Upcycle shirt to skirt

inside: Turn and adult shirt into a cute kids skirt in this cute upcycle. The larger the shirt the bigger the skirt you can create. Simple sewing tutorial to create a cute skirt.

I love a good upcycle! Turning something into something else, there is great satisfaction in this process {at least for me!} Today I’ve got a fun upcycle shirt to skirt project to show you. Grab a cute shirt you don’t wear anymore and let’s turn it into something new and fun.

Upcycle shirt to skirt tutorial

A womens shirt with make a girls skirt and a larger mens shirt would make small womens skirt. This is a shirt I no longer wore and I turned it into a skirt for Rose. I want to head to the thrift store to get a mens shirt to make myself a skirt soon!

One of my favorite upcycles of all time is turning sweaters into kids clothes.. you can find the sweaters to kids clothes details here.

I was able to add two large pockets to the front of this skirt from the sleeves for another fun detail on this skirt. You can try to match the plaid, but I intentionally didn’t match the pockets.

This skirt is fun in flannel for winter with leggings/tights and a sweater, but it would also look great in a spring/summer skirt with a lighter print shirt… I see sewing more of these in my future for sure.

Other skirt tutorials to try

• Shirred Elastic Skirt
• Paper Bag Style Skirt
• Tiered Skirt tutorial
• Button front skirt free pattern

How to sew a skirt from a shirt

Alright… enough photos looking at my pretty skirt! Let’s get sewing…. Grab a shirt from your closet or head to your local thrift store.

I wanted to cut the shirt right under the arms for skirt length and the pocket was in the way. I began by picking off the shirt pocket.

After the pocket was removed I cut the shirt right under the arms. The skirt will be the length you cut the shirt, with about 1″ subtracted for the elastic casing.

I cut two large square pockets from the sleeves.

Now you should have the cut off shirt, two pockets and elastic cut to the size of the waist you are sewing for.

Prepare the pockets by finishing all four edges with a serger or zig-zag stitch. Then fold back a small allowance on three sides and 3/4″ on the top edge for the top hem. Stitch the top hem of the pocket.

Finish the top raw edge of the cut shirt, and then fold over a casing for the elastic. My elastic is 1″ so my casing is about 1.25″, if you are using wider or thinner elastic, adjust the casing to fit.

Sew the casing, leaving a opening to thread the elastic through.

Thread the elastic through the casing, then overlap the elastic ends and sew to attach together. Stitch the casing hole open.

Now the skirt is finished! If you want to add pockets you will add them now. NOTE: you may want to add the pockets before threading the elastic. Once the elastic had gathered the top of the skirt it may be harder to add pockets.

Pin the pockets on the skirt. I centered my pockets on the front panels. Pin and sew the sides and the bottoms of the pockets to attach to the skirt.

And you did it! A super fun skirt for your little one to wear. I’m sure I’ll be sharing more versions of this skirt soon. You can see that the pockets match each other, but I did not match them to the pattern on the skirt.