This Year's Dress, Next Year's Skirt: Toddler Skirt Tutorial

To say that Charlotte has a lot of clothes would be a gross understatement. The girl has a serious wardrobe for a few reasons:

• Baby girl clothes are fun to shop for. Really fun.
• She is the only grandchild on both sides and has very generous grandparents, aunts and uncles.
• She has a mommy who hunts for deals. End of season clearance racks, resale shops, eBay, garage sales--it's amazing what you can find for next to nothing if you look. I look for mostly new items with tags still on (unbelievable what you can find in this category, by the way, including more expensive brands) or very gently used items.
• She has two grandmas and a mommy who like to either sew, knit or crochet clothes.  

This week I went through her closet and pulled out a lot of her summer clothes. They still fit but since we're almost halfway into September I knew I wouldn't be dressing her in the really summery styles anymore. Every time I weed out her closet I divide her clothes into three piles:  1) keep for future baby girl (I'm not pregnant or planning on Baby #2 in the very near future. Calm down).  2) donate; and 3) love it but I can't keep everything because my house is small and storage is limited and I don't want to be a hoarder so maybe I can repurpose.

Pile #1 goes immediately into plastic bins in the attic. Pile #2 goes in bags and dropped off at a donation center. Pile #3 continues growing and becomes out of hand. I eventually end up separating these items into either pile 1 or 2 and never get around to repurposing anything. Boo.

I am determined to stop this practice (or, more accurately, this non-practice). She has so many adorable sundresses that are in perfect condition because she only wore each of them a few times. After staring at them for awhile I realized I could probably chop off the tops and turn them into skirts for next summer (or the summer after). And that is how this tutorial was born.  :)

You will need:

--sundress

--regular sewing supplies (machine, thread, scissors, ruler, iron)

--elastic (I used 1/2" since that's all I had on hand, but I recommend using 1")

Start by cutting off the top, as close to the arm openings as possible to allow for plenty of material to work with and straighten. Straighten out the material and pull it wide to lay smoothly on your cutting mat.

This dress had a lining, which I didn't think was necessary for the skirt so I simply pulled it out.

Iron the strip of fabric that will become your skirt.

Lay the ironed strip on your cutting mat and cut to the desired length, plus room for making the waistband. In this case, I used 1/2" elastic and allowed for 1/4" of space on each side. I wanted a finished length of 8.5" so I cut it 9.5".

Now open up the tube of fabric and either serge or zig-zag stich the raw edge so it won't fray.

Now flip the fabric inside out and fold the top of the skirt down (you're folding the right side of the fabric onto the wrong side) to make your waistband (again, in my case I needed this size to be 1" to allow for 1/4" on each side of my 1/2" elastic). Press all the way around.

Mark an opening with pins about 2" wide.  Sew around the raw edge, 1/4" seam allowance, starting and stopping (and backstitching) at each end. The opening is where you'll insert the elastic.

Stick a safety pin thru each end of the elastic. Insert one end into the opening.

Feed the elastic thru the waistband, making sure that the end doesn't get lost!

Overlap the ends by 1" and sew together (mine is crooked, whatever). Sew and backstitch a few times to reinforce the seams and ensure the waistband won't come undone. Lastly, sew the waistband opening closed (you'll have to pull the fabric a bit to get it to lay flat while you stitch it closed). Adjust the ruffles along the waistband so they're even and you're done!

 I'm so happy that this turned out the way I imagined and I didn't ruin it...I really liked this dress and Charlotte only got a chance to wear it once this entire summer. I made the skirt in a size 2T and the original dress was a 12 month. There was enough fabric that I could have gone up to a 4T if I wanted to, so I might end up making a few more in bigger sizes so she has some stock saved up for future summers. You can find size charts using a simple Google search that can give you an idea of measurements. I just pulled out a skirt I bought her for next summer that's a 2T and used the measurements from that.

Happy sewing!

~Stacy