Whee!  My closet just got three new additions for the low, low price of $0.

No, I didn’t shoplift.   I re-fashioned several items that had been sitting in my box of “clothes to refashion” for over a year.  Let’s hear it for stashbusting!

New visitors, here’s a quick overview of how and why I refashion:

Over 1 year ago, I decided to try and cut back on the amount of clothes I was buying.  Not only for the sake of my wallet, but because I was learning more and more about the horrible  labor conditions in so many overseas factory.   It’s hard to find affordable “fair trade” clothes.  Since I had a sewing machine, and a bunch of clothes that I never wore, I decided to turn them into clothes I would wear.   Worst case, if it was a disaster, I’d have only lost a piece of clothing that I didn’t love wearing anyway.  So far it’s worked out well.

This month’s victims: one overpriced sundress from Express in the year 2000, two too-short skirts from Old Navy last spring, and one mid-calf length J Crew skirt from a thrift store (purchased because I knew it had potential).

Here’s the first of the three projects:  the Old Navy combo.

I purchsed the two Old Navy skirts on a whim last spring.  Caught up in the low prices, I forgot to follow my no-sweatshop rule.  After wearing them around a little, I realized that they were too short for me – it felt like my butt was hanging out.  So I decided to make the most of the situation, creating one skirt from two.

After doing some measuring, I cut off the bottom 4″ of the yellow skirt.  (It wasn’t a perfectly straight cut, so I of  course trimmed it up before moving on.)

Next I had to add that yellow strip to the gray skirt.

Here’s my trick for effectively pinning fabrics in place: Use iron-on hem tape to hold the seams together before running them through the machine.  It’s a lot more stable than just pinning, and then I don’t have to worry about pulling pins out as I sew.   Below you’ll see that I used skinny hem tape – 1/4″ wide – because I was sewing over it, I didn’t need more than that.

Here’s what it looked like after the application of both hem tape and pins:

I ran that baby through the sewing machine and voila:  a longer-but-still-fun-and-flirty casual skirt.

I can wear this around town with flip-flops and a tank on weekends, and look so much more creative than if I wore shorts or jeans.  In the spring, summer, and fall, I like to sashay around in dresses and skirts.  They’re more comfy than shorts (especially the miniscule ones that all the kids are wearing now).  Heck, I even have a paint-splattered sundress that I like to wear when doing projects!

Next up?  Using remnants from the yellow skirt to turn that overpriced Express sundress into another fun skirt.

Here’s what I did:

I cut the dress in half, giving me a nice tubular but flared “skirt” to work with:

Hmm.  The skirt definitely needs a waistband.  Enter the remanant of the yellow skirt.   I cut the elastic waistband off the yellow skirt, leaving a little extra flared  fabric below the waistband.  Because that extra fabric was flared, it would create a great little ruffle beneath the waistband.  I turned up the edges of the flared fabric, using my iron and some more hem tape to seal the hem.  Then I ran  that hem through the sewing machine for added durability.

I then sewed the yellow waistband onto the green floral skirt, getting so excited about my idea that I forgot to take pictures of the process.  Then I removed the pocket from the yellow skirt, and sewed that onto the front of the new floral skirt just to add some more fun detail.  (I used the iron-on hem tape to securely position the pocket on the fabric before running it through the sewing machine.

The result?  A very fun, whimsical, and totally unique summer skirt.

Don’t you just love the ruffle detail below the waistband?

As for the final gray J. Crew skirt – all I did was cut off a few inches and hem it. This skirt is more ideal for fall and spring, and will look excellent with boots and tights in the winter months as well.  I wish I’d done it sooner!

So that’s how I got three new skirts for just 2 hours’ work.  I love my new additions to my wardrobe!

Have you ever refashioned anything?  If not, what’s stopping you?

PS:  You can still enter the 2011 Redneck Yard of the Year contest for a chance to win a $25 Home Depot gift card!

I’m going to share this project here:   The Penny Pinching Party at The Thrifty Home;  Show and Tell at Blue Cricket Design;  We Did It Wednesday at Sew Much Ado;   What’s Up Wednesdays at Sew Woodsy;  Whatever Goes Wednesday at Someday Crafts.