Me-Made-Skirt

 Hello Readers. I made a skirt. And I made it all up as I went along. There was no pattern just some black fabric and a plan. Let me show you how I did this. 

I am using this black knit material (Similar here.) a nice woman named Tina gave me a couple years ago. (Thanks Tina!) This material was on the thicker side which I thought would be good for making a skirt that was not clingy or sheer. Knit material also stretches and that will make it easier to make this skirt fit.

I started by spreading the fabric out on the floor and checking how much I had. I folded one side over and cut out the basic piece for the skirt. I measured around my hips and added 4 inches for seam allowance and room to move when I was wearing the skirt. You can add a few more inches and make a looser skirt or you can match your measurement closer and make a more fitted skirt. It just depends of what you want. You can always make the skirt smaller later but you can't make it bigger, so measure carefully. 

 

Here is my skirt piece. It is going to be sewn into a tube. There will be one seam that I will put in the center back of the skirt. This piece is much longer than I need but I will worry about length later. 

 

I used my serger to sew the back seam together. I folded the fabric with right sides facing each other and lined up the edges together. I sewed down the fabric and I had a long tube. That was just what I wanted. If you do not have a serger, you can use a zigzag stitch on your sewing machine. Once you have made your tube shape, this is a good time to check the fit. Slip it on and see if you want to make it a bit smaller. If so, cut the seam away and start the sewing process over. 

 

I wanted a simple and comfortable elastic waistband. I used 2 inch wide elastic. 

 

I used a zigzag stitch to connect the ends of the elastic to make my waistband. I basically sewed the elastic into a circle. 
 

I made the circle of elastic for the waistband. I like to cut the elastic about the same as my waist minus 2 inches. That seems to work best for me. (Wrap the elastic around your waist to see how large you want it to be.) I clipped it to the waist of my skirt. I made sure the skirt was evenly "distributed" around my elastic waistband. The skirt was larger but the elastic will stretch to fit while I sew it to the skirt.

 

I sewed the elastic to the edge of my skirt. I gently stretched the elastic as I stitched to make the elastic fit the skirt. The waistband gathers together after so it will fit my waist well. 

 

I flipped the elastic up and into the skirt to hide it. I used green because I had it on hand and it won't show when I am done, you can use a any color elastic you want.  

 

I used my sewing machine to sew the elastic under. I stretched gently as I sewed to make sure it was smooth. I used a small zigzag stitch so the elastic would be able to move and stretch while it was being worn.

 

I cut my skirt shorter. You can choose the length that you like best. I wanted a long skirt but I am pretty short so my measurements will be different than yours. Try it on again to see what length you want.

 

You can see I serged the cut edge at the bottom of the skirt and then used my sewing machine to sew the hem of the skirt in place with a straight stitch. You could also use a zigzag stitch and then turn the edge under for the hem

 

I made a maxi length skirt. I do not remember to make a lot of neutral basics so this basic black skirt will be really handy. It will match so many things. 

 

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Simplest Skirt You Can Make

 Hello Readers. Happy Halloween 2025

 Sewing is so much fun. I love to put pieces together and make something new and hopefully wearable. My daughter gave me a piece of amazing argyle fabric that she didn't want and it was perfect for making a very simple, very basic skirt. This is the kind of skirt I wish I learned to make in junior high sewing class when I was forced to make a tote bag. The bag wasn't fun or cute or colorful. It felt like a wasted opportunity. If the sewing isn't fun, why are we doing it? We can answer that later. For now let's make a skirt.

 

Before and after.

 

 

This is the fabric my daughter gave me. It is a soft knit and I love that. The argyle pattern was fun and nostalgic. It was also a perfect rectangle. Believe it or not, that is a great start to making a simple skirt. The wider the rectangle the fuller the skirt will be.Wrap it around yourself to see if it will fit well. If you want a very full twirly skirt, you need a wide rectangle. I only had the amount I was given so I will work with what I have.

The first step was to fold the right sides together and sew the ends together. This is going to make a tube shape and that is the beginning of the skirt. 

Now, we need a waist of some kind. There so many ways to make a waistband. I wanted this to be so simple that a very beginner could do this. I am going to attach wide elastic to the top edge of the skirt. That is going to be the waistband. Elastic is comfortable and it is easy to fit. It forgives when You had a big slice of cake and it is easy to put together. Choose a color that matches your fabric.

