In January I wrote I was going to enter into the Australian Sewing Guild Castaway to Couture competition well.. I finished it yesterday!!
So to recap I started with an old pair of slacks and a velveteen skirt. Both items hadn’t been worn in years. The pants had actually been put in the op shop bag (but I never got there) the skirt I culled after finding some of the pile was coming away from the bottom. I’ve always wanted to do a pants and skirt combined item. I like the style of using the waistband of jeans and combining it with fabric to make a skirt. This is the same concept but using items of clothing which I had on hand.
I did this very basic. I cut the legs off the pants from the crotch area down. I didn’t have to do anything to the waistband except overlock around the edges so it wouldn’t fray. For the skirt I cut off the top and bottom areas off leaving a length that I was happy with. Again I overlocked around the top of the skirt to prevent fraying. I combined the two pieces sewing into one. For the hem of the skirt I decided to use the side seam from the pant legs I cut. I used it like pre-made binding stitching the lengths together to form one strip. I machine stitched it one side and then folded it over and hand slip stitched it to the other side. The navy skirt needed that little bit of detail on it to make it match the top half otherwise it would’ve looked too “I’ve just combined 2 items of clothing”
The back of the skirt I had originally sewn on the front. I decided to cut a peephole in the fabric to give leg movement but when it was on the front it was too high when you sat down. I unpicked it and moved it to the back. It is comfortable to wear and when you sit down you still have leg room but you’re not sitting there trying to keep your skirt together.
So this is my entry. If you are able to I would ask if you could please vote for me. I had fun doing this. It was a good experiment. I got to try an idea I’ve wanted to do for a long time. It made me think. Upcycling clothing and giving new life to existing items is a concept I really like doing. Now that I’ve done it once I’m going to be on the lookout for items that I can do it again too.
Cassiy
