The Difficult Skirt to Shirt

Hello Readers. I had this great patterned skirt. It is too big and too long for me so I had to do something.  You can't see it from the pictures but it is super sheer and delicate cotton fabric. I didn't realize how difficult it would be to work with it. What I thought would be easy was in reality, a mess to sew.

This skirt had some torn spots at the bottom that needed attention. I could have just made this skirt my size by taking it in. I could have sewn new seams that removed the damage and made it smaller, but in my mind I could see a loose summer top. So that is what I started making.

I cut off the waistband. That part was easy. It was very wrinkled so I ironed it just enough to make the fabric easier to spread out. This is when I realized it was so thin it wouldn't be easy to deal with. 

I flipped it upside down and pinned it on my dress form. I wanted a wide neckline. That was the last real decision I made. After this point it was a fight to get this fabric to do anything I wanted. It didn't drape very well because it a little stiff in spite of being so sheer. 

I connected the front and back together at the shoulders with 1 inch seams and sewed straight down the sides. Then I cut away some of the excess so I could work with it more easily. It was pretty shapeless at this point.

The dog is not impressed.

I used the dress form and made armholes. I just rolled the fabric under and stitched it down. It was so thin and delicate it got caught in my machine. Over and over and over. I was getting really frustrated by now. (*Note-I should have used something to stabilize the seam like hem tape.) 

I decided to used the original waistband and attached it to the bottom. I thought it would finish the bottom and cinch in the waist a little. It needed some shape. It also pulled all the fabric together and that hid some of the spots where the fabric got caught in the machine and caused the fabric to pucker.

Front view.                                                 Front view.

It was nice over a tank top and I do like the earth tones. It was a pain in the neck and honestly, I would do something else with this skirt if I had it to do all over again.

Thanks for reading, now go make something fun for yourself.