Pants-to-Flouncy Skirt!

Dear pants:
Why be pants, when you could be a skirt??



A very sweet lady at church gave me these pants a few days ago thinking maybe I could make something out of them. (I love it when that happens!!)

They were what I like to call a "mature" style, very loose-fitting, and high-waisted. Not to mention about 4" too short for my legs!

(flattering, no?)

But I rescued them, and turned them into a frilly, feminine skirt! My favorite!!




I especially love it peeking out from under a nice pink trench coat. But, then, what doesn't look good under a pink trench??



To make your own, you'll need a pair of old pants that are your size. Cut the top of them off, just before the crotch (yikes, is there another word for that out there??). This will become "piece A"


Step 2: Using the tops of the legs, cut as much length as you need to achieve your desired skirt length, once added to the top piece, plus a couple more inches for seam allowances.


3: Cut each of the two leg pieces along one of the side seams and trim them to make sure they will be the same width as the bottom of piece A.

4: Lay them flat, on top of each other, with right sides together. Pin the sides, and sew together to make a tube. ("piece B")


5: Then slip piece B over piece A (right sides facing each other), and pin together. Be sure that the side of piece B that you're pinning to piece A is the side that matches. Sew together.


6: Measure all the way around your skirt where piece A meets piece B. Double the measurement, and cut three 5" wide strips of coordinating fabric.


7: Hem one side of each strip. Then sew a long strait stitch on the other side of each strip, and pull the top thread to gather.


8: Arrange your gathers to make sure that your strips are the right length to go around your skirt.


9: Then sew the two ends of each of your ruffled strips to make three circles.


10: Pin your first circle upside-down right along the seam where piece A meets piece B.



11: Once the first ruffle strip is sewn on, position the next one just underneath, so that the hemmed edge is lined up with the gathered edge of the first ruffle.

12: Repeat last step for the third ruffle, and hem the bottom of piece B.


Have fun flouncing around!


Comments

  1. So cute!! Great refashion!! I love turning something "mature" into something pretty!

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  2. well!
    what can I say?
    I personally prefer pants to skirts but, I incline myself to your ingeneous criativity!
    I might use this idea, thow, one of these days, to create a skirt to my daugther with some fabric scraps that I have!

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  3. wow i am continually amazed at your projects...how on earth do you come up with this stuff? you are soo cool

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  4. me like. I should do that with some old pants I'm no longer wearing! great idea as always!

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  5. you made this look sooo easy! i'd like to add this to my list of 'i want to make this'
    and ur right...everything goes w/the pink coat

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  6. Oh how I LOVE that pink coat! Thanks for the tute!

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  7. Very sweet! That looks so easy! I wonder if maybe my mom has some pants like those? hehe

    And I want your pink trench. :)

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  8. So cute! What a great use for pants that wear out in the nether region as well. And I also LOVE the trench coat.

    BTW...in case you didn't thesaurus it...well, um...here goes...another word for "crotch" could be "groin" or "pelvic girdle" should you need to use it again and desire another word lol ;)

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  9. Thanks! I have the perfect pair of pants for this.

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  10. Oh! That's so cute! I'll have to try this out soon.

    ~Ashley

    P.S.
    I love your top and trench! :D So cute and pretty!

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  11. lovely!
    And I must say that your trench is adorable!

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  12. Very cute! I haven't worn a skirt in about 10 years, but that one is adorable.!

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  13. Awesome idea and it looks great on you.

    O--love your little chair pin cushion:O)

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  14. I love it!
    I was also thinking it'll work with just a boring ol' pencil skirt perhaps.... ?
    Hope to try this tute out soon. :)

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  15. Hi Disney,

    You're such a beatiful mum, how lucky your daughter. You re like your name, I can see that you make your world like a disney world with this little, pretty and lovely things. I wish I would find a friend like you for little magic for my life :)

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  16. so adorable! :)



    -stephanie.

    p.s. where did you get that amazing armchair pincushion? i love it! :)

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  17. Awesome I would have never thought of this. Thanks for sharing

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  18. You are amazing and so incredibly creative! I love the skirt, coat, shoes....

    Thanks for sharing!

    Tammi @ VisionsOfVintage

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  19. Yes, please tell us more about the chair pincushion. I am in love!

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  20. so cute Disney! You always amaze me! I wish it wasn't 20 degrees here now and I could actually wear a cute skirt like that! brrr

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  21. This is perfect for a weekend project! I do need new clothes for this semester!

