp fabric scissors to carefully cut on the inside of where you drew the semi-circles. I definitely suggest cutting the fronts and the backs separately to avoid any tragic mistakes.

Step Five:

Add a light coat of fray check to the edge of the shorts. When it dries, trim any slightly uneven spots or frays that are hanging out.

That’s it! Super easy, right? The great thing about this project is that it utilizes old shorts that you can easily find for about 2-4 dollars at the thrift store. So if you mess up, you’re not out a significant amount of money. Paired with tights, this particular pair of wool shorts is perfect for the colder months, but I think I’ll try larger scallops on some lightweight shorts next summer.

Last summer I launched my new vintage shop and wanted to have cards to hand out to people I met who were interested in such fun things. The cards had to be special, though. Special enough to actually inspire someone to venture onto the interwebs and check out my shop.

So, I found an old dress I had been keeping for a while, but hated the cut of it, and made business cards from it!

To make your own fabric-backed business cards, you will need:

• Good quality cardstock and printer
• Wax paper
• Thin, tightly woven fabric
• Spray mount
• Scissors for fabric
• Xacto blade
• Steel edge ruler
• Cutting mat

First, I printed out my business cards side-by-side onto a sheet of cardstock. Then I spray mounted it to a plain piece of cardstock, just to give it a heavier weight. After that, I trimmed around the edges.

Next, I laid the joined cardstock into the fabric and cut around the shape, so I had a piece of fabric about the same size as the cardstock.

Taking the wax paper, fabric, and cardstock outside, I laid out two pieces of wax paper and laid (face down) the fabric and cardstock onto them. Then, I sprayed the backside with spray mount. Carefully, I placed the sticky side of the fabric to the sticky side of the cardstock, started from one edge and making sure there were no wrinkles as I went along.

After the fabric and the cardstock was been joined, I used the steel ruler and Xacto blade to trim out the cards. The blade needed to be super sharp, and I changed it every other cut, lest the fabric fray or pull.

That could be the last step, but in order to add that extra special touch, I decided to machine stitch around the edges of my cards with metallic thread. This was a pretty time consuming process, but I’ve found that most people are pretty impressed with them, which means they are more likely to actually check out my shop. Mission accomplished!

If you’re on the hunt for inexpensive curtains with a unique (and even vintage) flair, you are well aware of how long and tiring the search may be! I just haven’t had the money for new curtains, and I couldn’t find a set of 4 curtain panels I liked at the thrift store, so discouragement began to set in. Until it occurred to me, why not take two sets of curtain panels and splice them together, making four panels with two different fabrics? So I set out on a thrift store adventure to find two pairs of curtains I quite admired. But, because I am impatient and didn’t find what I wanted after visiting four stores, I settles on a pair of flat sheets instead. And as I was walking to the register, i spied a lovely striped valance and lace panel. Hmmm… the wheels were turning.

When I arrived at my home, I didn’t skip a beat before getting to work. And I photographed the process along the way so that you can make your own set of funky curtains with thrifted sheets! It was a fun process from beginning to end, and you really just can’t beat the price tag. $4 for 4 curtain panels!

Obviously, the first step would be getting out to the thrift store and looking for fabric to use. I used old sheets, but you could certainly utilize vintage curtains (as I had originally intended) or other linens available. And don’t limit yourself to just large pieces of fabric. Be sure to check out the valances and such smaller fabric pieces to utilize as trim. You could even do a patchwork of fabric scraps, if you are extra ambitious!

I needed my curtains to be 84″ long to hang properly on my curtain rods. But first, I needed to see if the valance fabric would be wide enough to continue the entire length. Fortunately, it was right on the money! So, I went ahead and measured the sheets to 90 inches (I added 6″ for a hem) and cut them to length. Tip: to save time, I folded the sheets in half and them trimmed them to size.

After trimming both flat sheets, I needed to cut them into 4 widths since I was making 4 curtain panels. So, keeping the sheet folded in half, I cut it in half at the fold. Then I folded it in half again, cutting along the fold to make 4 pieces.

After I cut both flat sheets and the valance into 4 pieces 90 inches long, I organized them into piles and began the assembly process. I have very little sewing experience, and I didn’t want this to turn into a long process, so I just did a simple stitch to sew the two pieces together, creating the base for one panel. Make sure when you are sewing them together, you have the fronts of the sheets touch each other, with the backs of the sheets on the outside. It might seem like a no brainer, but remember- haste makes waste!

After you have sewed the two larger pieces together, now sew the trim piece. This piece was only 84 inches long, so I made sure to leave a three inch space at the top and at the bottom to make a nice hem with the larger pieces. The hem on the 84 inch valance fabric was already in tact, so I left it alone.

Now that all three pieces of fabric are sewn together, iron the curtain at the seams to flatten out the fabric. Next, iron a 3 inch hem at the top and bottom of the panel, to remove the need for pinning and such. After I ironed the hem, I did a quick stitch on the sewing machine to finish it off. And once again, if you are feeling ambitious, you may want to do a blind stitch to close the hem. I suppose I’m just not that picky.

Going through this process 4 times (one for each panel) didn’t take as long as I thought! I was pleasantly surprise. Although, it probably would have gone faster if it weren’t for the silly automatic-off feature on my iron! From start to finish, (not included shopping for the fabric) this project took me about four hours.

Note: I had originally planned these curtains for our living room, but after purchasing the kilim for this space, I decided they would be better suited to our bedroom. So now I have more hemming in store! Ah well.