Measure your waist. This is so important. You want the elastic to fit around you comfortably. Even elastic can be tight if it is too small. Every body is different. Your waist isn't the same as mine. Cut your elastic the size you need. You want it tight enough ti hold up your skirt but not so tight it hurts your tummy. Connect the ends of the elastic with a zigzag stitch. I like to sew over mine back and forth a couple times to make sure it will never come apart. I overlapped the edges of my elastic and stitches over the edge to hide any fraying threads.

Use pins to attach the skirt to the waistband. You want the skirt fabric to be evenly spread around the elastic waistband.

Now, My skirt is all pinned and it's time to sew. I like to use pins or clips to arrange my fabric for sewing. It makes it easier to sew. I used a zigzag stitch because I want to be able to pull the skirt on over my hips and bum. It needs to stretch to do that. If I sew the elastic on with a straight stitch it won't be able to stretch as I want. 

Now I can check my sewing. Did I miss any spot of fabric? If I did (Or you did.) It's OK. No one is perfect. Just go back to that spot and go over it again. If your thread and elastic match well, it won't show at all. 

The last thing I need to do is hem the skirt. Any length is fine. Trying the skirt on is the best way to decide how long it should be. I marked my skirt and folded the lower edge under and stitched it down. The fabric I am using is a knit so it won't fray. A woven fabric would need to be folded under twice to hide the fraying edge.

My skirt turned out great. It is as comfortable as sweatpants but so much cuter.

I feel like it really works with this "Pink Ladies" jacket I found at a swap. I think it's too much. Maybe for Halloween? We'll see. Thanks for reading along, now go make something fun for yourself.

*Year End Note From Chickie- This skirt was so simple and I really like it. I wear it with a brown sweater in cooler weather. I like the bit of pink with all the brown.

 

Make More From a Shirt 2

 Hello Readers. I am not a huge fan of button-down shirts. They are usually stiff and feel confining. And I need to be free! So, I cut one into pieces and made better use of it. Let me show you.

Before and after.

This shirt was fine but I never wore it. I decided to make some other things from it.

I made a dickie yesterday.

After I cut the dickie out of the shirt I had plenty of shirt left over. I cut off the bottom of the shirt. I wanted to get rid of the shoulders and sleeves.

I also wanted to add some elastic to the top of this piece to get a waistband. This is going to be sort of a skirt.

I made sure the elastic was the size for my waist and I stitched it to the top of the skirt piece.

This is the finished "skirt".

If I were to wear just the skirt with the dickie it looks crazy but that wasn't what I wanted to do.

I wanted to wear these 2 pieces under other clothes.

I like the shirt cut up and worn under casual or dressy clothes.

This would be so comfortable and fun for a holiday party. Thanks for reading along, now go make something fun for yourself.

***Year End Update- This skirt piece is great over leggings. I like it that way.

Odds & Ends I Found in the Sewing Pile

 Hello Readers. I do a lot of sewing and refashion projects and sometimes I cut clothes apart. I save the pieces for later. I can be forgetful and when I find the piece later I am always surprised.

Cleaning out my sewing stash led me to these gems.

 This cotton skirt was very classic in shape and style. I liked it immediately.

 

It seemed to be cut off a dress. I has some trouble remembering what happened to the top of the dress but the skirt was great. It just had a rough cut edge that needed to be finished.
 

I used my serger to keep that cut edge from fraying more. A zigzag stitch would also work well for this.
 

 There wasn't much length to work with. I turned that serged edge under and stitched it down with my sewing machine.

 

The skirt had a 1/2 inch waistband now. It wasn't wide but it seemed to work well. It has buttons down the front to get it on and off. That fix at the waistband was all this skirt needed. How long has it been waiting to be fixed? (I hate to think.) 

 

I also found this slip dress in the refashion stash. I wasn't sure when I had picked it up or where I got it. I loved the copper color. The top button loop was broken so I would need to fix that.

 

 I decided to sew the V-neck closed. It would feel more secure that way. 

 

The arm holes were too low on me. Half my bra would be hanging out with it like this.

I decided to fix that problem by shortening the straps from the back. I opened the back, shortened the middle...

...and sewed it shut again.

 

Fixing the dress in the back was easy and the arm hole is much higher now. The fit is much better.

The slip dress is the perfect slip under this cotton skirt. 

 These 2 really work well with each other. I added a sweater to keep warm. Thanks for reading along, now go make something fun for yourself.

***Year End Update- I loved these pieces and wore them but they are both very thin and are better for warm weather. It is cold and wet here in fall and winter.