Pants-to-Flouncy Skirt!

Dear pants:

Why be pants, when you could be a skirt??

A very sweet lady at church gave me these pants a few days ago thinking maybe I could make something out of them. (I love it when that happens!!)

They were what I like to call a "mature" style, very loose-fitting, and high-waisted. Not to mention about 4" too short for my legs!

(flattering, no?)

But I rescued them, and turned them into a frilly, feminine skirt! My favorite!!

I especially love it peeking out from under a nice pink trench coat. But, then, what doesn't look good under a pink trench??

To make your own, you'll need a pair of old pants that are your size. Cut the top of them off, just before the crotch (yikes, is there another word for that out there??). This will become "piece A"

Step 2: Using the tops of the legs, cut as much length as you need to achieve your desired skirt length, once added to the top piece, plus a couple more inches for seam allowances.

3: Cut each of the two leg pieces along one of the side seams and trim them to make sure they will be the same width as the bottom of piece A.

4: Lay them flat, on top of each other, with right sides together. Pin the sides, and sew together to make a tube. ("piece B")

5: Then slip piece B over piece A (right sides facing each other), and pin together. Be sure that the side of piece B that you're pinning to piece A is the side that matches. Sew together.

6: Measure all the way around your skirt where piece A meets piece B. Double the measurement, and cut three 5" wide strips of coordinating fabric.

7: Hem one side of each strip. Then sew a long strait stitch on the other side of each strip, and pull the top thread to gather.

8: Arrange your gathers to make sure that your strips are the right length to go around your skirt.

9: Then sew the two ends of each of your ruffled strips to make three circles.

10: Pin your first circle upside-down right along the seam where piece A meets piece B.

11: Once the first ruffle strip is sewn on, position the next one just underneath, so that the hemmed edge is lined up with the gathered edge of the first ruffle.

12: Repeat last step for the third ruffle, and hem the bottom of piece B.

Have fun flouncing around!