Time for another diy tutorial, don't you think? Today I'm going to tell you how you can transform a sheath dress into a pencil skirt!
I've had this dress for years, and actually, I think it was my first "grown-up" dress. I loved the classic silhouette and bold black and white print. Recently, I tried it on and discovered that the top of the dress no longer fit me. Sad day. I tried to figure out a way to alter it but didn't want to deal with the partial lining inside the bodice. Lining is just not my favorite.
I eventually decided to salvage the dress by chopping off the top and turning it into a skirt. I needed some new skirts anyways, so why not? Full tutorial below!
SKILL LEVEL
Intermediate
YOU NEED
- a sheath dress (the skirt portion should fit you well and be unlined, unless you want to deal with lining)
- fabric shears
- marking pencil or tailors chalk
- seam ripper
- zipper, 6" - 8" long
- hook and eye closure
- sewing machine
- needle for hand stitching
- thread to match your dress/skirt
STEP 1
Try your dress on and determine where you'd like the waistband to be. If your dress already has a horizontal seam at the waist, use that as your waistline. Take your pencil or chalk and mark about 2" above this point.
STEP 2
Take the dress off and carefully cut the top off along the line that you marked in Step 1. You may have to use a seam ripper to remove the original zipper from the skirt portion.
STEP 3
Sew your zipper (centered) into either the seam where the dress's zipper was or into a seam of your choice, whatever makes the most sense for the closure of the skirt. Line up the top of the zipper with the waistline.
STEP 4
Use your sewing machine to zigzag the raw edge at the top of your skirt.
STEP 5
Fold your zigzagged edge to the inside about 2," pin and press. Do this all the way around the skirt. This extra layer of fabric at the top of the skirt will serve as your waistband lining.
STEP 6
Straight stitch all around the waistband, going through both layers of fabric and getting as close to the folded edge as you can. This will keep that zigzagged edge sitting neatly inside the skirt. I also recommend adding a few stitches by hand to secure the ends to the zipper tape.
STEP 7
Hand stitch a hook and eye closure just above the zipper. All finished!
TIPS
- If the skirt's fit isn't exactly to your liking, you can always take it in or hem it to taste.
- Fun fact : I actually used one of the zippers left over from this project to close up the back of my skirt. But if you don't have the perfect zipper lying around, you could shorten the dress's original zipper and use that instead.
Feel free to share any questions or suggestions in the comments below. I love hearing from you!
Thanks for stopping by!
Labels: diy
