Little Black Skirt

I love the thought of being able to refashion clothes.  The ability to take something from drab to fab is so inviting to me.  I have to be totally honest though; it scares me to death.  I decided I just better jump in and get started.  I have a lot of old clothes just lying around, I have a hard time throwing anything away, just ask my husband.  Since this was my first time refashioning, I decided to start with something easy.

I am actually really proud of how it turned out.  It is hard to see in the before picture just how awful  and out of date this skirt was.  I originally got this skirt out of a  pile of clothes my great aunt was getting rid of.  It was part of a suit set.  She had at least three skirts just like this.  I took them all thinking I would use pieces from all of them.

Here is a list of what I did:

• I unpicked the old waist band and got rid of it, there was this weird elastic inside
• I tapered the sides by at least 1.5"
• Using one of the other skirts I made the new waist band
• Added buttons to the back

For the waistband I cut a strip off the bottom of one of the other black skirts measuring 6".  I sewed the right side to the front of the skirt and ironed it at 2.5" toward the inside of the skirt so I had a thick waistband. 

I added three buttons on the back.  Since I just took off the waistband I didn't need to add a zipper or change that at all, yay!

Now I have a brand new little black skirt that cost me absolutely nothing.  It only took me three hours for everything.  I am sure once I am more experienced I will be able to be faster.  Have you ever refashioned anything? Any tips?  Also as a side note, my sister is getting married in a year and we are on the look out for a thrifted wedding dress to refashion.  If anyone sees one or has any tips for how to refashion a wedding dress please let me know!!



Elastic Waist Skirt

The other day I was looking for an easy skirt pattern and came across this pattern over a Freshly Picked.  It looked so easy and cute I had to give it a try. 

I found the fabric at Hancock Fabrics on a pre-measured bolt.  It was 5 yards for 10 dollars, so I had extra for another project, yay!  This pattern was really easy to follow.  I didn't put the pockets in, which made it that much faster.  I also added extra fabric so the skirt was more full.

Since I didn't put the pockets in, I used a french seam to finish off the sides.  I think this adds a lot, it makes the project seem more professional.  Plus if you don't have a serger this is a great way to finish your seams.  I have one but I still use this technique on most  projects, I guess it is just personal preference.

For the hem on the bottom I sewed three lines of straight stitches side by side.  It looked great.  It really did add a more finished look and I love how the black stitches stand out on the fabric.  Even though this was a really simple project it helps to add a few simple things to make it more professional and unique.