How to Make a Miniskirt From a Pair of Pants
This sewing project is a great way to repurpose a pair of jeans or tailored trousers. Use your own jeans or scour the thrift shops for trousers in great fabrics, like wool flannel, woven plaids and gabardine. While machine sewing makes this a quick project, hand stitching also works great.
Things You'll Need:
Pair of jeans or trousers
Sewing shears
Sewing machine
Matching thread
Ruler or straight edge
Tailor's chalk
Seam ripper
Straight pins
Step
1
Start with a pair of jeans or trousers that fit well around the waist with enough room for ease of movement through the hips. Fold the trousers in half along the fly front. Lay them on a flat surface and smooth out the fabric.
Step
2
Determine the finished length of the skirt. Mark the length with the tailor's chalk. Allow 1 inch for a hem, depending on the fabric.
Step
3
Use the straight edge and mark a cutting line across the pant leg from seam to seam below the crotch and the bottom of the pockets. Cut along the line to create a pair of shorts.
Step
4
Unfold the trousers. Use the seam ripper to undo the intersecting seams that form the crotch. Remove the stitches a few at a time. Resist the temptation to rip the seam apart, which may damage the fabric.
Step
5
Begin with the front of the skirt. Pin the left and right front center of the skirt (formerly the crotch), one side over the other.
Step
6
Top stitch around the edges of the left and right sides to secure them. Even the hem by trimming straight across the front.
Step
7
Repeat Steps 5 and 6 to finish the back side of the skirt. Press well. Turn under 1/4 inch of the hem and press, and then turn up a half inch and machine stitch into place.
Tips & Warnings
Some fabrics don't need hemming. The hem of a denim skirt can be left to fray.
If the front and back center pieces do not lap completely one over the other, use a bit of fabric from the cut off legs to span the gap. Pin the extra fabric to the underside of the front and back and stitch as described in Step 6.
http://www.ehow.com/how_2267006_make-miniskirt-out-pair-pants.html
This sewing project is a great way to repurpose a pair of jeans or tailored trousers. Use your own jeans or scour the thrift shops for trousers in great fabrics, like wool flannel, woven plaids and gabardine. While machine sewing makes this a quick project, hand stitching also works great.
Things You'll Need:
Pair of jeans or trousers
Sewing shears
Sewing machine
Matching thread
Ruler or straight edge
Tailor's chalk
Seam ripper
Straight pins
Step
1
Start with a pair of jeans or trousers that fit well around the waist with enough room for ease of movement through the hips. Fold the trousers in half along the fly front. Lay them on a flat surface and smooth out the fabric.
Step
2
Determine the finished length of the skirt. Mark the length with the tailor's chalk. Allow 1 inch for a hem, depending on the fabric.
Step
3
Use the straight edge and mark a cutting line across the pant leg from seam to seam below the crotch and the bottom of the pockets. Cut along the line to create a pair of shorts.
Step
4
Unfold the trousers. Use the seam ripper to undo the intersecting seams that form the crotch. Remove the stitches a few at a time. Resist the temptation to rip the seam apart, which may damage the fabric.
Step
5
Begin with the front of the skirt. Pin the left and right front center of the skirt (formerly the crotch), one side over the other.
Step
6
Top stitch around the edges of the left and right sides to secure them. Even the hem by trimming straight across the front.
Step
7
Repeat Steps 5 and 6 to finish the back side of the skirt. Press well. Turn under 1/4 inch of the hem and press, and then turn up a half inch and machine stitch into place.
Tips & Warnings
Some fabrics don't need hemming. The hem of a denim skirt can be left to fray.
If the front and back center pieces do not lap completely one over the other, use a bit of fabric from the cut off legs to span the gap. Pin the extra fabric to the underside of the front and back and stitch as described in Step 6.
http://www.ehow.com/how_2267006_make-miniskirt-out-pair-pants.html
