I had this dress that I really loved, but it was a little short. Washing it repeatedly (even in cold water! even air drying!) made it even shorter. I started to feel uncomfortable at work sitting because it would ride up so much — but I just loved the graphic print!! So, I cut it right under the armhole and made a skirt out of it:
(excuse the dreadful work bathroom shot! I’m more interested in making stuff than getting glamour shots, truth be told!)
This is not the first time I’ve done something like this — making a dress into a skirt has been a trick I’ve used throughout the years to transform dresses I’ve deemed unwearable for various reasons into something I can use. What is different is the process I used to put in the waistband. Usually I just made an elastic waist casing in the bulky, not very attractive way. This time, though, I used this ingenious methodย as explained by Nancy Zieman. So easy! So flat! So attractive! I was even able to do it completely by hand. I wish I had learned this technique years ago.
This method has me thinking about not only saving dresses, but drafting all kinds of original skirts from knits, and putting in these nice, flat, comfy waistbands. Thank you, Nancy!