Upcycle! Diy girls skirt from old hoodie!

I love to upcycle! Partly because I'm a creative spirit, and love to make things, and then also because I have a problem throwing anything away.

I had this Cabela's hoodie which I loved. It had barely been worn when I got wood glue (which never would come out despite all my pinterest stain removal efforts) all over the sleeve. I kept it for over a year (because I cant throw things away, remember). Whilst making an effort to get rid of some old winter wear I drug it back out, and came up with this cute idea... a skirt for my big girl!

I started simply with the sweat shirt

(notice i already started chopping then thought... may want pics of this) 

Then i cut the bottom off

 (I left alot above pocket for it to be approx knee length, would look even cuter, shorter)

I also cut the string part of the hood off, with about 1.5" of fabric in tact to be the waist band ( you may have to use something else, but this fit my girl perfect... and its an instant drawstring if it were too big.

 I turned the skirt part inside out and marked an inch or so wider than the waist of a nice fitting skirt on either side, and sewed in a straight line (or straight as I could) from that mark to the hem band on either side.

I sewed the hoodie string part into a circle right sides together to finish the waistband,

and marked the middle and both sides of it, and the skirt body with pins and pinned them both together, right sides together.

I then sewed these two pieces together (I used my new serger. eekkk!! best gift ever) stretching them out as I went so they were the same size.

Then just turned inside right, and ironed the seams down....Voila!!

  Adorable with tights, and my girl said its super comfy! Win win!

DIY fold down waist Maxi Skirt

Here it is!! The comfy stretchy maxi skirt, with fold over waist. . . and you can make it yourself!! This one took me maybe an hour ;)

First, select your material! I got i think 2 yards of this mustard yellow stretch jersey material at a local walmart on clearance (love clearance).  Next, pick an existing skirt that fits you well, fold fabric in half with right sides together (good printed sides in, underside out), and lay your skirt on top of material.

Pin it right to the material (or at least thats what it did to keep it from moving, this jersey was tricky).  When it comes to the waist band, fold it down and pin it so you are pinning just the shape of the skirt.

should look like this:

Cut around the skirt (careful not to cut your good skirt) close to the hem (leaving it undone, i like the way jersey hems roll) and leave about an inch or half an inch on the sides and around waistband for seam allowance.

 leave it pinned to help hold together, and carefully sew down both sides. then unpin

 Now for the waistband

Measure your waist. . . add one inch to this. . . then cut that # in half

ie mine was 30 (dont tell please lol) i added 1, making it 31, then cut this in half = 15.5"

fold material in half right sides together again, and cut a rectangle about 10 inches tall x (your measurment) wide.

pin 10 inch side together, and sew down it

turn inside right, and you have a tall circle of fabric

pinch the middle of the cylinder, and fold there, once whole circle is folded in half down middle, you should have a shorter circle, with all seams on the inside :)  This is your waist band.

with skirt still inside out, pin waistband to the skirt, right sides together, start by pinning sides and middle together (skirt should be a bit bigger than waistband and will look gathered)

sew together carefully, slightly stretching waistband to match skirt as needed.

then turn inside right, and voila!!

your own maxi skirt!!

i had enough mateial left to cut a long rectangle about 10" wide or so to make a matching scarf. . . completes the look i think!

Hope you try it and it turns out as comfy as mine!!!

Happy Crafting

Adorable Bubble Skirt Tutorial!!

First off i want to apologize if you cannot follow me at all. . . I understand that I am horrible at explaining, and not good at taking pics either,(also some are sideways)  but I made my own pattern as I went and it turned out lovely so I wanted to share.  Just use your little girls measurements, no pattern required.
I also made the top and matching brother tee pictured above and will post tutorials on them in the following week.

You Need:
1/2 to 3/4 yd main fabric
1/2 yd lining fabric
elastic (cut to measure of waist)
thread

You will be cutting 3 main pieces:  a waist band, skirt bottom, and skirt lining
Measure 3 measurements:  waist size (where u want skirt sitting),  fullest hip size, and length you want skirt.

*Cut the Main skirt piece out of main material, its just a big rectangle like so:
 (hip measurment x2= length. . . . and length you actually want finished skirt to be minus 1"=height)
example: my daughters hips were 25" and i wanted it to be 18"long so i cut a rectangle 50"x17"

*Cut the skirt lining as follows:
 (hip measurement x1.5=length. . . and main skirt pieces length minus 4"=height)
example: hips are 25" length will be 37.5" and skirt is cut 17", so height will be 13"

*Cut waistband 6" high, by hip measurement plus 1" (for seam allowance)

Next, fold all 3 pieces over one at a time with the right sides together and sew the back seams on each, then press them out flat.

Take the bottom hem of the main skirt piece and sew a loose running stitch around it. I used embroidery floss, but doubled up regular thread can be used. 

Pull the thread tight little by little to gather the bottom up

this is what mine looked gathered all up, dont tie threads off yet, mine was gathered too much.

Place skirt lining over gathered skirt bottom, right sides together and finish gathering/loosening skirt bottom until it is same width as lining, then pin them together, making sure to match up your seams.

pic of pinned

Sew skirt bottom to lining, removing pins as you go

when finished turn inside right

then fold lining into skirt bottom till both top seams are flush

should look something like this. . . you can see bubble bottom taking place

do the same thing to the top of  the main skirt piece as bottom, (loose running stitch, then gather) match it to the lining top as you did on bottom, pin them together, then make another running stitch with both together and gather them both up.

gather them up to the same size as the waist band

place waist band over skirt, right sides together, and pin gathered skirt to waistband

sew skirt to waistband

turn inside right

fold down top a little bit (maybe 1/4") and press

Fold down again big enough to house your elastic and press again

sew around all the way, except leave a small opening for elastic to go through

use a safety pin to thread elastic through opening

when you are finished pin the two ends of the elastic together and sew them

i usually do two or more zigzag stitches

sew the gap back up. . . if you have a tag, you can place it in the hole before you sew it like i did

finished skirt!