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easy way to turn old dress pants that are too small into a custom fit high-waisted pencil skirt
i held on to these pants for so long even though i outgrew them because i loved the color of this plaid.
i found the skirt easier to make using plaid pants because it was like little lines already there to help me sew straight.
the pictures are from my second attempt which went a lot smoother because i had a better hold on what i was doing.

Posted by Kaylaa from Mississauga, Ontario, Canada • Published 13th March 2010 • See Kaylaa's 7 projects »

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Step 1
first, hold your pants up to your waistat about the the place you want them to sit at. measure and cut the pant legs a few inches longer than the length you want the skirt
Step 2
then cut up the inner seams of the legs
Step 3
cut all the way through the back seam along the bum, but leave the front intact so you can still use the zipper for your skirt.
Step 4
now sew straight down the front of the pants to form the front of the skirt
*do NOT cut those two flaps at the side that look funny and look like you wont need. i did the first time and i ended up having not enough material for the back of the skirt.
you will sew and trim those later.
Step 5
*you may want someone to help you with this step.
hold the skirt around your waist and either mark or pin how tight you need it to be.
sew the back side together about 4-6 inches down
Step 6
pull the remaining flaps in so the sides of the skirt look straight
(you might want to pin and try on to see if this fits your bum okay)
mark off where you need to sew with chalk and sew piece together as usual, cutting off excess fabric after you're finishd
Step 7
try skirt on and gauge how much you want to hem the skirt up to make it the exact length you want.
(note: i left the back of my skirt long than the front because my bum tends to make it go shorter in the back, adjust as you need)
Step 8
and voila, you have your skirt

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Comments

Alyssa G. · 1 project 23rd September 2012

I was so happy to find this how to, I had a pair of pants that I needed to turn into a skirt for a costume that I was working on, I used this how to and the skirt came out PERFECT! ^_^ Thank you so much for posting this.

n173 7th August 2012

hi, i see how old this is so i wonder if i'm too late to ask a question! i'm new here and just joined thanks to your awesome tutorial. the thing is this is the ONLY pants-to-skirt tutorial i've found on the internet that has a very, very presentable result. it's completely neat. i wanna know if anyone got the same kind of finish and fit with using an old pair of jeans????? none of the "jeans-to-skirt" transformations i've seen are anywhere NEAR as good, and i have a strong suspicion only pants can produce such a fine result. anyone???

Sweet C. · Santiago, Santiago Metropolitan Region, CL · 5 projects 19th April 2011

loooooved the idea!!! but I'm still stuck in step 4... I can't get the sew it straight because on the zipper I get like a small bag i can´t make disappear and looks horrible!

is it because i'm using an old pair of denim jeans maybe?

Dorine C. · Cardiff, Wales, GB · 3 projects 19th August 2010

Very inspiring!

CO + K User

August 13th, 2010

thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou!!!
i love pencil skirts and have this old pair of jeans in my closet that i just couldnt bear to throw out!XD