Reclaiming mens shirts

As much as our little girl loves the pillowcase dresses I make her, sometimes a little girl needs a skirt not a dress. So after going though hubby's clothes and setting aside all the shirts that don't fit anymore. I found this post about the the 10 minute skirt and wanted to give it a go. Instead of using a ladies t-shirt I wanted to use one of hubby shirts, same things apply. No need to hem the bottom, all you have to do is make a casing for elastic.

So here is the shirt before. I loved this shirt so much it has a lot of memories, which is why we have keep it so long (hasn't been worn since 2006)

 

All I did was cut off the bottom half of the shirt (right under the sleeves) This is for our big girl little Miss 3, I measured around her waist and from her waist to the floor (just to make sure I didn't need to shorten the shirt) The length of the shirt was the length of little Miss's legs and I was happy with making a long skirt so left it as is. If you wanted a shorter skirt just take off however much you want from the top (make sure you leave 1.5 inchs for the casing) I also ran the raw edge though the overlocker to stop any fraying. 

 

Now all that is needed is fold and press with a hot iron the top down 1.5 inches and stitch down, leaving about a 2 inch opening (to thread the elastic though.) Cut the elastic the same length as her waist, threaded the elastic through and then stitch closed the opening and your done.

 

 

She loves it, and loves that fact that it was once daddy's shirt. And I loved making it so much that I made her another skirt that was once one of my tops that I loved but no longer fitted me 

 

  

Another winner!!!

Op Shop finds

So along with my two t-shirts I found at the op shop the other day to make singlets for the boys I also had a look around for some skirts. After reading this brilliant blog, it gave me some tips about what skirts to look for when buying from op shops, from the size of the skirt to weather it has to many seams this lady is wonderful. She has also done some blogs on what to look for when buying shirts from op shops. But the really great thing I found was she walked you through how to deconstruct the items once you have got them home. So thank you refabulous you have given me the confidence to start reclaiming clothes for myself.

Reclaiming clothes not only gives life to clothing no longer worn but also an inexpensive way for having beautiful one of a kind fabric for your projects. You also get that wonderful feeling that you have use an item of clothing and turned it into something else, It's the best feeling. Also your children see that if something is not used for it's initial purpose any more you can turn it into something else (great life skill)

When looking for a skirt to reclaim I come across this one and think it ticks most boxes. It's long, (30 inches) not to many seams, has the added bonus of having lace trim and I love the fabric.

With the tips from refabulous, I took my time with the seam ripper it may have taken longer but it was well worth it

 

And this is what I came out with. Great haul, I have 2 large main pieces and 4 smaller pieces PLUS over 5 meters of ribbon and lining. All this for $5.

The only thing I will say is that the fabric has elastic in it so not great for every project, but I'm still over the moon with it. I know it will be just right the fabric for something. I will let you all know what I use it for. I have just gone through hubby's wardrobe and pulled out all the shirts that no longer fit him and I have big plans for them.