A few years ago, I went into a retail store outlet and found a darling blue and white striped skirt on sale for, like, seven dollars. The only problem was that it was about fourteen sizes too large for me. This was long before I was refashioning or sewing on a regular basis, but fate was on my side and in a moment of subconscious brillance, I bought it, refashioned it, and then wore it to death.
The moral of the story is that skirts, even fourteen sizes too big, should not always be overlooked.
Case in point:
I found this skirt at Walmart when I was about seven months pregnant, and considering it was fully lined, a nice fabric, and seemingly pretty well made, it was a total steal at only a few dollars.
Both the blue and white striped skirt and this Walmart skirt had side zippers, and with one simple seam down the non-zipper side, it’s now a perfect fit.
*skirts with a zipper in the back are also easy to alter — do the exact same thing, just on both sides of the skirt, making sure the seams you take in are even so the zipper stays centered on your back*
Step 1. Try your skirt on inside out, and mark with a pin on the non-zippered side (or both sides, if your skirt has a zipper in the back) where you want to place your seam. Try to get this pin placement as close to your hip or waist as possible, so the skirt is as fitted to your waist as possible.
Step 2. With the skirt inside out, pin all the way down the skirt. Make sure the lining and fabric are smooth and flat as you pin, and make sure the lining is pinned in place at least 1/2 an inch above the hem of the skirt (so it doesn’t show).
Step 3. Sew a straight seam down the skirt, as shown with the dotted line (above), and then trim off the excess fabric and zigzag or serge the raw edge.
Press your seam, and then iron the heck out of the rest of that wrinkly skirt.
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| shirt: target (refashioned) // skirt: walmart // tights: forever 21 // shoes: target // scarf: purchased in London outfit inspiration here |
As always, comment or email me with any questions. Happy Sewing!
i LOVE your refashions!! this is adorable!
Omg! How freaking cute are you with those glasses! Great refashion as usual!
I love the skirt! I was always wondering if you could do that. Now just for clarity, the skirt you refashioned in the blog post, is it the one from walmart or is the blue and white stripe from walmart? And if it is, did you buy it recently? I just love it!
http://www.thepreppylittlepolkadot.blogspot.com
one of my roommates got that skirt from walmart too! who knew right haha! you look darling!
I did the same thing once, with a darling wool skirt on old navy's clearance rack. I wear a size two, and this skirt was a size 16! The good thing is that bigger-sized skirts are longer than their little counterparts, so had I bought the skirt in my size, it would have been too short for my liking, but the larger one was the perfect knee-length I wanted. Lesson learned: Never walk past the sale rack because all the clothes in your size disappear too fast!
So cute! Love this tutorial! Never not buying something because it's too big ever again.
XO Emily
http://www.bupster.blogspot.com
Do you have any suggestions for skirts that are too big and have pockets? Should I just forget the pocket?
http://www.domesticatedworkingwoman.blogspot.com
This whole outfit is so cute. Plus the top knot and scarf. I think I have my inspiration for Thanksgiving dinner outfit tomorrow! Looking beautiful as ever, Merrick!
So adorable! Love this look!
Great job! You look adorable in your glasses and top knot. 🙂
Yay! Merrick, I swear you are reading my to-refashion list or something. I found a cute a-line skirt @ H & M this summer, and it is a 12 or 14, but I'm a 4–I got it cuz my size was out, and just like a previous commenter about needing enough length. I have been wearing it lower-waisted than I like so it won't fall down, with a Shade under tee to help hold the waistband. I'm thinking this week is a good week to fix it properly. Thanks for the tutorial and saving me time of figuring it out with the side zipper.
Simple and easy refashion! Love it. 🙂
http://classypeach.blogspot.com/
That's so simple! I have a gorgeous skirt I bought at Ann Taylor that's way too big, but I couldn't pass it up. I'll have to try this.
Love, love, love! I might even be able to pull this one off! Love the glasses!
Love it.. sounds easy enough!
Thanks for the tutorials Merrick! Since discovering your blog via pinterest I've trimmed down a t-shirt, turned a halter top dress into a skirt, and I'm working on turning a pair of cords into a skirt. I recently lost a bunch of weight so everything I own is too big. But not for long, thanks to your blog! 🙂
Looks great! When I've tried to complete similar tasks before I always made them more complicated than what it should of been! haha
http://denimandeve.blogspot.com/
Love your DIY tutorials!
You should enter to win this Kitchenaid just by creating a DIY post! Also, get more entries by having your followers vote for you!
http://www.ereplacementparts.com/blog/win-a-kitchenaid-mixer/
So many great ideas! Just came across one of them on Pinterest.
Wow I like this skirt… And I think I will go and so a skirt like this one.
You have a wonderfull blog.
Merry X'mas to you!
Greetings,
Ruth
The Netherlands
That skirt is adorable! I LOVE the way you styled it afterwards too.
So happy I found this on Pinterest!
Kayla
Love Sparkle Pretty
Hi Merrick! I just wanted to thank you for this tutorial, I have refashioned so many skirts with it! Thank you for taking the time to do this!
Greetings,
Aubergine Kenobi
Hi, the skirt in trying to refashioned is a pencil skirt has a side zipper and has darts on the back how can I make it smaller without looking funky? Is it possible ? Thanks
Maybe try a seam in between the darts on the back? Although if it has a slit, that might make it trick, and it will probably move the darts so they're in a weird place. Maybe you're out of luck on that one…sorry!
Thank you so much! You have helped me to alter a skirt that has been hanging in my closet for a year.
Fantastic, I was just about to give one of my favourite summer skirts
to a charity shop and look for a new one. And I just remembered a winter one that I was going to cut up and do something with the fabric but think i can alter that also! Thanks