While I’m out on maternity leave, taking care of our sweet little Buck, I have a few amazing bloggers filling in for me to share some of their awesome refashions!

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Hi Everyone! I’m Brittany of The Crafted Cure and I’m beyond thrilled to be guest-posting here at Merrick’s Art today. (Hi Merrick! Hi baby!)

Today I’m going to show you one of my favorite thrift-store refashions ever, and show you what it takes to make one for yourself, too.

lace shirt refashion: Wide waistband lace skirt with snaps

I’m giddy with joy at how this project turned out.

The whole shirt-turned-skirt concept isn’t really a new thing, but I’m going to let you in on my favorite little secret weapon on this whole project:

Diaper snaps.
Oh my gosh, did she just say diaper snaps? For a grown-up garment?

Oh yeah, I went there. I highly recommend that you go there, too.

Because just LOOK at them! They’re just so cute! Lots cuter than a dang zipper, which I’ve honestly never managed to get the knack of.

You do need a snappy-applicator thingy (shown in step 4), but once you’ve discovered how cute and easy and wonderful snaps are, you’ll use that sucker all. the. time. So grab one and get pressin’.
Okay, here’s what you’ll need for this project:

Materials:
Thrifted lace or crocheted long-sleeved shirt.
Diaper snaps in preferred color.
Snap pliers
Sewing machine

Step 1. Lay your shirt out flat, then carefully cut the sleeves and collar line. Keep close to the seams to preserve as much of the fabric as possible. Keep the sleeves for later.

Step 2. Find a skirt that fits you well and trace it on the inside of the shirt with chalk. With right sides together, sew up the sides, making a tube.

You’re done with the main part of the skirt! Seriously, it’s that easy. Now, onto the waistband.

Step 3. Lay your sleeves together and match up the seams, then sew the wrists together.

Lace shirt refashion--make waistband out of sleeves

Rather than sewing the other end of the waistband closed, just pin it together. We’ll install snaps there later.

Stick the skirt inside the waistband (right sides together), pin, and sew. stretch the waistband a little as you stitch to make sure your skirt doesn’t pucker.

And that’s it! Tadaaaaaaaaaaa!

Lace shirt refashion--Banded waist skirt with snaps

Kidding. That sucker would fall down immediately. We have to add some snappy-snaps!
My “helper” kept trying to steal the good ones. Brat.

Luckily, I only needed four of them, so I let him off the hook. He was just trying to help, right?

Step 4. So, snap installation is easy if you have the right tools. Rather than reinventing the wheel on this one, I’ll just refer you to the straightforward tutorial I followed to install them.

It’s a snap!
(sorry, I couldn’t resist).
But seriously, it really is easy. The hardest part is getting the top and bottom snaps lined up, and that’s not bad at all.

This is my new favorite skirt. I can wear it to work and not feel overdressed; I can wear it to one of Santa Barbara’s swanky restaurants and not feel underdressed. Plus, it’s so comfy!.

Thankfully, the warmer climate in which I live lets me get away with something like this almost all year round; those of you who are blessed with “seasonal climates” might have to wait until the weather gets warm again.

Me though? I’ll be wearing this sucker daily, thankyouverymuch.

October 30, 2012

Maternity Leave Refashions: Brittany of The Crafted Cure (Guest Post)