Learn. How to Turn a Dress Into a Skirt.

Yesterday I was cleaning up some clothes and came across a dress of my daughter's that was a little too small.  It was still in good shape so I thought I might chop it up and make it into a skirt.

Chances are, if you have a little girl, you have a dress like this one lying around.  It is just a knit dress with a tiered bottom.  Perfect for turning into a skirt! 

The first thing I did was measure some elastic against my daughter's waist.  I know this probably isn't the most precise way to figure out the measurement, but it is the quickest!  It's just elastic, right?  No need for precision. 

Once I had the elastic cut to her size, I cut the dress at the armpits.  This left a few inches of fabric above the beginning of the tiers.  This is what will now be my elastic casing.

My most clever moment of the evening came when I realized that I could sew the raw edge to the seam from the beginning tier!  This would mean that you wouldn't be able to see any of my sewing! 

I folded the top inside to the seam and then pinched it together.   Actually, my husband folded it for the picture.  Anyway, you'll take that to your sewing machine and zig zag all the way around being careful to leave a 1-2 inch opening so you can thread your elastic through.

 

Place safety pin on one end of your elastic and thread it through the opening.  Be careful not to twist the elastic and make sure the other end doesn't go through the hole.  When it is all the way around, stitch the elastic to itself, slide it up into the casing, and stitch the opening closed. 

Now all that's left is to take pictures of the finished product!  This was the most difficult part.  You can catch a glimpse of blurry little hands that can't wait to get a hold of their "new" skirt!   

I think she likes it!