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. |
G R O O V Y !!!!
ReplyDeleteI 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
You are right about that! I've already had a few requests. :)
DeleteThose are great! I wish I knew how to sew.
ReplyDeleteIt was a lot easier than I thought it would be. I'm so happy with how they turned out.
DeleteThe skirts are very cute!
ReplyDeleteYears ago, I made the bodice of a dress from recycled jeans. I liked it so much.
Sounds super cute. I still have denim left so I'm still thinking... :)
DeleteYou are doing great, between shopping, yard, sewing adorable clothing. Hooray for you!
ReplyDeleteOh thank you so much. It feels so good to be productive. :)
Delete