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Safety Notice: Handmade items made from this pattern may contain small parts or long cords that pose choking or strangulation risks. Not suitable for children under 3 years. Please see the full safety disclaimer at sewmag.co.uk/safety.
We're probably all guilty of keeping old items of clothing stored away which we know we'll never wear again. Perhaps we've just grown bored of them, or maybe they're looking a bit faded and tired? Either way, these forgotten garments are the perfect basis for trying something new – like this upcycled denim skirt from Sew designer Vicky Taylor. With exposed seams and a contrast coloured band, this skirt looks great whether dressed up or down, and being made from an old pair of jeans it won't cost you anything to create either!
Denim Skirt
Cut the legs off the jeans. To do this, draw a line with tailor’s chalk (slightly curved to coordinate with your waistband) across the front of the jeans from side to side below the crotch, making sure that it doesn’t intercept the pockets at any point (they need to be kept intact).
Cut out the parts for your skirt. Cut across the line with a pair of sharp dressmaker’s scissors. You should now have three parts – two leg pieces and one pair of ‘shorts’. Turn your ‘shorts’ upside down so that the waistband is facing towards you and, using a seam ripper and working from the centre point of the crotch outwards, start unpicking the seam. You will need to work upwards from the centre point in both directions: first up the front of the jeans towards the zip; and then up the back towards the waistband (only unpick about half of the each seam). This will take a while in most cases, as jeans are usually twin-stitched, but persevere!
Unpick the inside leg seams until all of the internally connecting stitching is removed and you are left with an open bottomed ‘skirt’ shape. Remove any scrap cotton, and fold one front flap (created when you unpicked the leg seams) over the other. Pin the flaps into place (slightly overlapping), and repeat with the back flap so that they also overlap each other, to form a more ‘regular’ A-line skirt shape. Working along the same lines as the original stitches, sew the overlapping front flaps together. Repeat for the back, and set this section aside for later.
Separate the strips. Lay out one of the leg pieces and, using a ruler and dressmaker’s chalk, draw lines along the entire length of the leg to separate it into four equal strips. Our sample skirt was constructed using one leg piece but if you would prefer a longer version, repeat this step on the second leg to create eight equally sized strips.
Make your first lower panel. Place two of your lengthways strips together (wrong sides facing) and using a straight machine stitch, sew along one short edge to make a loop, making sure to work slightly diagonally rather than parallel to the edge of the pieces – sewing at a ten degree angle will produce a slightly A-line shape when the skirt is finished. With wrong sides out, match the seam you just created with the side seam of your skirt and pin all the way round (on denim the seam allowance should be on show once finished).
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