Easy Refashion: Dress + Tshirt = Fold-over Waistband Skirt
This tutorial is short, sweet and perfect for a beginner. I’ve made variations of this skirt at least five times already this year and I never grow tired of the supremely comfortable, soft and stretchy fold-over waistband skirt. I am petite which means that dresses rarely ever fit me right. My proportions just aren’t the industry standard. I do however, frequently fall in love with the pretty fabric of dresses at my local thrift store and this is the solution to my former dilemma. For this refashion I used a thrifted dress with a cute floral pattern that was ill-fitting and had a few stains on the bodice. I also used a tshirt that had bleach stains and underarm stains, but would still had enough usable fabric to form a waistband.
Here’s what you’ll need to get started:
- Cutting tools (pinking shears, fabric shears and a rotary cutter). If you don’t have all of these, you can get along just fine with a simple pair of shears or scissors.
- 1 Dress that will fit comfortably over your thighs. Take a dress that you want to work with and hold it up to see how it will look as a skirt. If it looks good, move on.
- 1 tshirt that fits comfortably around your waist and over your hips.
- Sewing machine or needle and thread
- Ruler or Cutting mat (or both)
- Tailors Chalk
How-To DIY:
1. Hold the dress up to your body and determine the length by folding it where you want it to hit on your waist. I chose to make my new skirt knee length. I folded in half and then marked with chalk. Cut the dress through all layers just above the line.
2. Measure 5″ from the bottom of your tshirt. This will create a fold-over waistband that is approximately 2″ wide. Mark with chalk, then cut through all layers to form a tube.
3. Slip the skirt into the tshirt tube and align the seams. The bottom hem of the shirt should be facing down toward the hem of the skirt. The right side of the dress (pretty side) should face the wrong side of the tshirt tube (inside).
4. Gather and pin the skirt to the tshirt tube waistband. Start by pinning the skirt seams to the tshirt seams. Next pin the center and then gather and pin at 1-2″ intervals until the skirt is secured to the waistband. You may need to gather and form a few small pleats if the skirt is wider than the waistband. You can do this at random around the waistband by spacing them evenly. You don’t have to be precise. Ensure that the top of the skirt meets the top of the tube.
5. Sew the waist band to the skirt using a zig-zag (or other stretch knit stitch). The zig-zag stitch allows the waist band and skirt to be stretched without breaking the thread. If sewing by hand, use the whip stitch.
That’s it! You’re done! See how easy that was? Now, just slip on your skirt and fold over the waistband so that it hides the top layer of stitches. Do a little dance, twirl around and show your friends and family how cool you are. You just made your first fold-over waistband skirt from a dress and a tshirt; how exciting! If you are lucky, you may even get a warm compliment like the one I received from my daughter, “Wow mom, it doesn’t even look like you made it!” 
Baltimore Clothing Stop & Swap
Boy am I sorry I didn’t see this sooner! I was posting a comment on the Baltimore Sun this morning and to the right saw and ad for the Baltimore Clothing Stop & Swap. I had never even heard of this, but I was immediately excited. Woohoo, someone is organizing clothing swaps in my very own city! I love clothing swaps because you can shop for free and reducing your carbon footprint by reusing the clothes that someone else no longer wants. I love to swap out my closet at least twice a year and since I discovered clothing swaps I don’t have to feel bad about it anymore; It’s glorious. I clicked on the link and noted that they were having a swap this Saturday, May 1 from 10am – 6pm in Mt. Vernon. I’ll be out of town on Saturday celebrating my Dad’s birthday, so unfortunately I’ll have to miss this one. The good news? They are traveling all over the city (and have been since early April) through the middle of May. I’ll be keeping my eyes peeled for the next swap so that I can spruce up my wardrobe for Spring. The Baltimore Clothing Stop & Swap has it’s own website here where it says:
Baltimore Clothing Stop & Swap:
Style & Sustainability Through Common Threads
April 18 – May 17, 2010All ages, genders and sizes are welcome to participate in a new kind of shopping experience that benefits the environment and the Baltimore community. Donate, trade or take clothing and accessories in an exciting, outdoor, store-like, money-free exchange. (Even if you do not donate, you may take up to three items!) The Baltimore Clothing Stop & Swap will travel to a variety of locations throughout Baltimore city for one month.
The swap is free and open to the general public.
Their mission is simple, “The Baltimore Clothing Stop & Swap’s mission is to raise awareness about recycling, focused on secondhand clothing and accessories, through an exciting and free service that benefits the environment and brings together the Baltimore community.” There are two very important differences from the little clothing swaps that I attend (usually put on by friends at my local bar/restaurant The Parkside):
1. You can only bring Ten (10) items to donate
2. You have to tag your items
Still, choosing only ten preloved items to donate may be the hardest part and if shopping for free means that you have to fill out some little paper tags I think it’s worth it.
