Skirt Refashion: How to make a button skirt

I made this skirt one afternoon last week and it's already become one of my favourites as it hangs so nicely is comfy to wear. I refashioned it from a longer skirt that I found in a charity shop (it was originally from Precis, so it's a really nice quality and was worth salvaging). The fabric is a thick, silky polyester with a sheen. I don't tend to wear brown, but the weight and texture of the fabric is just lovely.



The basic idea when making this skirt is to salvage the waistband and reattach it to a shorter length skirt, whilst creating a button front. It might sound like a long-winded thing to do when I could just cut the skirt shorter, but the original pleats were ripped and I like my pleats more ruffly. You could add in a side zip instead of all the buttons down the front, but I just love this look, and it's an excuse to use some of the pretty buttons I have in my stash.



Here's a quick 'how to'...

A dress from a top + skirt

My mum gave me a jersey skirt yesterday as she didn't feel comfortable in the colour for herself. It was too big for me to wear as a skirt so I'd originally planned to reduce the waist and wear it as a skirt, but the fabric is quite thin and it just didn't hang very well on me. I found that it was a lot more flattering higher up on the waist, and decided to attach it to a jersey top and turn it into a dress. It now flows and twirls really nicely :)

It was very easy to do, and doesn't really warrant instructions, but I thought I'd share the type of stitches and basic steps that I used. There's probably a much better way of doing this with a sewing machine, but I don't have one, so this is how I did it by hand:

1. The skirt's waistband was orginally constructed from a length of elastic within a fabric tube. I unpicked the stitches that fixed the elastic in place. Then I made an incision along the inside of the waist band and pulled the elastic out slightly, and reduced the length of the elastic by a couple of inches to make the waistband smaller. This created some subtle gathering around the waist.

2. I then put on the t-shirt and pinned the skirt around me at a comfortable height. I took it off and used a tape measure to check that it was the same distance all around.

3. I stitched the very top edge of the waistband to the t-shirt by hand using a small overstitch. To do this, I pinched the two layers together (see above) and sewed in this position, and when the fabric is flattened out the stitches are along the inside of the seam and hardly show. The stitches allow for an amount of stretch needed for taking the dress on and off. (If I had a sewing machine I would have liked to use a zig zag stitch but these stiches would have been more visible than the overstitches.)

4. I turned the whole thing inside out, and sewed the t-shirt to the internal waistband seam using a loose running stitch (see above) so it stays flat and doesn't roll up when it's washed. Then I cut off the excess t-shirt fabric.

A skirt from a shirt

I made this skirt using a rainbow striped shirt -- I keep coming across such pretty men's shirts! It was too short to make a dress and I thought it would make a perfect summer skirt. The fabric is very light and crisp so it will be cool in the warmer weather.

It was really fun working out how to make it. I was aiming for a somewhat full shape which nips into a fitted waistband, to wear with a top tucked in. I'm generally pleased with how it came out - I asked myself whether I'd want to buy it if I saw it in a shop, and the answer was yes, so I'm happy - but there are a couple of things I will change next time:

1. I'll choose a long-sleeved shirt so there is some excess fabric in the sleeves to form a wider waistband. Here, I had to take fabric from either side of the shirt to form the waistband which was quite tricky. Next time I'd like a deeper waistband and a fuller skirt.

2. I might try gathering the skirt instead of using pleats. I started off gathering this one, but it felt too bunchy. Next time I'll persist with the gathering as it might look OK once it's sewn in place.

* How I made the skirt *

Other tutorials:
A dress from a shirt

A dress from a shirt

On a whim, I bought a men's shirt in a Charity Shop on Friday because the fabric was so pretty. I initially thought I would make a skirt out of it, but soon realised it was better suited to a dress so I could make a feature of the button placket. I really surprised myself with the finished dress, as I had no idea if this would work! I don't have a sewing machine so did everything by hand. I'm really happy with the way it hangs, and it works just as well with a long sleeved t-shirt underneath, as it does by itself. I can see myself wearing this a lot!

The shirt I bought was a size Large so it had the length I needed for a dress. I eye balled all the measurements and continually tried it on and adjusted the pins until I got what I wanted. The dress doesn't have a zip so it needs to pull over your head and shoulders, so I made it slightly loose. The hem of the shirt was already there which made the process quicker. I like the softness of the curved hem and the way the back is slightly longer than the front. Overall, it feels very comfy and casual.

I plan to make more dresses, and I think the shape of each one will come out slightly differently depending on the initial garment. Next time I'd like to use a shirt with buttons all the way up the front. There are so many variations on the simple form and I can't wait to play around!

* How I made the dress *

Other tutorials:
A skirt from a shirt