Linen Scrap Skirt

 Hello Readers. I don't like to waste fabric or fabric scraps. I try find a way to use them. I made shorts from a pair of wide leg pants and thought the legs looked wide enough to use for a skirt. Let me show you.

Before and after.

I used the top of these linen pants to make a nice pair of shorts for summer. But the legs were long enough and wide enough to make something else. 

I had already cut the legs off. I was going to make a skirt from that nice linen. 

I cut the fronts and backs of the pant legs apart. 

That gave me 4 pieces of linen. 

I wanted to sew this wide cotton ribbon in between each linen piece. That will make the linen I have large enough for a skirt. 

I connected each piece of linen to this wide cotton ribbon. I alternated linen and ribbon until I had sewn them all together. Then I connected it into a tube shape.

Here is my tube. It is starting to look like a skirt!

I added a simple elastic waistband. I used a zigzag stitch to attach the elastic to the top of the skirt.

Then I turned the elastic under and stitched it again.

I pulled the waistband smooth for this last part.

After sewing the elastic shrinks back and makes this little gathered paper-bag waist look. It is a little wrinkly but the linen is going to wrinkle so they will look good together. I hemmed the bottom of the skirt and I was done.

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

***Year End Update***- This skirt was so easy to put together and it is light weight. It was great in the summer heat.

Low-rise Pants to Cargo Skirt

 Hello Readers. Can pants become a skirt? Yes, let me show you how I did it. 

 

Before and after.

 

These are not flattering and the clasp in the front is broken. The fabric was very nice linen and I thought I could make a fun cargo style skirt.

I could connect the legs to make a skirt and use some of the extra fabric to add some large pockets. 

I needed to fix this part of the waistband. It looks like someone tried to fix this but it didn't work. 

I used a zigzag stitch to sew the 2 sides together. I sewed horizontally as well as vertically to make this really strong. 

I cut the legs open along the inside seams. 

I turned the pants inside-out and once the seams were cut open I pinned the seams together like this. I would sew this new seam together and I would have a skirt. For the back I pinned all the way up, including the waistband. That way it would remove the entire back seam.

You can see the new seams if you look closely. In the front the new seam goes up the the bottom of the zipper, We will need the zipper to get in and out.  I tried it on to check the fit and then cut all that excess fabric away. 

The waist was a bit big so I decided to cut the sides open at the side seam.

I pulled the back of the skirt over the front and clipped it in place. 

 

 I stitched that down using a zigzag stitch and the waist fit so much better. 

 

I cut 2 pockets from the hem of the pant legs to attach to the sides of the new skirt.

 

I folded the edges under and ironed the pocket into a square. 

 

I wanted a large pocket on each side of the skirt so I sewed them on. 

 

I shortened it and I love how fun and casual this turned out. Thanks for reading along, now go make something fun for yourself. 

 

***Year End Update***- I really liked the material this skirt was made of. It is really light weight so I haven't worn it since it got cooler.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pants to Skirt

 Hello Readers. I love refashioning clothes and thinking about what they can become. I also like to think about what clothes I do not have in my wardrobe and make them. That is how we got here to today's project. 

 

Before and after. 

 

These tan dress pants were great with this sweater. They did not fit my short legs well at all though.  I already wore and loved the sweater. I wasn't going to refashion the sweater.

 

 

The sweater reminds me of this book. It a favorite kids book that I read to my kids  a lot. (This little girl does get over her case of stripes and stops trying to please everyone but herself. It is really a great story book for kids.)

 

I want to turn these tan pants into a tan skirt. I don't have one of those. First, I  cut the seam between the legs of these pants. I just cut from one hem, up the leg and down the other leg. 

 

 

The pants were now open at the inner seam and I could start to make a new shape.

 

 I used my dress form to hold the "pants" and start pinning my new skirt. You can do this without a dress form but this just makes it easier.

 

I pinned the sides of the waist to make it higher and more fitted and I pinned the front of the pants to create a new seam down the center. I tried to make it straight so it would be smooth when I wore it. I pinned the back seam the same way. This made the skirt shape I wanted.

 

I cut off some of the extra fabric from the bottom so it would be out of my way when I was sewing it all together on my sewing machine. 

 

 

This is what the back looked like when I was sewing it together. The pins are out of the way. That little pointed piece to the right is the old crotch from the pants. It needs to be removed after the new seam is sewn. 

 

 

I gave my new skirt a quick hem and I was done. 

 

I loved this new skirt. Here is an inside view of a the new center seam with the excess fabric cut away.

 

 It was a simple straight skirt and lets the striped sweater be the star of the show. Thanks for reading along, now go make something fun for yourself.

*Year End Note From Chickie- I loved this skirt but it got too tight. It was donated.

The Flowy Jacket

 Hello Readers. I love layering pieces but sometimes they don't always love me.

 This jacket was just one of those pieces. I loved the colors and the design of the material. It looks a bit like a bathrobe. The material is in great shape but the fun fringe is worn out.

I cut the fringe off. It was a little faded and tangled. It was best to just remove it. Some things can't be fixed. It's OK to let them go.

 I really wanted to make those sleeves more narrow and make the body of the jacket more fitted. I hemmed the bottom after I had the side seams done.

  

What would I wear with the jacket? Well the color of these stretchy pants was wonderful. The thick stretchy fabric was really soft and nice but they made me look frumpy and I didn't like the look of them when I actually put them on. I thought they would make a great skirt.

I cut the inside seams open and folded the pants so the sides were laid flat. You can see the crotch of the pants flairs out. I pinned them to make straight seams so I would have a pencil skirt.

I did some sewing and cut off the excess. I checked the length and made a hem at the bottom.

This skirt was nice with the new jacket.

I was pretty happy with how these pieces turned out. I wore it to the doctor for a boring check-up. My son is very healthy but I found out that his Epi Pen expired 6 months ago. I am expecting my "mom of the Year" award any day now.

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