Refashioned Shirt and Patchwork Skirt

SUPPLIES & TOOLS:

• Oversized Button-Up Shirt
• Disappearing Ink Pen
• 2 yds 1/2" Extra Wide Double Fold Bias Tape
• 3-5yds Lightweight Fabric
• 1 1/2" Elastic
• Basic Sewing Supplies

DIRECTIONS:

1. Trim off sleeves and set aside.
2. Try on shirt and pin the sides close to your body.
3. With your disappearing ink pen, draw a line about 3/4" away from the pins on one side of the shirt.
4. Take off the shirt and sew along the drawn line. Double check the fit and then trim off the excess material, leaving a 1/4" seam allowance.
5. Fold shirt in half vertically, matching arm holes, top and bottom edges, and then trace the sewn side edge onto the opposite side.
6. Mark a line 1/4" in from the drawn edge, and sew along that interior line, on the right side of the shirt. (This will be a French seam - a seam that encases the raw edge on the inside of the shirt in a later step.)
7. Trim off excess material at the outer drawn edge.
8. Finish the French seam - turn shirt inside out and press side edges with an iron. Pin sides again and sew with a 1/2" seam allowance.
9. Turn shirt right side out and try on again. With your disappearing ink pen, mark the bottom point of the new arm hole and draw a diagonal line up to the shoulder seam, about an 1" out from the collar seam.
10. Remove shirt and draw another line 3/8" out from your first for your seam allowance, and trim along outer line.
11. On the back, draw a curved line connecting the shoulder to the bottom of the arm hole, and trim. Try on to check for any needed adjustments, and then fold in half vertically and trace on opposite side. Trim.
12. Finish the arm hole edges with bias tape.
13. Cut a piece of bias tape about 1" longer than your entire arm hole edge. Open one folded long edge of bias tape.
14. Fold in one short end of bias tape 1/2" and press with an iron.
15. Pin onto bottom of arm hole, right sides together, matching folded edge to side seam.
16. Match edge of bias tape to edge of arm hole and pin all the way around the arm hole, overlapping the raw short edge over the folded short edge 1/2". Sew along the crease mark.
17. Trim seam allowance to 1/4".
18. Iron bias tape upwards.
19. Turn bias tape to the inside of the shirt and press with iron. Pin in place and sew around the arm hole 1/8" in from the folded edge of the bias tape.
20. Repeat for opposite arm hole.
21. Trim and finish the bottom edge
22. Try shirt on and mark the new bottom edge. Take off shirt and draw a line across the bottom 1 1/2" below the bottom edge mark.
23. Fold bottom edge to the inside 1/2" and press. Fold pressed edge in another 1" and press. Pin and sew hem 1/8" from the folded edge.

1. Measure your waist and make a rectangle template that is the width of your waist, and 19" tall. Fold rectangle template down 2 1/4" along one long edge.
2. Check the length of your top skirt tier against your body by holding the folded edge along your waist and ensuring that the bottom of your template hits about 1/2" below where you'd like the first skirt tier to end.
3. Lengthen or shorten as needed.
4. With your fabric pieces, assemble 5 rectangles (two rectangles for the top tier, three rectangles for the bottom tier). When you piece your fabrics together, finish the interior raw edges with either a French seam as you did with the shirt sides, or an overlocker, or a zigzag stitch.
5. With wrong sides together, match the short edges of two rectangles together and pin. Sew with a 1/4" seam allowance. Turn right sides together and sew sides again with a 1/2" seam allowance.
6. Fold top edge down to the wrong side 1/2" and press with iron. Fold down another 1 3/4" and press with iron and pin. Sew along the folded edge 1/8", leaving a 3" opening at the back.
7. Wrap elastic around your waist and overlap an additional 1", mark the edge. Trim elastic along that mark. Fasten a safety pin along one short edge of the elastic and pull through elastic casing at the top of the skirt. Pull all the way through, overlap ends 1" and sew with a zig zag stitch. Sew the opening on the casing closed.
8. Sew remaining three rectangular pieces short edge to short edge as before to create the bottom tier of the skirt.
9. Sew a basting stitch 3/8" form the top edge, all the way around, leave the thread tails long.
10. Sew another basting stitch 1/4" down from the first basting stitch, all the way around, leave the thread tails long here as well.
11. Pull the thread tails to gather up the material on the top edge of the skirt. Continue to pull the thread, gather the fabric, and slide the gathering along the top edge of the skirt until the width of the top edge of the skirt is the same width as the bottom edge of the top tier. Distribute the gathering evenly and tuck the bottom tier into the top tier, lining up the gathered edge to the bottom edge. Check and see that the wrong side of the top tier is facing the wrong side of the bottom tier (we're creating a French seam, so the seam should be on the right side of the skirt.) Pin in place.
12. Sew 1/2" from the raw edge, all the way around.
13. Trim seam allowance down to 1/4".
14. Fold the bottom tier up and press the seam with your iron. Pin in place and sew again with a 1/2" seam allowance, making your French seam.
15. Remove basting stitches.
16. Try skirt on and check the length before hemming. You want the length to be 1 1/2" longer than the finished skirt.
17. When you're ready to hem, fold the bottom edge to the inside of the skirt 1/2", press with iron.
18. Fold another 1", press with iron, and pin in place. Sew 1/8" in from the folded edge of the hem.

JOANN HACKS:

• Use the front and back pieces of a fitted top pattern and place over top the oversized shirt and trace sides and, if applicable, dart placement.
• Use the cut-off shirt sleeves from in your patchwork skirt.
• Sew vertical lines across the elastic band (sewing over top patchwork seams if possible) to help keep the elastic from twisting.