Crafter Joan Morris on what to do with those old leather and pleather skirts.

by Joanne O’Sullivan . photos by Matt Rose

You know something’s really out of style when the last fashion icon seen wearing it was Jennifer Anniston’s character on Friends. Such is the fate of leather and suede skirts, which hit their heyday in the mid ‘90s and have since been relegated to the thrift stores of the world, showing up en masse, tagged at prices less than a 12-ounce latte. Crafter Joan Morris, former owner of the legendary downtown Asheville club Vincent’s Ear, saw a lot of leather skirts coming through the door back in the day. She sees more now on the racks at Goodwill and the Salvation Army. But Morris, a consummate crafter whose projects range from T-shirts to totebags, sees the ugly skirts as ready to be recycled into fashion accessories. She sells the upcycled skirts and other handmade items at her etsy store, Joaniemo.

For an expert seamstress like Morris, a single skirt can yield nearly a dozen cuffs, each of which can be made in about an hour. Beginners may need a bit more time.

To make the cuff, she cuts six-inch by nine-inch pieces of leather and hems the long sides with a leather needle. Sandwiching wax paper between the leather and the presser foot keeps the leather moving easily (tear the wax paper out later). After that, she sews length-wise rows of random lengths, gathering and sewing the short ends. Next she hand-stitches the pearls in place twice with a thin but strong needle. Then she adds snaps at each end, and voilá, an elegant but edgy fashion accessory.

To see more cuffs and DIY projects, go to www.etsy.com/shop/joaniemo.