Refashion: Shirt Dress to High-Waisted Skirt

After I bought my first sewing machine a few years ago, I excitedly scoured the web to find videos and posts about sewing. One of my first projects is a refashion. I had been watching a lot of Coolirpa's YouTube videos of thrifting abandoned clothes and breathing new life into them. (I really recommend watching a few of her Thrifted Transformation!) I was so inspired that I decided to stop by a thrift store, picked up a 1980's style shirt dress (complete with shoulder pads), and try my hand at turning it into something beautiful. 

Me wearing the shirt dress before I cut into it. I still had short hair back then.

I've always wanted a high-waisted skirt, complete with pockets. So I thought, why not make myself one?! Because that's going to be super easy right? I'll chop off the top, gather until the waist is the same size as me, and stitch together pieces of the sleeves into a waist band. I've seen a bunch of tutorials, I think I know how it should go--theoretically.

Armed with a zipper and some threads from my local Joann's, I was ready to start. I placed the dress on my body, and figured out where I wanted the hem to go and where the pockets would be placed. Snip, snip, snip. The top came off. I cut out the waist band piece from the sleeves... oh whoops, it was not long enough. Oh well, I suppose I would just stitch two pieces together. After watching a YouTube tutorial on how to gather a skirt a few times, I finally stitched a couple basting stitches and gathered the skirt. Great, time to put the waist band on, and I'd be done! This wasn't bad!

Nope. I was celebrating too early. The fabric kept slipping at the machine, and I kept missing where I wanted it to stitch. It was a disaster at this point. So I googled "how to keep fabric from sliding," and learned that I could add a piece of tissue paper or use a walking foot! After that fiasco, the waist band was finally on and it was time to tackle the zipper. I watched a few more videos on how to attach a zipper, and gave it a try. The first time resulted in a wonky stitching, but the second time was much better!

I put the skirt on, and voila! It zipped! It kind of sits where I would like it to, plus or minus an inch. I think that was good enough. I'd say this was a smashing success for my first time sewing this slippery rayon-like material.

But wait, what are these pieces of strings that are on the raw edges inside the skirt? Oh no! I didn't realize I should have done something about the raw edges! Fear not, if I just fold this raw edge under the waist band edge and sew it down, maybe it won't be TOO bad? I know, I know, this is not the proper way to finish the edges. Technically, I'm just hiding the edges. But you know what? It sort of worked. It has been in the wash a few times now and I'm proud to report that it's still in one piece.

Wearing my new skirt with a drapey black top. I love it! Don’t mind my purple slippers though, lol