So I have had this dress for almost 10 years. It holds a lot of sentimental value, yes I am one of those people that hold onto an article of clothing just for sentimental purposes. I was wearing this dress the night I met my husband. Ahh, the memories!! As much as I LOVE this dress I know deep down I will never wear it again. The color is bold, the print is bold, it's strapless and let me just face the facts....I am also 10 years older (ugh)!!
So while purging my house. I grabbed this dress and debated on donating it. Then I had an ephiphany. I could turn this into a skirt for my daughter!! And once I thought of that, I realized with Valentine's day a few weeks away it would be perfect for her to wear to school!
So, step one was holding it up to Delilah and checking to see how long (or short) she wanted it. I did not measure at this point. I looked at where she wanted it and just estimated with my eyes. If this was for an adult or someone super picky about the length I would measure and add as much as you need based on the width of your elastic.
I laid it flat and smoothed out any wrinkles (this material was slightly stretchy, so i didn't have to worry too much about ironing it beforehand).
I also pinned the bottom hem together to keep the material from moving on me while I cut.
I rounded up to the nearest whole number (in this case it was 19") and started marking with an invisible ink marker. I marked it about 4 times across.
Then took my ruler, lined up the marks with the ruler, used my rotary cutter and cut everything but the zipper.
This zipper was broken, so I didn't care about destroying it. I grabbed my scissors (non fabric ones) and cut the zipper. Now I have my skirt!!
Top piece put aside to use for later! Oh yes, I do have plans!!!
Take your seam ripper and rip out the rest of the zipper.
Iron down where the zipper was.
Sew the opening closed. I went along the same seam that is there already. I kept sewing a few inches past were the zipper was.
Now the zipper opening is closed and time to iron down to make a casing for the elastic.
This is where I *wing* it. I don't even measure this part (I am sure someone will want to yell at me). Since my bottom hem is still pinned together, I don't have to worry too much about this part being uneven. I just fold it over a little bit (yes this is the same measurement as 'pinch or dash'), give it a good iron and make sure the other side is lined up and even.
Then I run it through my machine. (I do this instead of going right into the next step because I found it frustrates me less). You could easily skip this step though.
Now I measure and pin! My elastic was 3/4" so I folded down 1 inch, pinned and ironed it.
Remember to leave a small opening (roughly 3 inches) to thread the elastic through. I like to put an extra pin in the spot to let me know when to stop.
Sew your casing! I sewed along the previous seam line for easy reference.
Measure your elastic and put a safety pin in your elastic and thread it though the casing (I didn't get a picture of this...oops).
Sew your elastic together, then open and sew down the flaps. This lets your elastic lay flat and comfy.
Before sewing the elastic opening closed. Try the skirt on to make sure the elastic isn't too big or too snug. And adjust accordingly. Sew opening closed!!
Now you have an adorable skirt for Valentine's Day!!!!!
For Pinterest users:
If you have any questions please let me know! This is my first official tutorial so I hope I have inspired someone to take out that old dress and turn it into something else!!
HAPPY SEWING!! ~ Amanda
