Refashion July with House of Estrela

Do you have clothes hiding in your stash, just waiting to be refashioned? Oh good, I’m in great company then!! There is nothing better than reusing a former garment for its fabric – I hate fabric going to landfill.

I don’t quite like to admit how long ago my daughter begged me to buy a large knit skirt to be transformed into a garment for her. Today she had the day off school, an unexpected girly day together.

We discussed the skirt and agreed to transform it into a dress for her. We cheated and bought a red t-shirt, much quicker than making our own! As a result the entire refashion took less than an hour.

To make your own dress you will need
a t shirt which fits
a skirt
a dress which fits as a template

To start trim your t shirt to the length (plus seam allowance) where you wish to attach the skirt.

Trim the skirt so the waist band will fit the waist of the skirt (plus seam allowance). If you wish to shorten the skirt I suggest shortening at the waist so that you can keep the hem.

Stitch the new side seams of the skirt, ensuring you hems align.

Place the t shirt inside the skirt so that the right side are together.

Stitch the skirt and top together.

Its really that simple, unless you have a t-shirt which needs some adjustments. The t- shirt we found was slightly wide on the shoulders.

To adjust this I stitched along the top of the sleeve seam taking in an extra centimter.

My daughter, who was reluctant to have a shower and wash her hair, leapt in the shower and hasn’t taken the dress off. That’s a result!!!

Thanks so much to Magda for providing the motivation to deal with some of my stash, and making my daughter happy:) Please do stop by House of Estrela for the rest of July and see lots of refashioning inspiration.