I have a long-legged little girl. She’s tall and skinny, but that means that dresses and pants get short way too quickly. The hardest part is when she gets attached to a dress only to have me tell her it’s too short to wear any longer. So I’m always looking for ways to extend her wardrobe. Recently, after her long legs outgrew a favorite dress, I decided to chop it up and refashion it into her new favorite skirt.
Sewing Skill Level: Beginner
Supplies:
- Sewing Machine
- Thread
- Scissors
- 3/4″ elastic
- Safety Pin
- Pins
- Dress to refashion
Begin by deciding how long you want the skirt to be. To extend the wear of mine, I cut mine right under the arms. Be sure to add an inch and a half for the top elastic to the final length measurement. In other words, if you want your total skirt to be 10″, cut the dress at 11.5″. DON’T cut the bottom of the dress. The point of this is to make the skirt super easy by using the bottom hem.
Right sides together, fold over 1/2″ and pin.
Fold over another 1″ and pin.
Using a zigzag stitch, sew along the folded edge. Be sure to leave an inch or two opening for threading the elastic. I used a zigzag stitch because my fabric was knit. A straight stitch is fine for other fabrics.
Measure your child’s waist. Add one inch to this measurement and cut the elastic at this measurement. Thread the elastic through the opening, using a safety pin.
Overlap the ends of the elastic and stitch it together. Pull the elastic so it’s inside and then stitch the opening closed.
Done! Easiest. Skirt. Ever!!!
Cute skirt! What a great way to upcycle clothes too!
Beautiful dress to skirt for a beautiful little girl. How creative!
Melanie, this is GENIUS! I love how you got so much more use out of a piece of clothing by turning it into a skirt when the dress got too short!
What a cute skirt and a wonderful money saving idea, thanks for sharing!
Genius! It makes an adorable skirt! Your tutorial is so simple to understand, too– beginner sewists like me REALLY appreciate that! Hope you have a wonderful week!
~Abby =)
I never would have thought of this! I will definitely pin this to refer back to. I haven’t a clue about sewing but this looks easy.
What a great idea! Great way to save money and reuse clothes.
This looks incredible. However, with my sewing skills I know it would not turn out anything like that.
Great refashion Melanie!
I would love if you came and linked this project to my clothes upcycling project page. It has a long term linky, so your project would stay there for more than just the week of a usual linky. We have over 400 projects linked up now – some fantastic ideas.
Do come and take a look!
http://jembellish.blogspot.com/p/clothes-upcycling-projects.html
I will have to come check it out!
Super cute! Wish I knew how to use a sewing machine.
I love this idea! My daughter is 6 and is growing like a weed…I will have to try this w/some of her too short dresses as well…:)
Would love to see pics if you do!
I love the pattern! So Summery! You did such a great job. This is really beautiful!
Such a clever idea. I know my Mom would wish she would have done that when I was younger. Thank you for sharing.
so cute! Thats an easy project with great results! Emily @ Nap-Time Creations
Oh and just to let you know I’ve got a Photobook giveaway from Smilebooks going on this week. Three winners will each get a free photobook valued up to $300 each!! Come on over… low entries!
I stopped by! Thanks for the invite!
I can see why it is her favorite…I love the fabric pattern and colors!
Super cute way to extend the life of their clothes. I have been doing the same things for all those dressed I bought at the end of the summer last year & they didn’t get enough use out of them. Now they are too short.
Yes, it definitely helps- especially on a budget!
Very clever!