How to Make a Desk Skirt

A desk skirt can make an old desk fresh and colorful. It makes a new desk match the decor of a room by using fabric that is also used for decorative pillows or over a bulletin board. This is a fairly easy project for a beginning sewer who has already acquired basic sewing skills. A desk skirt is much like making a simple skirt with an elastic waist, except the desk skirt is open in the center to allow your legs to slip inside.

Fabric
Thread
Scissors
Tape measure
¾-inch elastic
Safety pin
Straight pins
Iron
Ironing board

Instructions

- 1
  Measure around your desk just under the top board lip. This is where your desk skirt will fit. This will be the length of your fabric, only doubled.
- 2
  Measure from just under the top board lip down to the floor. This will be the width of your fabric.
- 3
  Choose a cotton or cotton-blend fabric. Prewash and dry the fabric to make sure it is preshrunk. This will allow you to wash the desk skirt later when it is soiled, without worrying about it shrinking and not fitting the desk. Purchase twice the length of the measurement you took in Step 1.
- 4
  Cut the fabric length twice the measurement you took in Step 1. Cut the fabric width in the measurement you took in Step 2 for the length of the skirt, plus 2-1/2 inches to allow for the hem and elastic casing.
- 5
  Press under 1/4 inch along both of the long fabric sides, toward the inside of the fabric. Press under another inch on each at the same sides.
- 6
  Press under 1/4 inch at both shorter sides of the fabric. This will make an attractive edge from the outside of the skirt.
- 7
  Use straight pins to hold the 1-inch folded-under sections to the main portion of the fabric.
- 8
  Sew across, over the straight pins, close to the folded bottom edge of each side. Remove the straight pins. You now have a hem at one end and an elastic casing at the other end.
- 9
  Cut 3/4-inch elastic to the measurement you took in Step 1. Attach a large safety pin to one end of the elastic.
- 10
  Work the safety pin through the elastic casing until you reach the opposite end. Pull the safety pin and the elastic that is attached through the opening, being careful not to let the other end of the elastic slip through the first opening. Remove the safety pin.
- 11
  Overlap the two ends of the elastic by about 1 inch. Hold them together with a straight pin. Sew across the overlapped elastic back and forth three times, for strength. Remove the straight pin. The elastic overlap will disappear into the casing as you let it go.
- 12
  Place the desk skirt over the top of your desk, letting the elastic casing rest just under the top board lip of the desk. Make sure the opening is in the front of the leg compartment.

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