More Refashioning: Old Khakis = Ruffle Skirt
Can you tell it's summertime? I've been using my sewing machine a lot more than usual because now that we're on break from homeschooling, I actually have something approaching free time.
Ahhh. I love summer (not so much the weather...just the break from school!).
Anyways, I've been slowly working through my pile of clothes to mend/modify, and last week I tackled a pair of Lisey's khaki pants. They were getting a little too short for her, but the main problem is that there was a gaping hole in one knee.
I briefly considered patching it, but then thought better of it. I hate trying to maneuver a sewing machine around in a kid-sized pant leg.
So, I decided to make a skirt. I cut the legs off even with the hole in the knee, and removed the stitching from most of the front inseam (usually up the to zipper works well).
And I removed stitching partway up the back as well.
Next, I folded the raw edges under to make a new, straight seam.
And I did the same thing in the back.
After sewing those two new seams down, I decided to try something different than the straight skirts I've done before. I'd seen a ruffled skirt tutorial recently, so I decided to give that a try (except that I did it from memory instead of actually looking at the tutorial, and that made the project a little harder!).
Unfortunately, at this point I stopped taking pictures and just plowed through the project. You can go look at the tutorial for more details, but basically I took the leg pieces from the pants, cut the thick seams out, cut the legs into strips (each leg made two strips) and sewed them into a long strip of fabric. After that, I sewed the two ends of the strip together to make a large loop.
I really should have taken pictures. Even I'm confused by that last paragraph!
I then cut the skirt like so, to make an even edge for attaching the ruffle.
I gathered the top edge of the long loop I'd sewn, pinned it to the bottom edge of the skirt, and sewed it on. After that, I hemmed the bottom of the ruffle. This was kind of stupid, because it's really hard to hem a little ruffle...if I'd consulted the tutorial before making this skirt, I'd have hemmed the ruffle before I gathered it! That would have saved me some difficulty.
But in spite of my stupidity, I'm still pleased with the end result.
and so is Lisey.
Perhaps Sonia needs one of these too. If I do end up making one for her, I promise I will be more diligent with the picture taking!
Oooo, I love it. What a great idea. I love what sewing can do to old clothes. 😀
I am a lousy seamstress, but trying to work up gradually to making myself clothing. This seems like an excellent intermediary step. And hoo boy is that a cute skirt! Lisey has every reason to be pleased!
Very, very cute...
Great job! The skirt is adorable.
oh my goodness is that cute as heck! YOu did a great job on it... I would to try an tackle one myself for my daughter. I bet if you didn't have enough material left over from the pants, you could get some matching fabric (example, you could have used dark brown material and made the ruffle, ect) either out of a piece of material you got at the fabric store, or something eles you found cheap, that may have otherwise made it to the trash.
please more pictures if you make one for your other daughter!
At first when I cut the legs up, I didn't think they were going to work for the ruffle, and so I was thinking exactly what you were! I even dug through my scrap basket to see if I had anything that worked. But, I ended up giving the pant-legs a try as the ruffle, and I'm glad I did.
I promise to see if I have another pair of hole-y pants to turn into a skirt for one of my younger girlies and I will behave myself and take pictures if I sew another one. lol These sorts of things are much easier to understand with illustrative pictures.
Very cute! Love it! And my girls would love it, too. Too bad I still have to learn how to sew... 😛
Very Impressive! I'm going to have my husband start reading your blog as much as I am ashamed to say this he is the only one in our house that knows how to use our sewing machine. He sewed our grill cover many times and even fixed the zipper in my sons Halloween costume this year, taking it completely out, fixing it and sewing it back in. He grew up with a mom that always sewed so he learned how to use the machine.
The only thing I have ever sewn was throw pillows for our bed and he had to do the bobbin and thread the machine for me (my head is now laying down on my desk in shame)
that is really adorable that your husband is the one who sews.
Yup I have a good one:) I took a pictures of him....seeing a 6' 5" former college football star sewing a fluffy yellow duck costume that would play the chicken dance every time he bumped the button on the head was a memory I needed to capture on photo!
I love the ruffle skirt Kristen! It turned out great. It feels so good to get longer life out of something, doesn't it. I've just done that (not made a skirt of course), to a pair of Noah's pants I couldn't pass on since they had holes in them.
Exactly! I always hesitate to donate or hand down clothes with holes in them, and so I kind of feel like the only way to keep hole-y clothes out of the trash is to reuse them or refashion them somehow.
