DIY: Sweater to Skirt

New year new crafts!

A couple days ago I was browsing through one of my favorite sewing/crafting blogs, and came across a simple and quick craft that transformed really any old sweater into something new, wearable and rather unexpected-- a skirt! I had expected her to tailor the big sweater or perhaps turn it into something weird like a pillow cover. I was pleasantly surprised when it turned out to be a cute skirt and quickly set about to make my own.

What I Made:

How I did it:

This craft is ridiculously easy-- and keep in mind I can not sew a straight line. Every time I operate a sewing machine there is a high likelihood of me accidentally breaking it. Again. 

But this tutorial is great for beginners. All you need is a sweater, some thread, and a sewing machine. 

I found my sweater at one of my favorite clothing store-- Goodwill. It was an XL but I loved the festive red and white pattern. When you look for a sweater keep in mind it needs to fit around your hips, not your waist. You might need to get a size or two bigger-- it's really easy to trim a sweater that is too big but you can't do much with a sweater that is too small. 

Sorry for the blurry photo! I was too excited to start the project ;)

Simply cut your sweater horizontally right under the arms. Once again, it's relatively easy to take off length, but you can't add length so try not to cut it too short. 

This will give you, roughly, your shirt. All that's left is to tailor it! Like I said, my sweater was an XL so it wouldn't stay on my hips. To take it in, I turned the sweater inside out, slipped it on, and pinned it in place. 

Ignore the mess! ;)

Then, I took it off and sewed along the line I safety pinned. Be sure that you sweater is inside out before you sew your new seam. 

Before I cut the excess off, I tried the skirt on again to make sure I hadn't made it too small. Once I saw it fit, I cut off the extra fabric. 

The waist didn't fit perfectly-- so I pinned the just the top of the other side and sewed it for a better fit.

Et, volia! It's really that simple. All in all, this craft took me thirty minutes or less, and that includes setting up the sewing machine, finding cardboard to cut my sweater on, cajoling my wonderful mother into helping me pin the sweater, and sewing.

And that is how you make a personalized, tailored winter skirt for only four dollars :)

Thanks for reading!