Butterfly Skirt from Thrift Store Mumu

I made this cute butterfly skirt from a giant sized sundress I found at the thrift store. The cloth was cute and in good shape, there was plenty of fabric due to the large size, and it only cost a few dollars.

Making the skirt only calls for making two cuts, sewing one side seam, making a casing and inserting one piece of elastic.

I cut off the bodice of the sun dress below the arm holes, leaving a good length of cloth for the skirt, since my daughter wanted it long. At this point you have a skirt basically already -  complete with side seams already sewn and the bottom already hemmed. If I made a casing and inserted elastic in the waist right now, the skirt would be much too thick and bunchy at the waist for my tiny-waisted daughter. The skirt needs to be trimmed down a bit for a better fit.

I took her hip measurement and added two inches - this will be the width of the skirt at the waist (the waist measurement).  Starting at one side seam with your skirt inside out and folded at the side seams, measure out half your waist measurement at the waist of your cloth. (Half because the cloth already has two side seams sewn and is folded.)  Mark the waist seam measurement on the cloth.


Now fold the cloth length wise again from the center of the new waist measurement. You should have four thicknesses of cloth. The center fold comes down perpendicular from the waist. Cut off the excess fabric on one side, using the angle of the overlapping side seam you are keeping as a guide. This is necessary to keep the line of your skirt the same angles on both sides so it will hang straight.

You now have a skirt that needs a waist casing and one side seam sewn. Since side seams are sewn before hem seams, pick out a little of the hem at your raw side seam, sew the side seam, and fix the hem back at this spot by hand.

Next I took some 3/4 inch wide elastic and fit it loosely around my daughters waist letting it overlap about an inch on each side. Make sure the elastic can stretch over the hips. If it looks like a good fit, cut the elastic at this mark.  With the skirt right side out, fold down (right sides together) one inch from the waist and iron, fold this down again and iron and pin it. You have made a casing for the elastic. Top stitch around the bottom of this casing leaving a few inches open at one side seam. Insert the elastic through this opening. Over lap the elastic short edges and sew. Finish top stiching the part of the casing you left open.

Done!


P.S. If you don't like the look of the wrong side of the fabric for your waist band, then fold it to the inside instead. Waist bands usually look better if they are folded and top stitched as I described.