Refashioned – women’s dress to girl’s maxi skirt

I am lucky enough to have our best friend Molly give me some of her old dresses…. She has amazing style and if the hand-me-downs don’t work for me, I figure out what I can do with the fabric. She gave me a strapless dress that had lost the stretch in the elastic. I decided to turn the dress into a maxi skirt for my maxi-obsessed 5 year old daughter!

All you need is a sewing machine and your imagination! Take a look at the tutorial after the jump.

Supplies:

Women’s strapless dress, sewing machine, 3/4 inch elastic, seam ripper, scissors

Step 1. Measure one of your girl’s maxi skirts (my daughter wears a size 6) to the strapless dress. Mark measurements with pencil, adding a half inch for seam.

Step 2: Cut below strapless part of dress.

Step 3: Inside out the dress and pull the lining fabric up above dress.

Step 4: Cut along the measurements making A-line shape.

Step 5: Sew outer seams of dress.

Step 6: Pull down the lining and sew the same seams as the out fabric. Trim the excess lining fabric.

Step 6*: Now create the casing for the elastic waist. Iron down 1/4 inch and fold down again to create casing. Sew a seam leaving 2 inch opening so that you can add elastic.

Step 7: Feed elastic through openings. Use 2 safety pins. Pin end of elastic on back opening. Pin other safety pin on other end of elastic. Feed the pin through with your fingers.

Step 8: Sew the elastic together using a zig zag stitch.

Step 9: Sew the 2 inch opening closed.

Now you have a beautiful girls maxi skirt!

Enjoy,

Sara

*all photos by Sara