I made two versions of this upcycled skirt. The first one is a project that I made a while back. I call it my "Childhood Memories Twirly Skirt / Dress" because it has Horton Hears a Who, a cowgirl, the Grinch, Micky Mouse and other fanciful screen prints.
It is a little loud and colorful but it was fun to piece together from a bunch of old screen printed t-shirt.
It can be worn as a long skirt or a strapless dress with or without a shirt or jacket over the top.
I liked this skirt / dress so I decided to make a much more subtle version for my 20 t-shirt upcycling project.
I like how it goes from winter to summer wear.
I used file folders to make my pattern pieces. I decided that I wanted 8 tiered pieces so the top of the first piece needed to equal 1/8 of the finished waist and bust circumference that I needed plus seam allowances and any extra gathering that I wanted at the top. Then I made the flare so the bottom would be wider and matched the top of the next piece. The third and final piece again matches the middle piece and has a rounded instead of a straight bottom. Sorry I don't have more pictures and details on the pattern. I am going to try to re-create the pattern and perhaps do an additional post.
Step 1 - The pieces were laid out on the solid parts of several different grey t-shirt. Cut eight of each of the three shapes.
Step 2 - Match the seams to make the eight tiers.
Step 3 - With right sides together machine sew horizontal seams on all eight tiers.
Step 4 - Trim the seams.
Step 5 - Press seams open.
Step 6 - With right sides together matching horizontal seams, pin and sew all eight tiers together to form skirt. Trim and press open vertical seams.
Optional Step - Because there are so many seams in this skirt / dress I decided to top stitch my second version on each side of the seam.
Hopefully I am not going to confuse you here but my original pattern was designed to have a rolled down waistline. The casing for the elastic was made from the top piece of the skirt. I decided to add an actual waistband for this skirt so I had to trim off the top part of the skirt.
Step 7 - I used a contrasting grey piece of another t-shirt for my waistband. Cut a straight piece for the waistband (I had to use a couple of pieces sewn together.) The finished cut piece should measure lengthwise the circumference of the top of skirt plus seam allowance and the width of the band should measure double the desired finished width plus seam allowances. Sew the short ends of the band together to form a finished circle.
Step 8 - Fold the band in half with wrong sides together and pin to the right side of the skirt. Machine stitch around the band leaving 2 - 4 inches open.
Step 9 - Measure the length you want for your elastic piece and add a 1 to 2 inch overlap. Thread the elastic through the waistband. If you don't have the right size elastic threader you can use a big safety pin. It worked for me. :-)
Step 10 - Making sure that the elastic is not twisted overlap and sew the ends firmly together.
Step 11 - Smooth the elastic into the casing and finish sewing waistband to skirt.
Step 12 - The final step is to hem the skirt. You can single or double roll and then stitch. I just did a single roll on mine. I also have basted this part before sewing since I am not very good at sewing with pins.
And that's it.
Thanks for stopping by and happy crafting.
