Dress to Skirt Refashion

There is just something about yellow that cheers me up. I love the colour and I seem to gravitate towards it not only when choosing clothing but also when decorating. We painted the kids room yellow when we first bought our apartment five years ago and I still love the colour and I will admit to sitting in there when I need a pick me up. So when I spotted a cute pale yellow dress in a thrift store a while ago for $7 I snapped it up. Sadly it really didn't fit me in the bust and I was constantly having to pull it up, plus the tie at the waist felt a bit dated, so I decided to turn it into a skirt! Click below for step by step instructions on how to refashion a dress into a skirt. 
So to start with, gather your supplies. You'll need:

• A dress 
• Sewing machine, though this could also easily be hand sewn
• Hook and eye

Step 1: Try on your dress and work out where you want the waist to be.

Step 2: With the dress lying flat, mark a line all around the dress in fabric pencil 2.5 inches up from the waist. 

Step 3: Cut along the line you made. BE SURE TO LEAVE THE ZIPPER OPEN SO YOU CAN STILL USE IT WHEN IT'S A SKIRT!

Step 4: Remove (cut) 1 inch of zipper teeth from the top of both open sides. This makes it easier to hem the top so it's not bulky.

Step 5: Fold the top of the skirt over .5 inch and press.

Step 6: Fold the top of the skirt over again 1 inch, press and pin.

Step 7: Sew along the bottom of the fold as close to the edge as you can get.

Step 8: Sew a small line at the top of each side of the zipper to ensure the zip won't come off when you zip it up. 

Step 9: Sew the hook and eye closure at the top of the waist band on either side of the zipper. 

Done! New skirt Hello! 

If you're looking for ideas on how to teach your kids about refashioning (using what you already have and not just throwing something out because it no longer works as it is) try this kids book, "I Had A Favourite Dress". It's great for teaching about turning something old, into something new.

Happy Sewing!