Wednesday, July 15, 2015

Upcycled Denim Skirts


I was fortunate to have the Friday before the 4th off from work and I decided to make it a sewing day.  I began at 8:00 that morning and finished up just before 4:00 in the afternoon.  I had a ball!


I made my oldest two skirts using two pair of short shorts (too short, in my opinion) that had come in the two bags of clothes the girls received a couple weeks ago from a friend.  I originally planned to toss them into our donate bag when I got an idea to make skirts out of them.

I had cut the legs off of my youngest's holey jeans at the beginning of June when I made her three pair of jean shorts.  The denim past the knee area was still in really great shape and I was sure I could do something with them so I saved them.


I used my zipper foot to get close enough and stitch the legs all together
I carefully cut each one of them up the sides and stitched them together with 1/4" seams carefully lining up the hems so they were even.




I turned the shorts inside out and positioned them to pin the skirt to the shorts just below the pockets and zipper.  I trimmed away the excess on the shorts and then stitched all the way around with another 1/4 seam.  Once turned right side out I pressed the skirts.

Back

Added button embellishment

Finished!
I used pinking shears to trim the raw edges of the seams so they wouldn’t unravel and make strings.  Then I added some buttons I had to decorate it a little more.

The other skirt I made with a scrap of calico cut in a long wide strip that someone gave me after finishing a quilt.  I added the eyelet trim I already had along the hem and then top stitched it.  Then I sewed two rows of stitches and gathered the calico across the top.  I attached it the calico to the shorts the same way as I did with the other skirt.


I added a belt by simply stitching another narrow strip of fabric, turning it right side out and pressing it flat.  I finished the ends and ran it through the belt loops.


When my daughter got home from work that evening I surprised her with them.  She was so excited when she saw them and I was tremendously relieved and happy that she liked them so much.  You just never know for sure with teenagers if it will be a hit or a miss.

I love that I was able to recycle these random pieces into two items of fashionable and functional clothing.  It was a ton of fun and I'm excited to try it again.

Have you ever done anything like this?

New pics, as promised, of my daughter's new curtains.
Ignore the ugly A/C unit, if that is even possible. :)

Fun pom pom trim and cute fabric strip.
I made the tie backs our of the same fabric.



8 comments:

  1. G R O O V Y !!!!
    I adore these boho skirts. What a great way to recycle clothes and fabric.
    I have the feeling that your daughters girlfriends are going to want you to make them some, too.
    Vanessa B

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    Replies
    1. You are right about that! I've already had a few requests. :)

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  2. Those are great! I wish I knew how to sew.

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    Replies
    1. It was a lot easier than I thought it would be. I'm so happy with how they turned out.

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  3. The skirts are very cute!

    Years ago, I made the bodice of a dress from recycled jeans. I liked it so much.

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    Replies
    1. Sounds super cute. I still have denim left so I'm still thinking... :)

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  4. You are doing great, between shopping, yard, sewing adorable clothing. Hooray for you!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh thank you so much. It feels so good to be productive. :)

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