Repurposing - Skirt/Leggings

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Did you notice who won the Beautiful Baby Boutique giveaway below? Scroll down or click here.
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Do you have an old shirt or two? How about turning them into a brand new skirt/leggings combo for a little girl? It might make you really excited.


Seriously, give re-purposing a try.......if you mess it up, you were probably going to throw that old shirt away anyway.


: : : Remember to click on any of the images to enlarge them. : : :



To make this skirt/legging combo, find two different knit tops that are still in good condition but are tucked back in that closet......and you never wear anymore. Go on, start digging. (You can also check out your local thrift shop.)

(and remember, the bigger the shirts, the more fabric you'll have to work with.)

Every child is going to be a different size. I will show you the shapes that I used and how I constructed this outift......and then you can all experiment. The more you play the whole re-purposing idea, the better you'll become. First, I cut out a rectangle to use for the top of the leggings......



Then, I cut the sleeves off at an angle. I used the arms as the bottom of the leggings so that I wouldn't have to hem the bottoms. Saved a lot of time. (Try your shirt sleeves on your little girl's legs first, to see how well they fit.)



Then sew along the sides of your rectangle.... (If you've never sewed with knit before, try sewing on some scraps first. I used a zig-zag stitch so that it would allow for some stretch. But I made my zig-zag pretty narrow and lots of room in between each stitch. Sew on some scraps to try and find the best results with your machine.)



Then cut your rectangle at an angles so that it matches the length of the opening of the leggings.



Then sew along the small bottom section, right between the two angles that you just cut from your rectangle. Then make sure your legging pieces are wrong side out and pin the legs in place. Sew along the openings. (If you click on the picture to enlarge, you can see the size of my zig-zag stitch a little better.)



Turn your leggings right side out.



Now it's time to construct the skirt. Cut off the bottom of the other skirt, making sure to include enough in the height to make a casing for the elastic. And you can just use the hem of the shirt as the hem for your skirt. Easy. Done.



Then, fold over the top section about an inch and a half to make a casing. Make sure to leave an opening to insert the elastic.



Then, insert your elastic (that you have measured on your little girl) using a safety pin at one end and thread it through. Then sew the opening closed.



Now, turn your skirt right side out and slide your leggings inside.....matching up side seams of the skirt with the side seams of the leggings.



Adjust the leggings to lay about a 1/4 inch above the seam that you made while creating the casing. Make sure to stretch the skirt out fully and then pin into place.



And then sew into place while stretching the skirt all the way out as you sew. The skirt material and the leggings should lay flat as you are sewing. And you may have to stretch the leggings a little more than the skirt material and that's okay...........knit does a great job stretching.



Then add any sort of flowers or embellishments to the front of your skirt..........



And you're done.
Don't you feel useful?
You just made an outfit out of some cast-off shirts.


So cute.