Awhile ago I was cleaning out some old clothing bins of mine (a never ending project it seems) when I ran across one that included a bunch of old skirts that I wore the first year or two I taught school. They were long, frumpy, and totally from the turn of the century…back when I was partying like it was 1999.
They ALL looked like this:
Anyone else remember these beauties or am I just waaaay older than all of you are?
(Wait, don’t answer that.)
I’ll just pretend you remember these and then I’ll tell you that I had one in khaki (yes khaki) and several made of denim. Yea, I was pretty cool back in the day.
ANYWAYS…
When I dug these babies out I wanted to give them some sort of makeover and get a little more wear out of them. I still liked the fit and the waistline but the length had to go. So I did the easiest thing ever and now have some brand new skirts that, along with me, are all ready for spring.
Here’s what I did:
I hacked off the bottom and made them all knee length.
Which brings me to this: The completely unnecessary tutorial. Which goes like this:
Step1: Try on your skirt and mark (I used my super professional crayola marker) exactly how short you would like it to be plus one inch. (You are adding one inch to the length not taking the inch away.)
Step2: Lay your skirt flat on your cutting mat and line the bottom up along the bottom line.
Step3: Place your ruler on the mark you made and line your ruler up horizontally using the measurement lines on your cutting mat so it goes vertically straight along what will be the new bottom of your skirt. (Like in the picture below.)
Step4: Cut along that ruler line.
Step5: Hem—Start by turning the bottom of your skirt under a half inch and sew all the way around the bottom of your skirt. (Like in the picture below.)
Step6: Finish Hemming: Turn the hem under another half inch and top stitch along the entire bottom of the skirt. (When you are finished it should like like the photo below.)
And that’s it.
The world’s easiest skirt refashion.
Sewing doesn’t have to be hard or complicated…and if you are new to sewing these kinds of projects are the best to start with. Simple but with rewarding results.
You don’t always need to add trims or pleats or miles of ruffles or discuss how you spent hours of painstaking work and put all of your blood, sweat, and tears into the project….Sometimes just making one simple change to a garment can make all the difference.
And in this case it did, for me.
And although the white skirt is by far my favorite from the skirts that I gave a trim to I have a feeling that it is this denim one that will get the most wear.
Not because it’s so darn hip (which I realize it’s not) but just because it’s me—casual, comfortable, and I can wear it with my very favorite article of clothing, a white t-shirt.
Happy Thrifted Thursday Everyone!
liZ
(Ok—so the skirts weren’t thrifted by they were saved from being donated to the thrift store…so I say that counts for today.)
I had that skirt in army green! It looks much cuter at the shorter length.
first of all…you have the best little figure! and second…apparently i am waay not cool because i am still wearing those skirts:) and yes im partying in them like its still 1999! after seeing yours im really going to have to refashion them. yours is way cute!
You did this just so we could all see how wonderfully tiny you are, right? I remember the skirts. DOn’t know if I was the age to wear them (or chose to)but I remember them all right! Perfect fix!
I have been looking for the perfect length jean skirt. This is such a great idea. Thanks for sharing a simple update. I am sure that now there will be a run on denim skirts at the DI, so hopefully I make it there first!
I think that they were standard teaching attire back in the 90s. I had a couple in khaki and denim as well. Looking at your refashioned ones though made me think of all the European moms who would look so put together because they weren’t out in their sweats or jeans but always in skirts. Usually simple ones like these, but it looked like they made the effort to get ready for the day. Of course I lived there in the 90s too, so it might not be that way anymore.
Amazing how a quick fix can make such a big difference! I vaguely remember skirts like that…but I was more into the short shorts.;)
I love the white skirt! Great refashion!
This is too funny. I JUST finished a post about shortening a denim skirt! It’s like we’re on the same wavelength or something….
Cute. I’m liking the denim better- goes to show how fashion forward I am. (Back in my teaching years I had a student ask if I always wore dresses/skirts. Yup, pretty much. And they weren’t at all hip.)