Here are the remaining events; see you there!
Saturday, May 1
Mount Vernon Park, North Square
699 North Charles St
Baltimore, Maryland
10 am – 6 pm
JUST ADDED:
Sunday, May 2
Baltimore Farmers’ Market & Bazaar
Underneath the Jones Falls Expressway at Holliday & Saratoga streets
7 am – noon
Sunday, May 9
Patterson Park (specific address not yet determined)
10 am – 6 pm
Friday, May 14 – Monday, May 17
Maryland Institute College of Art, Mount Royal Station, Frost Plaza
1300 Mount Royal Ave
Baltimore, Maryland 21217
Fri: 11 am – 8 pm
Sat-Mon: 11 am – 5 pm
Enter the Inhabitat Spring Greening Competition
Inhabitat, a blog devoted to sustainable design, wants you to make something awesome out of old junk and share it! They are hosting the Spring Greening Competition, where you can compete for praise, recognition and $250 gift certificate to be used in the Inhabitat Shop. The Inhabitat shop has everything from worm composters to fashionable pumps, so you’ll have no problem spending your new loot. So…find some old junk, make something rad, take a bunch of photos and enter the competition already!
Threadbanger How-To: Spring Skirt from Old Dress Shirt Sleeves
That’s right, you read that title right. Take some old cotton dress shirts from your friend, father, or significant other, cut off the sleeves and make a really cool spring skirt with cute button embellishments. I’m planning on whipping myself up one shortly. I’m thinking I could also grab some corduroy or flannel shirts for some fall/winter wear skirts layered over tights; oh the possibilities. Thanks to Threadbanger and Brooksie of Haute Stew for this awesome refashion tutorial! I’ll post pictures of mine once I have it finished; if you make one comment and let me know how it turns out.
Refashioned T-Shirt Gauchos Tutorial
In Megan Nicolay’s newest book titled Generation T: Beyond Fashion: 120 New Ways to Transform a T-shirt
Here’s how DIY:
1. gather 3 tshirts (l or xl), chalk marker, ruler, scissors, pins, needle thread and Megan’s book.
2. Turn your shirts inside out and cut two of the shirts into 15″ wide rectangles that extend through the bottom seam.
3. lay all four pieces together and cut off the bottom seams.
4. separate into two pairs of rectangles and pin along one side of each to create the legs of the gauchos.
5. Lay the pinned legs together and draw a gentle arc on each side to form the crotch of the gauchos about a 1/4″ from the edge and extending about 2″ long. Cut along the chalk line to finish shaping legs.
6. Open the panels and place them design side together, matching the curved edges and lining up the seams. Pin and sew with at least a 1/4″ seam allowance.
7. Use the third shirt to cut 2″ wide tubes of fabric from the bottom, just above the seam to create the waistband ties.
8. pin to the tops of the pants with an even amount of fabric hanging off both sides of the pants and sew on.
9. Turn your pants inside right and rock out! To wear, start in the front or back and tie the first panel around your waist like an apron. Pull the other panel up and tie to overlap. Now go show everyone how awesome your new pants are.
If you don’t want to make these pants yourself, pick up a pair in my Etsy shop. If you don’t see the ones you want, just convo me with your measurements and color preferences I’ll make them to order.
I look like a doily (and I love it)!
As many of you who have read my previous articles no doubt know, I gave up purchasing new clothes and have committed to doing so for one year with my new friends at TGAAD. While I do still enjoy swapping clothes that no longer fit properly or are generally unflattering, I do try to hold on to my modest selection of clothes that I really love. This could be because they are extremely comfortable, make me look hot or have some sentimental value. I haven’t purchased any truly expensive clothes in years, so in the old days it is very likely that if I ruined a shirt with bleach or benzoyl peroxide (both of which happen with alarming regularity) I would have either relegated them to cleaning or workout clothes, donated them to Goodwill, or used them for trash. I certainly could refashion them into something else where the stains aren’t visible, but for this shirt, it was so comfortable, and the fit flattering, and worse… I had just bought it! In fact, it was one of my very last purchases of new clothes before I started TGAAD, so I was determined to keep it as is. I began thinking of ways to cover the stains that appeared on the neckline and on the front of my shirt. Apparently I was washing my face with my benzoyl peroxide cleaner again, even though I know I am not supposed to, and dripped some down the front of my shirt. grumble. I was not giving this shirt up to cleaning or working out, how could I fix it? I could make a patch, but it’s so light weight that it would likely ruin the drape. I could do applique, but the stain was in some pretty strange spots for attaching individual designs. Then, I go the idea… what if I just bleach it some more so that it looks like I totally did it on purpose? Eureka! So, I looked up online how to do this, and then after reading a few other blogs cobbled together a few ideas and came up with the shirt you see above. I found a cool doily that my mom had just given me (well, I rummaged from her pile of donations destined for the Salvation Army actually) and I cut out some cardboard heart shapes to cover the stain on the neckline to match the doily. I then mixed a 50/50 solution of bleach and water, put it in an old spray bottle, and went to town. I think it turned out really cool, and you can really see the detail of the lace. It looks a little hippie and a little handmade, but you know what; I love it! So file this in your bag of tricks for the next time you accidentally destroy a perfectly good garment and lace it up!
