Your favorite dress is too small? Turn it into a long skirt.

I have a 15yr old that was born with an innate desire for all things girly. She loves dresses, possibly too much, and will wear them past the time when they should be retired. Lately her love for mashed potatoes has begun to interfere with her dress love...and she's outgrown almost all of her dresses. So tonight I decided to recycle them into skirts. 

I know this is a simple project and most people on here probably already know how to do it, but I couldn't find an ible on it.  Also you could use this idea for an elderly lady, where she might have trouble zipping dresses or buttoning, a pull up skirt and a pull over top would be much easier. 

Dresses and even longer skirts can have this done to them as long as they have an A line sort of shape. This dress to skirt make over cost me nothing as I already had the thread and elastic. Here's what you'll need.

dress that is too small
scissors
elastic for waistline
thread
needle

WARNING: This is not a perfection project. It's a quick fix. My sewing machine isn't working so I stitched the top by hand and finished a skirt in about 30min. You could do a more professional job on a machine. I also detailed the steps in the pictures just to make sure it was clear so if you are unclear on a step check the pics or ask and I'll do my best to help. 

Step 1 Lay your dress out

I laid the dress out flat and cut right below the bodice. Since the bodice was tight and the material stretchy this worked out fine. You should try it on inside out to make sure it's easy to pull up over your hips and that you have the proper length. Fold the material over far enough that your elastic can slide in and so that you can turn the raw edge under & pin. Pin the whole way around.

Also you can measure your elastic now, I pulled it around her waist and stretched it just a bit. Since you're not stitching into the actual elastic then there's no need for the usual way of measuring elastic. This is more like a belt fit. 

Comments

[Bambi Tuesday]

This was great, thanks : )

[Ysabeau]

I like this kind of ideas: so simple, so easy to make and for a so good result!

[canida]

Cool! What an easy and awesome idea.

[tbcross]

Thanks I'm so glad you liked it. I just hoped it would help someone else in the same situation.