From Shirt to Skirt!

I have a lot of fabric, I do....  I had a bunch of clothes to donate and as I was placing them in the car, I noticed this lime green shirt of mine.  I really admire this color-but not the shirt!   I know my DD likes this color, too.
So with all my fabric, I just had to repurpose this shirt!  Why?  I don't know?  I knew it would be a fast and rewarding project, done just in time for my DH and DD returning from a school trip to the Grand Canyon.  Yes, they have been gone for a couple of days and projects have been flying out of my sewing room! (well, not really, but you get the picture) 
Here is the wrinkled shirt I took from the donation pile.  It is a ladies size small.


I saw a summer skirt for my DD, who I have been missing!  I miss DH, too!
I cut the shirt just below the pockets!


Next I cut the rest of the fabric just under the arms.











After ironing the seam toward the top of the skirt, it should look something like this!





Ahhhh, starting to look like a skirt!  I then serged the very top, again making sure to line-up the button seams,  I placed some pins to hold it while I serged.   If you look carefully, you can see my serged top of the skirt.



A
t this point, I turned the skirt inside out and folded the top down 3/4" of an inch.  I sewed this all around the waistline making a casing.  Remember to leave an 1 inch or so, open so you can insert elastic.  I used 1/2" elastic and used my DD's waist size (which is 25") to cut that size of elastic.  Insert the elastic and sew the casing shut!





I think it looks good enough to wear at this point, but the girl in me thought to embellish it further.  I decided a scarf belt and a flower appliqué would be perfect!  I just LOVE this fabric!  It is Amy Butler "Daisy Chain".   I purchased it from fabric.com.

http://www.fabric.com/ProductDetail.aspx?ProductID=85419a74-2c0f-44b2-a562-0ac4e7ed49b8

I also appliquéd with my embroidery machine, my fav and quickie, flower appliqué.

http://lynniepinnie.com/shop/embroidery-designs/applique-quick-flower-4x4-5x7-6x10/prod_5.html

Here is my DD's "new and green"(LOL) skirt!


I sewed the bottom button onto the skirt catching all the laye
rs to hold the skirt closed.  It also makes the buttons look more uniform!  (You could do a buttonhole first and then sew the button, but why?)

The decorative part of this skirt is endless!  This took about 70 minutes from start to finish!  Does that include cleaning up the sewing room before DD and DH return home?  No, but I guess I have to.  I can't leave it messy because then they will "know" I had way too much fun while they were gone!

I am cleaning up now and closing shop.  I am missing the sounds of my family around, but I hear in the background my sewing machines purring and missing me.....  ;(