How to Turn a Dress into a Skirt / DIY Dress to New Skirt

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 How to Turn a Dress into a Skirt + Crop Top

Yesterday I was cleaning out my closet and came across a knit dress that I loved wearing the past 2 years, but had not worn in a while and was going to donate it or give it to a friend. But as the bag grew fuller, I realized there was so much fabric in there that I could play with first! So I took that dress and made it into a skirt and a crop top...

Tutorial: 

Materials: knit dress, scissors, pins, sewing machine, scrap of ponte or other knit fabric for waistband

1. Try the dress on and mark where you want the waist of the skirt to be. This dress had pockets, so I made sure to mark right above them so they would not get cut off. Lay the dress out flat. 

2. Cut dress off at your marking. My "skirt" was 17 inches long.

3. Cut out a strip for your waistband that is 6 inches long x the width of your waist minus 3 inches.

(Or hold up the waistband fabric, wrap it around your waist snug so the skirt will stay up.)

 4. Lay the waistband right sides together, pin at the short 6 inch edge and sew along the 6 inch edge with a 3/8 inch seam allowance. Now you have a loop.

 5. Fold the top down to meet the bottom, so the wrong sides meet. You want to see the right side of the fabric. Now it is 3 inches tall.

 6. Mark the center front, center back and sides of the waist and the skirt with a pin.

7. Turn the waistband upside down.

8. Insert the skirt into the waistband. Match the center pins, back center pins and side seam pins of the waistband and skirt. The waistband will be narrower than the skirt but this will all get evened out when you sew.

9. Slightly stretch the waistband as you sew, but do not stretch the skirt fabric. Sew on the waistband with a 3/8 inch seam allowance. Serge.

10. Flip up the waistband and your skirt is ready to be worn!

Now pair it with your favorite tops and wear it!! Want to make a crop top?? Keep scrolling!

Crop Top Tutorial:

1. Take the top of the dress that you cut off and lay it out with the CENTER FRONT laid out to the left, the CENTER BACK on the right and the side seams centered. 

2. Measure up 3 inches (you can do more or less) on the left side (which is the CENTER FRONT) and cut across while angling down to the center seam. You want to have a smooth transition down to the center seam, so I made sure to have gotten down to the lower edge 2 inches before I met the center seam. 

3. Hem and DONE!