This project starts with a little story. Five years ago my husband and I bought an old historic home. It was built somewhere in the mid- to late-1800s. The house had been empty for a couple years and raccoons used it for part of that time. We had this little gross closet (see left photo above) that I wouldn't store anything in so my dad suggested we turn it into a bathroom.
I'll spare you the drama of putting in the bathroom, but we ended up with the little beauty in the above right photo! You can see that the pipes under the sink are still visible. That brings us to this project. A sink skirt was the perfect solution to hide those pipes and add some extra character.
MEASURING:
Width: I started by measuring around the top of the sink. I then added 1" to that measurement so I could hem the sides. I decided to use 5 box pleats around the top. For each pleat I added an extra 4" (you'll loose 2" for each side pleat). This bathroom is 3 feet x 5 feet so that sink is super small. For a larger sink you may want more pleats.
Height: Measured the height I wanted the skirt from the rim of the sink to below the pipes. Added an additional 4" for hemming.
SEWING:
After cutting out my fabric I hemmed the left and right sides. Then in the center I pinned down a box pleat. Each pleat is 2" wide with 1" pleats so the folds will almost touch in the back. From there I pinned each of the two side pleats. Then I sewed a seam across the top to hold them all in place. I then folded the top back 1" twice for the hem. The extra wide and sturdy hem will be where you later place your velcro.
I did the same process for the bottom except for making the pleats larger to the point that they overlapped each other.
FINISHING:
After I had the skirt finished, I used sticky velcro squares and attached one side to my sink and one side to my sink skirt. The ones on the sink stuck really well but the ones on the fabric lost their hold when the unheated bathroom reached arctic temperatures. After that I handstitched the squares to the fabric but the stickyness made it nearly impossible to push the needle through and now my finger is full of holes. You can benefit from my suffering: I would recommend sticky velcro for the sink and nonsticky velcro stitched to the fabric. I used 5 squares, but again, it's a really small sink so you may need more. Now it's ready to be attached and you're all done!