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  22. Cute, cute. You are so clever!!! And it looks amazing on you!

    XOOX
    Jen

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  23. Oh! The chair pin cushion came from JoAnn's last year. It was a gift from a sweet, sweet friend of mine. I love it too!

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  24. This would be super super cute out of a pair of jeans! With a few different, complimentary colors for the ruffles. Pink, yello, and green! Or earth tones: red, green, and gold. Ha!

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  25. Sewing machines and I do not get along but you really inspire me to get over that and try more.

    I hemmed a pair of too long pants today - that's a start, right? :)

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  26. The skirt looks ultra feminine and cool..But what about the zipper? does a skirt with a zipper in front look good? what should be done to disguise the zipper?

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  27. Hello!

    If you are discussing the body, I think "crotch" is a perfectly fine word. But since you are writing about pants, instead of "just before the crotch" you could say "at the very top of the inseam."

    It's a great skirt! I might make one myself to wear under my sherbert green trench coat. I love your blog, Ms. Disney!

    Best,
    Alissa

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  28. crotch!... haha! That is a harsh word, there's gotta be a better term :) Love the transformation and WHERE DID YOU GET THAT PINK TRENCH?!?!?

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  29. I love your trenchcoat and your pink high heels!
    and I gave you a blog award today, too.
    http://colescornerandcreations.blogspot.com/2010/01/random-thursday.html

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  30. Sonia: I have several (non-homemade) skirts that have zippers in front, so I didn't think to disguise it! :o)

    Lindsey: I bought the trench coat at Rave several years ago. (for only $20!)

    Anonymous: "Above the inseam!!" Ah! Why didn't I think of that??

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  31. Gorgeous!! I love it. Where do you guys live? I am so jealous of the weather. Today in UT it's snowing!!

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  32. Suuuuuper cute. I love your classy & classic style!! Feminine and put-together :)

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  33. dear disney,
    you continue to amaze me with the beautiful things that you create. you definitely have a gift. you have inspired me to pull out the sewing machine that i received as a wedding present and learn how to use it. thank you for that! keep up the good work!
    kristen

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  34. your blog is one of my favorites! i love how simple and very cute your creations are!! this is a great skirt and i'm storing it away in my mind for a future project, but what i really want to ask is WHERE did you get that super cute upholstered seat pin cushion that is pictured with step 5??? :) thanks for sharing your creativity!!

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  35. I've been reading your blog for a bit now and I'm thinking the same as someone wrote about, about finally getting out that sewing machine and learning how to use it! My mom sews, and I've used her sewing machine, but she makes it look so easy (as do you) and she always has to monitor me and show me how to do it. I've had a sewing machine in a box for um... At least seven years now. :/ And it's not that I don't want to use it, because I do now more than ever!!! But I've always done all my sewing by hand (quilts even) and it looks sooo intimidating to even get it initially set up. But... I WILL!

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  36. Love your skirt ruffles. I have the same top as you have worn in grey. Bought it at ross last season. But it looks so much better on you

    - Reshma

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  37. I love this! I have some jeans that I've worn through in the knees. I'm going to use them to make a cute skirt!

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  38. I adore this skirt! I'm not sure I could make one, but I really want to try.

    -FringeGirl

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  39. I think this skirt will look lovely with the ruffled tank I'm gonna make : )
    I have a pair or two of 'mommy jeans' that I never wear : )

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  40. That is super cute and I make aprons that look a little like your skirt! Also, I have a pink trench coat. Hmmmm... I may have to play with this!

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  41. Just wanted to let you know that we've included this on dabbled.org today for our clothing refashion roundup... thanks for sharing this great idea!

    dot

    Link: http://dabbled.org/2010/02/clothes-tutorials-recycle-your-wardrobe.html

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  42. I love it!! Don't know if you will even see my comment with so many others letting you know how amazing this skirt is, but I had to add my little hurray to you.

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  43. Its a great idea! So cute! I love it! :) I hope that I'll find some old pants and cute fabric for ruffles to make similar myself :) Thank you for a great idea :)

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  44. Honestly I love this , I'm about to get marry nothing fancy since its just a very small dinner but I like this idea in much more on the curvier side (chubby) and I truly don't want to shop for a dress or anything as such and I love the look of this skirt of course I'm going to be making it for my wedding day and I know just where to go look for the supplies. This will fit me perfectly in excited .

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