Upcycle a Shirt into a Sassy Skirt

The refashioning queen, Chinelo Bally, shows us how to turn a men’s shirt into a sassy skirt. This upcycling project is easy and quick, and just what you need to completely reuse and rework a boring shirt into a brand new skirt. The Sewing Bee fashionista, Chinelo, told Sew Magazine: "One of the things I love doing the most is transforming the old into the new and my husband’s wardrobe often pays the price; ladies, this can be sweet revenge! I love these ﬁt and frill skirts that adorn the trendy high street shops at the moment; there’s something quite romantic about these that just make me feel like all is well with the world."

Essentials

Large men’s shirt

Dimensions List

Custom sized - Make sure you take accurate measurements before you begin

Stitch a Flirty Frilly Skirt

Take your waist and hip measurements. Press the shirt, lay it flat on your worktop, measure the desired length of the skirt and mark this length at intervals from the lowest point of the shirt’s hem. Draw a straight line that joins the marks, then cut through the shirt. Lay the top section aside; you will need this for the belt and frills.
Fold the shirt in half so that the side seams meet and the centre back and centre front are opposite each other. Press, then line the centre back up with the centre front of the shirt.
Quarter your waist measurement, add 3.75cm and mark this along the top edge, starting from the centre folds (horizontally). Quarter your hip measurement and add 1.3cm. Mark this 22.5cm below the top edge, from the centre front and back folds. Along the hem, mark the same measurement you used for the hip. Freehand a curve that joins up all these marks. Then cut along the line.
Fold the skirt 10cm in from the centre folds, and press a definite crease through all the layers. On the left side of all four crease lines, draw a dart that is 1.3cm deep and 20cm long. Sew these darts and press the excess towards the side seams. Hem the waist seam of the skirt with a narrow double hem.
Cut the sleeves off and pin them at the side seams of the front of the skirt. Place the back skirt piece with the right sides facing and stitch the side seams with a 1.3cm allowance. For the frills, use the rest of the shirt to cut out as many 10cm wide strips as possible. Sew these together to create one long piece; this should be at least twice the length of the skirt’s hem.
Hem one end of the strip, creating a rolled hem on an overlocker, if desired. Sew a gathering stitch on the unfinished edge and gather to fit. Stitch the strip to the skirt.