DIY Sweater Boots Instructable
I adore this instructable so I had to post it. Grab yourself an old sweater and a pair of flats from the thrift store or a clothing swap and make some fashionable sweater boots.
Upcycled Sweater Boots – More DIY How To Projects
Rethinking the Cotton Round
Photo: Sproutzstore.blogspot.com
As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, the production of cotton uses a lot of water which is a valuable and dwindling resource. Shortages of fresh water worldwide lead to famine and starvation, war and terrorism, poverty and disease. In thinking about how I can do my part to help eliminate the unnecessary use of this precious resource globally I have been looking to reduce consumption of disposable products that I can replace with reuseable options. The first and easist switch for me was to stop purchasing new clothes and reuse fabric that I have available locally. Next, I began to investigate other household items that I could replace and while I was washing my face last night it dawned on me; cotton facial rounds! These little cotton pads are great for removing eye make-up and cleansing, but I use several of them each and every day. I thought,”surely, there must be some way to buy or make my own reuseable pads”. This morning I began to look for alternatives and was pleased to find that I can both buy and make my own easily and inexpensively. There are packs of Organic Reusable Cotton Face Rounds
The Coming Water Crisis
While listening to NPR on my way back to Baltimore yesterday I listened to a very interesting story about the coming Water Crisis. Essentially the guest speaker, Steven Solomon, was discussing how global water usage is increasing at a leve that cannot be sustained. In fact, some of the hardest hit regions who will be facing water shortages soon are areas in which terrorism has taken, or is beginning to take hold. The global consumption of our limited water resources may even spark the next major conflict. You can read the article on NPR here and listen to the broadcast for more information, “Will the Next War be Fought Over Water?“.
Immediately after hearing this story I was reminded of an article I read while back on Treehugger, where it lists the amount of water needed to produce a single new tshirt or pair of jeans. Fortunately I found that article here, “How Many Gallons of Water Does It Take to Make…”
Here are the facts straight from the article:
Pair of Jeans
It takes around 1,800 gallons of water to grow enough cotton to produce just one pair of regular ol’ blue jeans. [2]
Cotton T-Shirt
Not as bad as jeans, it still takes a whopping 400 gallons of water to grow the cotton required for an ordinary cotton shirt.
Now, if you think that just because you make your own clothes by knitting, crocheting, or buying fabric in the store that you are helping to reduce your water consumption, just look at what the article says about your raw materials:
One Pound of . . .
Wool: 101 gallons of water
Cotton: 101 gallons
In short, one great way to avoid consuming more than your fair share of water and starting on the slippery slope that will lead to famine, death, terrorism, and finally war is to stop buying new clothes! There are thousands of vintage stores, second hand and thrift shops available where you can purchase used, or as I like to call them, previously loved clothing. There are so many great resources online that can show you how to sew, refashion, and remake clothes, If you prefer to knit, but can’t find a sweater that you really like, buy a used one and recycle the yarn. If you can’t bear to take up sewing or knitting, but still want to do your part, but don’t want to dig through thrift stores, then buy online. Online sellers like Etsy have tons of shops selling recycled couture, so you can still look good and do your part to slow the damage to our Earth. I’ll include more links below to help you do additional research on the size of the issue at hand as well as places to purchase used clothes and links to groups of folks who have pledged not to buy any new clothes to help reduce their footprint on the Earth.
The Water Crisis:
The Coming Crisis: Water, Not Oil
Failing Wheat Crop Causes Afghan Food Crisis
Obscured By War, Water Crisis Looms In Yemen
We Use How Much Water? Scary Water Fooprints, Country by Country
Groups Embracing the Stop Shopping or Nused Clothing Movement to Recycle, Upcycle or Refashion Clothing:
The Great American Apparel Diet
Great Places to Shop for Refashioned, Recycled, Vintage Clothing:
So, maybe you can make one of your New Year’s resolutions for 2010 to stop buying new clothes? So go on, get shopping, just make sure it’s been previously loved. Maybe you can even check off two resolutions, by using all of the money you will save not buying new clothes to pay off debt…not a sermon, just a thought
Recycled Tshirt Bracelet from Instructables
Recycled T-shirt Bracelet – More DIY How To Projects
