I started looking at my daughters old shirts one day. She had so many shirts that either had a stain right up front or I didn't love enough for her to wear more than once or twice. Those of you who come to my blog often know how much she loves skirts!! So we decided she needed a new skirt!! And I wanted to share with you how we made this skirt. It was simple, fun, quick, and didn't cost a penny to make. Give it a try, you will love the skirt, it washes great with no wrinkles and is perfect for play. No serger needed, and no need to add an elastic to the waistline!!!
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Start out going through your closet and pulling out 5 or 6 old shirts. Notice that I have used a tank top, polo shirt, and basic t's. You will also need an old pair of leggings. If you don't have leggings, any old pair of pants would be just as cute!!
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Cut just underneath the sleeves on all the shirts. Don't worry that some will be taller than others. Throw away the top. I am using this ruler, and it definitely is wonderful, but don't worry if you don't have one!
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Cut off the side seams. Throw away the side seams. We are keeping the hem of the shirt on, so make sure not to cut it off!
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Cut into 3 even rectangles, with the shirts hem at the bottom of each.
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Lay out all the rectangles from all your shirts into how you would like them for the skirt. Some of the shirts are taller than the others, this is just fine, we will fix this later.
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Starting at the shirts hemline, sew 1/8" seam allowance up the side of each rectangle. Sew with the ugly side of the fabrics together, making the seam show on the outside of the skirt.
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This is what it will look like as you start to add more rectangles together. Keep going until you sew the first rectangle to the last, making a circle.
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Cut the leggings somewhere above the crotch. This is up to you where you want to cut, the main difference it will make is the length it adds to the skirt. Throw away the bottoms.
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To get the bottom of the skirt ready for sew to the top, cut the extra lengths from the rectangles off the top. This will make a nice edge to sew to the top of the leggings. You are not cutting the edge that has all the original hems from the shirts.
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Make a gathering stitch at the top. To do this set your sewing machine at the longest stitch length you have available. Then sew 1/8" away from the edge then again at 5/8" away from the edge, all the way around the top. Make sure not to back stitch at the beginning or to stitch over top the same stitches. Keep your threads at the beginning of the stitch and the end of the stitch long. You will be pulling these strings to make the gather soon.
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Separate the legging top and the skirt into fourths and place pins.
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Pull the top threads of the gathering stitches. Do not pull the bottom, just the top. If you pull the bottom and the top you will end up breaking a thread and have to start over.
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Match the pins that you placed in the leggings and the skirt together so you have the fourths evenly placed. Make sure the fabrics have the ugly sides facing each other so the seam will show on the outside of the skirt. Then play with the gathers to make the skirt the same size as the leggings. Place a lot of pins. The more the pins the better, they will save a lot of frustration!
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Sew as close to 1/8" seam allowance as you can around the edge. Then pull out the gathering stitches so they don't show on your skirt.
Yey you are done, and it looks fantastic!! New skirt at no extra cost!!!
