I am going to take these two pairs of pants that no longer fit my daughter, and make them into a long skirt for her. I chose these two because they are of similar weight and the colors match. You can use two pairs of blue jeans that are too short or too tight in the waist, if as a skirt the waist can slide up a bit and fit just fine.
I will use all of one pants and part of the other. I will use the entire pair of the solid colored pants for the skirt top and sides, and the striped pants will provide a panel to fill in the front and back of the skirt. (If you are making a shorter skirt you would only need one pair of pants and you would cut off it’s legs a foot or so to fill in the panel.) The top part of the second pair of pants that will be left over can also be used to make another skirt by sewing a length of cloth in place of the legs.
Lay your pant leg out flat inside out so you can see the inside seam (the inseam). It is a waste of time to use a seam ripper to rip this seam, so we are just going to cut the seam right off! Start at the bottom of one leg. Cut up the inseam, cutting off the seam all the way up across the crotch and back down the other pant leg. This opens up the pants. If you put them on now they look like a skirt with a triangular piece missing from the front and back. We will us the lower part of the pant legs of the other ( striped ) pair of pants to fill in this triangle. The cat is not really necessary for the work, although she thinks she is helpful!
What the inseam looks like as you are cutting it off.
With the inseam cut out you can see how the top part of the pants flares out to form the crotch. This has to be removed to make the front of the skirt flat. My fingers are holding the seam that you will rip out part way. You can see the cut edges of the inseam I just cut out below my fingers.
With a seam ripper, rip the curved part of the crotch seam out up to the part where the seam straightens out, usually just below the zipper on the front.
The crotch seam ripped up to the point it stops curving and straightens out. This is a picture of the back of the pants.
The crotch part of the pants will be cut out. Use a ruler to cut it even with the straight part of the seam you left unripped above the crotch. With right sides together sew these cut edges together to continue the unripped seam down to 5/8 of an inch from the point of the triangular opening you have created for the front of your skirt. (If you sew all the way to the end it will be hard to fit in your panel.) In the picture below, this has been done.
Here is the finished skirt! The white eyelet lace I happened to have and added to the bottom of the whole skirt unified the two pieces beautifully.
Lay your pant leg out flat inside out so you can see the inside seam (the inseam). It is a waste of time to use a seam ripper to rip this seam, so we are just going to cut the seam right off! Start at the bottom of one leg. Cut up the inseam, cutting off the seam all the way up across the crotch and back down the other pant leg. This opens up the pants. If you put them on now they look like a skirt with a triangular piece missing from the front and back. We will us the lower part of the pant legs of the other ( striped ) pair of pants to fill in this triangle. The cat is not really necessary for the work, although she thinks she is helpful!
What the inseam looks like as you are cutting it off.
With the inseam cut out you can see how the top part of the pants flares out to form the crotch. This has to be removed to make the front of the skirt flat. My fingers are holding the seam that you will rip out part way. You can see the cut edges of the inseam I just cut out below my fingers.
With a seam ripper, rip the curved part of the crotch seam out up to the part where the seam straightens out, usually just below the zipper on the front.
The crotch seam ripped up to the point it stops curving and straightens out. This is a picture of the back of the pants.
The crotch part of the pants will be cut out. Use a ruler to cut it even with the straight part of the seam you left unripped above the crotch. With right sides together sew these cut edges together to continue the unripped seam down to 5/8 of an inch from the point of the triangular opening you have created for the front of your skirt. (If you sew all the way to the end it will be hard to fit in your panel.) In the picture below, this has been done.
Now you must cut out the inseam, just as you did before, of the second pair of pants. This gives you a nice wide length of cloth to cut from the lower part of each leg. You dont have to mess with the crotch of the second pair of pants unless you want to make another skirt out of it's top part. Of course you could use cloth remnants to do all of the next steps, but I am trying to recycle the two pairs of pants.
Position the opening at the bottom of the skirt that you have created over the folded out lower leg of the second pair of pants (on the wrong side). Pin at the two bottom edges and let the extra fullness puddle in the center (this happens if the pants are flared.) Mark a seam line with chalk.
Cut a seam allowance outside the chalk marks on both sides. Do not cut to a point at top because this will make it hard to sew up there. Leave a length of cloth a few inches long above the point of the triangle. You will trim this extra bit off later.
Pin in opening right sides together and sew seams. Start at the bottom of one side. Sew up to the point, right up to your top piece's seam, pivot, and sew down the other side. Take your time at the point and it will lay nice a flat when you are done.
Press the seams flat toward the upper part of the skirt. On the right side, top stitch two parallel lines over this seam, pivoting at the point, as shown below.
The finished seams on the front of the skirt matching the flat felled seams of the original pants. I pinked the seam after this to keep them from raveling later. Repeat all the steps for inserting another panel for the back of the skirt. The whole skirt only took me a few hours to do.
Position the opening at the bottom of the skirt that you have created over the folded out lower leg of the second pair of pants (on the wrong side). Pin at the two bottom edges and let the extra fullness puddle in the center (this happens if the pants are flared.) Mark a seam line with chalk.
Cut a seam allowance outside the chalk marks on both sides. Do not cut to a point at top because this will make it hard to sew up there. Leave a length of cloth a few inches long above the point of the triangle. You will trim this extra bit off later.
Pin in opening right sides together and sew seams. Start at the bottom of one side. Sew up to the point, right up to your top piece's seam, pivot, and sew down the other side. Take your time at the point and it will lay nice a flat when you are done.
Press the seams flat toward the upper part of the skirt. On the right side, top stitch two parallel lines over this seam, pivoting at the point, as shown below.
The finished seams on the front of the skirt matching the flat felled seams of the original pants. I pinked the seam after this to keep them from raveling later. Repeat all the steps for inserting another panel for the back of the skirt. The whole skirt only took me a few hours to do.
Here is the finished skirt! The white eyelet lace I happened to have and added to the bottom of the whole skirt unified the two pieces beautifully.
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