What Is Better Than A Free Skirt? One That Actually Fits!

I don't claim to be a seamstress. I don't make clothes, but I do know how to sew a bit.

My sewing machine is bottom of the line, mostly I use it for craft sewing... actually when I bought it I mainly wanted a sewing machine for scrapbooking!

I made some extender slips for Molly a while ago and borrowed her machine for it. It's a nice machine. I recently gave it back and wanted to get a couple of projects done first.

This is the first one...

The story with this skirt... I got it for free at this clothing trade we did at our church a few years back.

It's a couple of sizes too big. I've worn it a couple of times anyway, just letting it fall to my lower waist. I don't think this is 1- how this skirt should be worn and 2- a very flattering length.

So... hacked it! I made some adjustments in my non-professional way!

Here is how the skirt was fitting vs. how I think it should look.

It's a little too big. But don't you just love that fabric? So cute right. Obvi you could see why I would want to keep it!

The back of the skirt had 2 darts with pleats. It was the natural choice to splice in there.

This is the rear of the skirt. I pinned where I wanted to bring it in on both sides.

I unpicked the ribbon that runs along the waistband, figured I could cut in, sew and cover back up with this ribbon.

I went ahead and cut out the excess fabric that wasn't needed. There were a lot of layers, lining... it was a task! This is a well-made skirt!

Next I overlapped the two spliced pieces, following the pleat that is already there. I sewed it up!

Next I took that ribbon and covered the splicing, it worked nicely. I folded the ribbon over so it wouldn't fray, then I sewed the ribbon into place, which you can see if you look real close. I went vertically over it to hold in place.