With animal print making a huge comeback this year, I started to think about cow print. So I thought it was about time I did something I have wanted to do for a very long time. You see there is something I have always been lacking in my closet despite wanting it for many years. Let me begin by telling you a little story.

My Passion For Fashion

Even as a child, I was fascinated by fashion. I remember marking every single thing I wanted in the H&M catalogs with a pen. I remember dreaming of high heels and disliking my boring flats. And I remember the most amazing Bratz dolls, my childhood obsession. They were cool, they stood out, they were everything I wanted to be and they had a passion for fashion.

I remember when they were quite new my sister and I got to choose one doll each. I don’t remember the exact thinking process while I was deciding but I have an idea. As a child, I remember wishing that I had blonde hair (my natural hair color is light brown.) This in combination with what outfit I preferred made me choose the blonde Cloe. Here is a picture. (this was the first edition and first release of the Bratz dolls if you are curious.) With that image, you might be able to connect the dots. Cloe’s cow print skirt was one of many Bratz pieces that I wish I could wear myself.

Bratz Dolls

Whenever I was able to I bought a new Bratz doll and the amount I had when I stopped I probably shouldn’t mention. If I wanted to know I could just go up to the attic and count them… When I think about it, I honestly wish I had every single Bratz doll ever released. (They are so inspiring!). There are definitely some that I regret not getting, but I guess I can’t have them all. So, this post got out of hand quickly and now I sound like a crazy doll collector. Let’s get back to the main point.

The Cow Print Skirt

In this post, I want to share how I made a skirt I have wanted for years. To make this skirt I could have simply bought a cow print fabric and used a pattern to sew it. The thing is though, I am lazy so I rarely make anything from scratch and I also like to reuse things I already own. Another thing is that when I search for cow print fabrics, I find faux fur fabrics or plain cotton fabrics with the wrong cow print. So even if I would commit to sewing a skirt from scratch I can’t find a fabric that I like. This is where alternative methods come up.

As a result of not finding the right fabric, I would have to find a fabric that can be turned into the right fabric. I wanted the background of the cow print to be white, so I decided on a white skirt. Once again if you enjoy making things from scratch, you can off course, do that. I thought about what I had and I remembered my graduation skirt from Ted Baker.

I wasn’t very happy with that skirt because it was on the pricer side and yet, the seam on the front managed to rip the first time I wore it, which was on my graduation… It was fine because it was long (no one noticed) and because I was able to temporarily fix it at home before celebrating with my relatives. Anyhow, I knew I probably wouldn’t wear the skirt again as it was, so naturally, it was perfect to turn it into my dream skirt.

Making A Cow Print

Okay, so, how do I turn a plain white long skirt into a short cow print skirt. Turning a long skirt into a short one is pretty obvious but what about the cow print. Off the top of my head, I can think of two ways to create a cow print. I am only using one of the ways but I am fairly certain both would work.

The first one is to take a black fabric that doesn’t fray when you cut it, cut it into shapes that look like cow print spots and then sew them one where you want them. This would make the spots look 3d which may or may not be what you’re looking for. I decided, however, to go with the second alternative, which is to paint on the spots using either fabric markers or fabric paint. I am using fabric markers for this and my thought is if I decide I want the spots more black, I can buy fabric paint and add that on top of the spots I already made.

For now, though, I am sticking to the markers. If you take a look at Cloe’s skirt you can see that the spots are both black and brown, but I decided I was happy using only black markers. Now I think it’s about time for me to show you how I made my skirt. Below is a list of things that you’ll need to make your own cow print skirt.

1.

The first step for me was to hem my skirt and I’ll be honest, I am not an expert at this so if you want to learn how to hem you’ve come to the wrong gal. That said, however, I do my best and I try things out which is good enough for me. I started by putting my skirt on to see what length might be good. In the end, I decided that I should find a skirt in my closet that had the same silhouette as my white skirt but also had the right length. I found my gold sequin skirt, I laid out the white skirt and the sequin skirt on top to figure out where to cut it.

2.

I cut the skirt longer than the sequin skirt so I would be able to hem it (the tiny slit left on the skirt is where the seam ripped..) I will admit, it felt really wrong cutting a skirt with the price in mind, but it was worth it in the end. Just you wait and see…

3.

After cutting the skirt it was time for me to hem it, so I folded the fabric once (making it less pretty on the inside, but that doesn’t really matter. It’s not the inside that counts it’s the outside.. uhm.. when it comes to clothing anyway.) If you want to you can use the lining to make it look better on the inside, but as I said before, I’m lazy. One of the reasons I folded the hem only once was because of how thick the fabric is and it might not end up looking so good. I pinned it in place making sure it was even. (If you want the hem to be seamless like mine, it’s important that the skirt has a lining.)

4.

Time for sewing. (You may want to iron the hem, the reason I didn’t was the thickness of the fabric.) I started by sewing from the bottom to the top along the seams on the sides, the front and the back. This makes it more secure while the seam is “invisible”. Next, I sewed horizontally, but instead of going through the layers I only sewed the folded layer to the lining of the skirt. And that was it for the hemming part of the skirt.

5.

The next thing is the fun part, turning my white skirt into a cow print skirt. Like I mentioned before; I used 5 fabric paint markers but I actually I started out with three. Because I have used these markers before (one time being in this Dior inspired post) I already had one marker. I decided to order two because I figured that would be enough, I was wrong. So I had to order two more… Thankfully that was enough. The markers were not expensive so that wasn’t a problem but it’s good to know before how much you might need. How many you need may vary depending on the fabric.

I found a reference photo that I liked on google and I began to create my print. To make my cow spots I started by creating outlines with one of the markers. After outlining the shapes I filled them in and it’s important to keep in mind that the paint will float out a bit, so avoid filling the spots in at the very edge of the outline.

Once they were all filled in, that was when I realized I needed more markers. I decided to fill the spots in two more times to makes them more black. The spots didn’t end up being the blackest of black in the end but I decided not to fill them in another time. I guess I was worried to run out of markers again… I’m not sure how black you can actually get the spots with fabric markers, but you can use fabric paint instead if you want it to be really black.

The Result

I did it, I took a skirt I wasn’t using and turned it into the skirt of my childhood dreams! I am so happy with the result even if it isn’t perfect (nothing is, or everything is) and I can’t wait to wear it. Now I’m looking for the perfect platform boots to go with the skirt and I may have found a pair…

Here is a closeup of my cow print nails…

…and here is a cow… I mean a cat that stares right into your soul.

Thank you so much for reading!

Do you have any questions or ideas? Feel free to write in the comment section below. If you liked this post, don’t forget to click the like button below. To receive an email when I publish something new; subscribe to my email list by clicking the follow button below (or click here.) If you’d like to you can also use the buttons below to share this post.

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-Frida

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