Thrift Store Refashion: Skater Skirt

                                         

My friend and I were thrift shopping when we found this really fun printed skirt. Unfortunately, it was really long and old fashioned. My friend loved the fabric so much that I told her to get it and I could make it into a cute short skirt. It's the perfect skirt for springtime, if only the weathermen would quit predicting snow.

The original skirt: 

I laid the skirt out and noticed that it wasn't a straight skirt. The easiest way to make this into a short skirt would be to just cut the skirt at the length I wanted and re-hem it, but I wanted the skirt to flare more so I decided to cut from the bottom.

Taking a yard stick, I measured up 20 inches from the hem (I added a couple inches to the length I wanted to leave room for the elastic). I took my yard stick along the bottom hem as I was cutting to cut straight with the curve of the skirt.

This is what I will make the skirt out of.

Lastly, I pinned and sewed a slit for the elastic then fed the elastic through.

Enjoy!

Thrift Store Refashion: Bustier Top

                             

You may remember this top from the top of the dress I thrifted and turned into a skirt. My friend was looking through my blog and saw the original dress and asked if I still had the top to the dress. She said she really liked it and gave my the idea to turn it into a bustier type top. So after a little creativity and brainstorming, I ended with this wonderful summer top.

This is the original top of the dress:

                     

The first thing I did was take off the frills. I thought that they were childish and distracting on the top.

                                

Next, since I took the midsection for my skirt, the top was left a little short. I went to the fabric store and found this beautiful cotton print with pink figures in it. The fabric was in the quilting section so I bought a fat quarter.

I measured along the bottom of the top to get the length of my fabric. I made if about 6 inches wide because I am going to fold it in half. I cut 2 rectangles.

I pinned and sewed one side of the rectangles together. The other side was left open for the zipper.

I ironed the strip of fabric in half.

Then I pinned the fabric to the bottom of the top and sewed.

Lastly, I put in a zipper. I choose a hot pink zipper to match the pink figures in the print.

Hope you enjoyed this thrift store refashion and happy DIYing!

Thrift Store Refashion: Dress to Skirt

                                               

      

                                                   

This thrift store refashion started with this dress. I saw it in the thrift store with the tags still on it and it was only $5!! I excitedly bought the dress without trying it on. The only thing wrong with it was that the zipper was broken, but that's an easy fix. Upon getting home and trying the dress on, I discovered that it was too short for my long 5'9" frame. I really loved the dress though and it sat in my to do pile for a couple months while I decided what to do with it. Eventually, I came up with the idea to separate the top and bottom and turn the dress into a skirt. This idea would preserve the lace edging around the bottom that I loved so much.

The top that I would cut off:

                       

The lace edging that I love:

First, I went in with my seam ripper. I used a seam ripper instead of just cutting the dress across because then I could preserve the already finished edges and also I wouldn't have to worry about my cutting being straight. I ripped the seam that was between the top part of the dress and the middle section. I ripped out the broken zipper as well. I decided to leave the middle section to act as a band around the top of the skirt. I also left the strips of fabric that you could tie in the back to make a bow.  

                               

This is what the skit looked like without the top:

Next, I pinned the inside and outside of the band of the skirt together to sew and finish the seam. The fabric was already iron down towards the inside so all I had to do was pin the inside and outside together. I used a long stitch to sew them together.

                            

Lastly, I pinned and sewed in a new zipper.