Dress up your wardrobe and recycle an old pair of jeans by turning them into a trendy skirt!
Customize this skirt to your liking by adding your favorite embroidery designs paired with coordinating colors and fabric.
Read below for these free project instructions.
Supplies & Materials:
Supplies Needed:
-Fabric for inset - 1/2 yard for a mid-thigh or knee length skirt, or 1 yard for an ankle length skirt (we used brocade fabric)
-Medium weight cutaway stabilizer
-Temporary spray adhesive
-Air-erase pen (or other marking tool)
-Seam ripper
-Tape measure
-Heavy sewing thread (match colors to jean seams)
Designs used:Â
A Pretty in Paisley Design Pack - Sm
These designs are also available in a large design pack:
Gather Materials:
To begin, decide what length you would like the skirt to be. We made the length on our skirt just below the knee (measure down about 24 to 26 inches from the bottom of the waist band). Take that measurement, add 1 1/2 inches (for seam allowance) and measure and mark down the outer seam on each leg starting at the bottom of the waist band.
Draw a horizontal line across each pant leg using the marks you just made. Then, cut along the lines.
Using a seam ripper, open the inner seams on each pant leg up to the crotch. Then, open the seams further about 2 inches up from the crotch on the front and about 2 1/2 inches on the back.
Trim away about 1/2 inch from the raw edges on the back side of the pant legs.
Create paper templates of the designs by printing them at full size using embroidery software. If you don't have embroidery software, you can cut a piece of paper the shape and dimensions of the design to help with placement and centering.
Place the templates on the fabric where you would like them. Using an air-erase pen (or other marking tool) poke a hole in the center and mark the fabric. Then, mark the horizontal and vertical axis points as well.
Remove the templates and draw lines to connect the axis points. These lines will be used for hooping.
Start Embroidering:
Spray a piece of cutaway stabilizer with adhesive and smooth the fabric on top. Hoop the fabric and stabilizer together by aligning the marks on the hoop with the lines on the fabric. Attach the hoop to the machine and load the design. Move the hoop so that the needle is directly over the center point on the fabric. Embroider the design.
When the design has finished, trim away the excess stabilizer on the back of the embroidery.
Repeat the steps above to add any additional designs you'd like.
Lay the jeans flat with the front facing up. Overlap the right seam over the left seam at the crotch and pin in place. Using heavy sewing thread, sew in place by following the original seam paths.
Now, flip the jeans over and lay them flat. On the left side at the crotch, fold the raw edge of the fabric in 1/2 inch to the wrong side. Then, overlap the left seam over the right seam and pin in place. Sew in place along the original seam paths.
Lay the jeans flat with the front side facing up. Cut a piece of fabric large enough to cover the triangular area in between the side seams of the pant legs with at least 2 inches excess/overlap. Insert the fabric under the side seams and pin in place.
Sew in place by following the original seam paths on the side seams.
Turn the jeans inside out. Fold the raw edges of the back pant legs in 1/2 inch to the wrong side and press with an iron.
Then, turn the jeans right side out and cut another piece of fabric large enough to cover the triangular area in between the folded edges of the back pant legs with at least 2 inches of excess/overlap. Insert the fabric under the folded edges of the pant legs and pin in place. Sew a 1/4 inch seam along the inner edges of the folded jean fabric. Turn the skirt inside out and trim away the excess inset fabric, leaving about 1/2 inch excess.
To create the bottom hem, fold the entire bottom edge of the skirt 1/2 inch to the wrong side and press.
Fold the bottom edge in another 1/2 inch to the wrong side and press. Pin in place, turn the skirt right side out, and sew a 1/4 inch seam along the entire bottom edge of the skirt.
The skirt is now complete!
