school of life

i love learning new techniques. whatever the crafty medium of choice, i get very excited when i can add more to my arsenal. increasingly, my craft book purchases are things like stitch dictionaries. most recently, i got a new book on crochet edgings and was delighted to discover a technique that marries two of my loves: sewing and needlework. my first experiment was on a skirt made from vintage fabric that i built last summer.

the first step is to use an embroidered chain stitch to create a foundation chain. just be careful to keep track of how many stitches you create, based on the border you plan to use. mine was a multiple of 4, and i used some vintage crochet cotton. i was particularly amused to see that the skein originally sold for $ .65. oh, if only...

the next step was to single crochet all the way around, finishing with a slip stitch.

finally, i used an angle shell stitch pattern all the way around. and...

voila! pretty vintage trimmed skirt! and now to ponder the rest of my closet...