I never donate clothes with holes or that are actually ratty, although one could put an interesting patch on the hole, especially if they're kid's clothes. I overheard a strongly negative comment at my local Goodwill about how some people donate stuff that isn't suited for rags, and how inconsiderate and a waste of effort that is. (The actual comment was rather shorter and more, um, direct.) Also, newish Fed tax regs on charitable donations disallows the deduction for anything that is not in working condition or in at least "good" condition.
Which gives me a dilemma. If I use it up, I have to throw it out. But getting rid of it before it's used up is wasteful and the new owner will probably throw it in the trash anyway. What to do, what to do.
Speaking of Goodwill, I had once-in-a-blue-moon good luck at mine. Usually it doesn't have a darn thing I'm looking for. Today I l found all three items on my list. I now have a soup spoon for work (I was pretty sure I'd find that one), a green glass jar for cookies or brownies and - wait for it - a nice looking crock for compost scraps. It's tan (a major color component in my countertops so it'll disappear visually), about 1.5 quarts, straight sides (no gunk getting caught under the rim), and the top is easy to remove and has holes so the greens don't get goopy. This will be an enormous improvement over the plastic sherbet container I've been using.
Wow - Lisey's skirt came out great! The ruffle on the bottom makes it a lot more attractive and dressy than just a straight-seam skirt. I will keep this in mind for the future. Glad to see that you've got some time to take care of the mending... it's quite the chore.
Cute! I actually just took an intro to sewing class at a local place and loved it! I had forgotten how to thread a machine, wind a bobbin, etc, and this class was a really great refresher!
My mom is going to ask at work if anyone has a sewing machine laying around that they would either give me or sell me, so I'm hoping that works out. I find that when you ask around you find that lots of people have things that are useless to them that they are more then willing to let you take off their hands!
What about trying freecycle see if anyone has one.. Or craigslist...
beautifully done!! both the skirt and the daughter!!
My sewing machine is in storage! I may have to go dig it out, though my son probably won't like a ruffle skirt. But I might!
nice job! those are cute done with alternate fabric sewed in the V also.
I admire your creativity. The skirt turned out super cute.
I'd just like to share how I've sewn my own wardrobe and been very frugal at the same time. I am tall and find it very discouraging to shop for clothes at retail stores. Even if I didn't have a frugal gene that goes back generations, I would rather spend my time at a sewing machine than trying on garment after garment at the mall. only to find cuffs that land 2" above my wrists, or pants look like I'm expecting a flood. Recently you mentioned that sewing your own clothes isn't as frugal as buying them at Goodwill. That is a very true statement however when I go to a thrift store I look for fabric as well as clothes. Its pretty easily available for around $1/yard, but sometimes higher. My local St. Vincent de Paul sells all fabric for 99 cents no matter what the size. As with clothing the fabric is sometimes very dated but I have managed to find plenty of classic pieces. I sometimes look at ready made dresses or blouses that are cheap but have nice buttons and buy them just for the buttons. I also look for other notions. Zippers and thread go on sale at the fabric store for 1/2 price. So when I find them at a thrift in colors that I use often I buy them if they are 75 cents or less. I often get them for as little as 10 cents each. I look for long nylon coil zippers, they can be cut down to any length.
Auuggh! I have a sewing machine but I don't know how to use it. Don't know if I have the patience to do what so many of you do either but I appreciate the results. I LOVE making something new out of something old. Darling skirt!
LOVE IT!! You have inspired me to try it with my daughter's holey jeans too!!..and I say "TRY"....great job!
Oh my goodness - I love it! I only make pillows or very easy curtains. I would love to be able to sew like that! My little girl is two so maybe I'll start practicing. Thansk so much for sharing.
Great Peanuts book in the last shot! I got that one a few years back (before the collections came out) and it really shows off a lot of Schultz's best work before depression took over his life.
I think we should add "repair" to reduce, reuse, recycle. Lisey's skirt is reuse, of course, but there's a lot of room for repair in this world. You should see the look I got from an acquaintance when I mentioned I was getting the zipper repaired on my favorite rolling bag instead of buying a new one.
This is so adorable! Now I am tempted to go look through my girl's clothes for holey jeans so I can make one. Thanks for the great idea.
looks great! i'd love to learn to sew!
Adorable! That gives me an idea. Big time. I've recently gained a ton of weight back {I had been sick for a long time, lost over 20 lbs} and I have out grown all of my jeans. I donated most of them already. But I have like 4 pair here that aren't "nice enough" to be donated that I was going to practice sewing with. I can make myself a khaki skirt!
Very impressive piece of repurposing.
U r brilliant! I could never do it. Terrible with my hands.
very cute! how long did it take to make this?
How pretty!
I have two sewing machines and can't figure out how to thread either of them. *sigh*
Very cute!
Helen
Blue Eyed Beauty Blog