Ellis blows through jeans on an almost weekly basis. His skinny little legs and the jeans that fit them make patching a swear-worthy affair, but throwing them away seems like such a waste!! So a new solution was found--> combining upcycling with the ancient art of hand-me-downs between siblings.
Materials:
Old pair of jeans (these were sized 2-3 years)
Long strip of material for the bottom of the skirt (for an age 2-3 skirt, my material measured 34" by 6.5")
1. Take jeans and cut in a straight line just above the crotch and under the pockets.
2. Prepare your skirt material. Cut it approximately 8" longer than the circumference of the opening of your jeans (longer for a more ruffled skirt, shorter for a more straight skirt...I wanted something with just a bit of flare).
Use an existing skirt to gauge the width of the material for the bottom of the skirt. I used a strip of material about 6.5" wide. I based this on the width of the pattern on my material, but came out with quite a long skirt for an 18 month old. However as the jeans are sized 2-3 years, it will be a good length as she grows.
Sew the skirt into a tube by using a french seam. To do this, fold the material in half, placing the short sides together, wrong sides facing and sew down the edge.
Then, turn the tube inside out and sew the seam closed again, encasing the first seam inside the other.
3. Hem the bottom of the skirt.
4. Using a basting stitch on your machine, sew around the top edge. Then, pulling on one of the lengths of thread, gather your material until it is the width of the opening jeans.
5. Turning the skirt material inside out, place the jeans inside the skirt rightsides together, the gathered end will line up with the cut edge of your jeans. I lined the skirt's seam up with the back seam of the jeans.
4. Sew or serge the open end. And ta-dah - a little upcycled skirt out of a pair of jeans that would have been thrown away. As there is a 3 year gap betwen Georgia and Ellis, the skirt is on the big side for her, but is fine turned over once at the waist.
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No. I am NOT procrastinating. What do you mean? OF COURSE I had to make a photograph this skirt yesterday instead of making hats. Georgia NEEDED it, she didn't have anything clean to wear and making it took just almost exactly the amount of time it would have taken to do the laundry ;).
Have a fantastic weekend!!
And this is why you should photograph your finished object before trying them on your toddler:
