Guest Post from Jennifer at Monkey See, Monkey Do!

Hi! My name is Jennifer and I'm visiting today from Monkey See, Monkey Do! I love to do all kinds of projects like sewing, crafting, painting and jewelry making. Stop by and check out some of my tutorials if you have a chance!

My blog's main focus is frugal crafting, meaning I try to use materials I have or can cheaply acquire. I've been doing a lot of sewing projects using repurposed or "upcycled" t-shirts. Today I'm going to share a new one with all of you at Couturier Mommy!

I made this skirt out of two t-shirts. They were both a pale green color--not my favorite but this was an experiment that turned out well. I used a piece of stretch jersey (5% spandex) for the waistband.

I used these two shirts. The second one is my Cleveland Half Marathon shirt. I was sad to cut it up but it had some fading by the neck, so I decided to give in and cut it because it matched this one:

I took a picture of it for nostalgia's sake. I can move on now!

First, I cut the fabric for the ruffle. I made my ruffle 4" wide and without any hemming on either side. I don't really love hemming, and jersey fabric won't fray!

I cut the skirt from the larger of the two shirts. The waist is large enough to fit around the largest part of my hips with an extra inch for seam allowance. I left the hem of the shirt on the bottom of the skirt. The ruffle will cover it up. I made the skirt A-line by just eyeing it up and cutting a straight line down the edges.

Next, I attached the ruffle around the bottom of the skirt. I pinned it over the hem of the t-shirt.

This picture shows how I tried to 'just cover' the hem so the skirt would be as long as possible (I'm a tall girl!)

To make the flower, I took strips of 1.5" wide t-shirt fabric, gathered it, and then cut a circle the diameter that I wanted the flower embellishment to be. I pinned the first row of ruffle around the edge of the circle.

I started sewing that row and kept sewing in a circle (without pinning). I tried to keep each subsequent row of ruffles close enough to cover the last row's stitching, if that makes sense.

There's the finished flower! I attached it to cover the seam of the ruffle (which ended up in the front and off to the side a bit).

The next step is to make the waistband. I made it a lot tighter than I thought I'd need it (this was an experiment...) but it worked really well. I usually make my yoga skirts to fit my waist minus 3". This time, I made it minus 6" and it is very comfortable, yet secure.

Cut two pieces of your waist's fabric to be 14" tall and then your waist measurement minus 6" (x-6).

Sew up the 14" sides with right sides together using a stretch stitch. Fold the waistband over with wrong sides together.

This next part may be a bit unconventional, but I wanted to only gather the back of the skirt, leaving the front part flat. I gathered the back part just enough so that the fabric diameter of the skirt's waist matched that of the waistband.

Then, I pinned the waistband in place (right sides together).

I used a stretch stitch to attach the waistband to the skirt. This is the outside view.

A stem iron will help to rid the skirt's waistband of wrinkles.

Here's a picture of the finished skirt from the back (waist is folded over).

Here is the front view. I like how the flat front looks.

Hope this tutorial opens up a whole new realm of frugal sewing ideas for your readers, Eva! It's been so fun for me to experiment with 'found' fabrics like "upcycled" t-shirts and other clothing--hopefully someone is inspired by my post! Please visit me and check out my other projects at Monkey See, Monkey Do!