Upcycling and recycling past fashions

Today I am wearing my favourite customised polka dot skirt. I bought this skirt from a Charity shop for £2.99 and just love the print on the fabric. Originally the skirt was calf length, a look which I really can't rock, but I liked the print so much that I thought I would see if I could make it into a dress. My initial idea was to widen the waist band and have it as a boob tube type dress that I would just pull in by wearing a belt. As with my of my ideas that didn't really work out, I quickly realised that I wouldn't ever get round to wearing like that and that it was too nice to waist on my whims so I set about making it into a skirt that I would be able to add to my every day work wardrobe.

I simply got another one of my skirts and used it as a template with regards to length and cut my new skirt about two centimetres longer so that I would have an adequate hem. I then simply hemmed the skirt by running the sewing machine round the bottom and there I had my skirt! Fortunately it fit me round the waist so the job was done! (warning - with vintage clothes it is worth trying them on because the sizing is very different to the sizing used in many high street shops, this skirt is a size 14 and I normally wear a size 10 skirt!).

The next best thing about this skirt, after the print, was there was so much fabric left over. Around the time I was working on the alterations to the skirt one of my friends at the time was due to give birth to a baby girl. I decided that instead of buying her a gift that I would like to make her something special. My friend Kate is a very funky girl and I knew she would love my skirt so I decided to make a little girls dress from the remaining fabric. I used a free template which I found online and my miniature creation was born! I have to say I was very proud of my little dress and thought it was a great way to recycle.




Shortening the skirt

Finished project!