A dress-down skirt

When I was back home in America on my holidaysI was offered a couple of dresses that didn’t fit just right. But as the previous owners were happy for me to experiment on them, I gladly brought the garments back to Scotland with me.

And today I finally got around to turning one of them into something that I can wear. Yay!

My garment of choice was a purple dress that my eldest sister gave me. It didn’t fit me right, and even if it had, it wasn’t really my style dress. But, the bottom half was my style for a skirt. So I chopped the dress in half so that I could wear the bit I liked.

This was a great project for me because I don’t actually know how to sew (and certainly can’t follow patterns!) so it was an ideal way to learn a few tricks. It was also a great way to stretch my budget a little further, whilst still adding to my wardrobe.

I had to purchase elastic (£1.00) and purple thread (£2.50) for the project but there is enough elastic for one more skirt and I used less than ¼ of the thread, so the skirt cost me less than £1.00, if you don’t take my time into account.

As for my time – if you don’t count online research for tips on how to tackle the project – I spent about three hours on this project. However, a lot of that was figuring out exactly what to do and how to do it. I’d guess that the next time I do something like this it will only take about two hours.

If like me, you’re new to sewing and looking for tips, I’ve included a wee step-by-step galley below. If you are an ace seamstress, however, and want to offer me tips, please do!

A wee note: This dress/skirt had a lining, so I had to include a couple of extra steps to ensure the lining lined up with the rest of the skirt. It also meant an extra band of stitching when I put the channel in for the elastic because I wanted to stitch the two layers together before doing anything else. There might be an easier way, but this is what worked for me!

Now I just need to wait for the weather to warm up just a smidge so that I can wear my lovely new skirt!

And if you’re keeping track, that’s a tick mark against my 2015 to-do list. Yay!

(And thanks again for the dress, Veronica! I hope you like what I’ve done with it.)

6 Replies to “A dress-down skirt”

  1. You did a great job. I wish I could meet goals. I think I’m sitting in the same spot that I was last year. I’m not sure if I’ve moved. For some reason you were in my dream last night and it wasn’t a good one. You were very sick and it could have been cured but you kept it a secret until you thought it was too late. I was not happy with you! I woke up before I could find out what happened. I know I went with you to the Dr and she told me that there was still time. We had to go to a place that was in the middle of a war… Which was being fought in the ocean so it was dangerous to travel back and forth. Very strange! Then I went to see how you were doing and you disappeared from Facebook. Good thing I know to come here or I might be a little worried!

    1. That’s so funny, Sharon! Not the part about you worrying about me, but the fact that you shared your dream – which is a bit weird, but dreams normally are!

      I am on a wee Facebook break as I need to recharge my soul a bit. But I’m OK and am still alive. And, importantly, I’m not harbouring some un-treated illness. Unless you count a sore hand (tendinitis?) but I have a doctor’s appointment for that!

      I hope you’re well and that the new year is off to a great start for you and Little J. xx

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