I get the feeling today’s refashion is going to be one of those, “Huh…it’s interesting, but I would never wear it” ones. 😉
But maybe it won’t be!
For me, part of the fun in refashioning is designing looks that are completely atypical of what I see hanging on the racks in stores. I enjoy being unique and standing out a little.
When I found these eggplant-colored men’s dress pants on the $1 clearance rack at the thrift store, I got pretty excited.
Usually, the men’s pants I find there are varying shades of grey (probably not fifty, but maybe like 45-ish).
Originally, I planned on turning these pants into a pair of high-waisted women’s pants but then changed my mind (as I am wont to do).
After playing with the fabric a little, I decided to turn these men’s pants into a daring & dare I say it? Avant-Garde skirt!
You know…the sort of thing I would wear to an art opening. Or…the grocery store.
In order to prep my new pants for skirtification, I first needed to open up those pants legs with my seam ripper.
See that red ball on the end? It actually has a function!
For sturdy fabrics, like the one I’m working with today, you can just insert the seam ripper into the seam with ball side facing in, and rrrrrrrrrip straight up the seam!
This made opening the legs and crotch of my thrifted pants a much faster process than just pick…pick…picking would have been.
I laid my opened-up pants on their side, flat on my cutting table, and marked a gently sloping line with my french curve and chalk.
I would love to tell you I had a specific methodology behind this part, but I didn’t. I just sort of freehanded how I thought I’d want my skirt to slope in the front and back.
With both sides (front and back) marked, I added pins along the chalked line, then put my skirt on my dress form inside-out to fit it a little more.
Oh…did I mention I’m turning the top of the pants into the bottom of the skirt? Madness, eh?
I stitched the new front and back of my skirt down.
Then, I cut off the excess fabric with my pinking shears.
Since the pants were flipped upside-down, I had to secure each of the pockets so they wouldn’t flop out.
I sewed each pocket closed.
Then, I snipped each pocket out.
Now I needed to figure out the top of my new skirt.
I had originally intended to give it a back zipper, but didn’t end up having enough fabric for this. So, I simply opted for an elastic waist.
I had to snip off a little fabric from the top in order to leave me enough room to get in and out of it (without sacrificing too much length).
Then, I folded the top over and pinned it. This is going to be the casing for my elastic.
I stitched my new waistband down, leaving a small gap to thread the elastic through…
…then ironed it down as well.
I pulled out a length of elastic that I wrapped around my waist, making sure it was snug (but not too snug) and trimmed to size.
I grabbed my bodkin and threaded it with the elastic.
Note: If you don’t have a bodkin, a safety pin works too!
Then I pushed the elastic through its casing to the other side.
I stitched the ends of the elastic together.
After I stitched the small gap I left for the elastic to be threaded through down, I was all done!
I know…this refashion is a little odd, but I really like it!
I mean, it’s definitely different.
…but that’s what I like about it!
Here’s what it looks like from the back.
I styled my new skirt with a few fun gold accessories.
I would be remiss if I didn’t call your attention to these fabulous boots I treated myself to as an end of chemo/Christmas gift.
They’re the Ara Vintage-Style Chelsea Boot by Fluevog and they’re amazing.
But…back to the skirt!
You can see I left the original fly undone for easier walkability.
- Here’s a similar men’s pants-to-skirt refashion I did a loooong time ago with a matching obi belt!
- Did you know you can also turn a jumpsuit into a dress?
- And here’s a more mainstream pants-to-skirt refashion from a pair of silk cargo pants.
I hope you enjoyed following along with this slightly-odd refashion! Maybe it’s inspired you to try something a little different yourself? Maybe?
Cheers!
