Girl's Gathered Vintage Valance Top!

Vintage curtains have some of the cutest patterns and can be found aplenty at your neighborhood thrift store--or in your grandma's kitchen if she's so kind as to share! We found an awesome vintage valance curtain (already hemmed on top and bottom, and the casing is already in place--BONUS!) to make a cute kid's spring top! (As with everything thrifted, make sure to give it a good wash first!)

This tutorial is fitted to one of our favorite rock star kids, Claire. (Our photogenic little friend is also featured in her mom's new book The Toddler Cafe: Fast, Healthy, and Fun Ways to Feed Even the Pickiest Eater by Jennifer Carden--totally worth a read if you like to cook and have fun with your kids!) If you don't find a vintage valance you like, you can always hem a regular curtain and add a casing. (Those skills are described in Subversive Seamster, but for now, we are sticking with the super easy basics!)

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Step 1: Getting Started

Cost: $0.00-$20.00
Time to make: less than 1 hour
Level of difficulty: Seamster level 2 + (i.e., you are comfortable using a sewing machine)
Start Item: Cute vintage valance
Start Category: Household
Finish Item: Kids top
Finish Category: Kids Clothes
Refashioned or From Scratch: Refashioned

Tools You'll Need:

Vintage curtain valance (the kind with a casing that goes on a rod--not a tabbed curtain), ours was 120" x 13" (plenty of material for lots of tops!)
22" of 1" wide pajama elastic (chest measurement minus one inch)--the width of the pajama elastic should be at least 0.5 inch smaller than the width of your casing
1 yard double fold bias tape (or ribbon) for the straps
Scissors
Sewing Machine
Thread
Safety Pins/ Pins