I am soooo excited about this project!! I really suck at sewing. My sewing machine completely freaks me out. I get way stressed when I think about threading a bobbin, and a gather stitch??? Forget it. Nuh – uh. Well guess what… I threaded my bobbin and turned an old T-shirt of hubby’s into a skirt, and used a gathering stitch in the process.
Here is how I did it…
Supplies:
- Old T-shirt with a circumference 1/3 larger than your measured waist
- Sewing machine with thread matching your fabric
- 3 inch elastic band (I got mine from an old pair of thrift store leggins)
- Fabric pencil
- Straight edge
- Fabric scissors
Instructions:
- Lay your t-shirt out and smooth it, making sure the bottom edges are lined up.
- With your fabric pencil, draw a straight line horizontally across the T-shirt just beneath the armpits.
- Now cut across the line with your fabric scissors.
- 1/4 inch from the top of T-shirt segment you just cut, sew a gathering stitch (long straight stitch with low tension), leaving long thread tails. Stitch again 1/2 inch from the top edge (so 1/4 inch below the line you just stitched).
- Now for the waistband… Mine was already stitched at the edges since I cut it off of a pair of leggins. {If yours is not, wrap it around your waist and mark where it feels snug (but not girdle snug), then mark 1 1/4 inch past that to account for seam allowance of 5/8 inch along both sides. Align the ends and stitch, then stitch again 1/4 inch from the first stitch. Zig zag finish the raw edges.}
- Right sides facing up: Now position your waistband lower edge 5/8″ past the upper edge of the skirt and pin.
- Gently pull the lower thread tails to gather the upper edge of the skirt until it is the same circumference of the waistband. Pin the heck out of it.
- From the wrong side of the skirt, zig zag stitch over the gathering stitch through the band and skirt.
Then you are done. Wear that bad boy out on the town. I can’t believe it is 50° here in the middle of December. I think that, mixed with the sunshine, contributed to my sudden urge to make a skirt. Thanks for following along. Let me know if you have questions.
