Whether you purchase a second-hand skirt because you love the fabric or you have a skirt in your closet that you no longer wear but adore the fabric, there are some very simple steps you can take to disassemble a skirt and repurpose it.  Learning how to take apart a skirt is easy and you really only need 2 weapons tools – a seam ripper and a pair of very sharp sewing scissors.

What can you make with old skirts?  The cloth napkins we used for our Thanksgiving dinner were made from an old Ralph Lauren skirt I no longer wore and the winter cape I sewed for my daughter is made from 2 second-hand prom dresses.  This skirt is being sewn into a fall/winter table covering.

Follow these easy steps to start your own skirt re-purposing project

This is a skirt I purchased at “The Bins” and has a gorgeous design to it and a very soft hand (meaning the way it feels to touch the fabric).  The fabric is in excellent condition and is a large size so there’s plenty of fabric me to work with.

If the skirt is lined, remove the lining by clipping it very close to the waist band with scissors.  Next, turn the skirt inside out and look at how it is sewn together.  At the seams, start by unstitching the hem.

Using your seam ripper, remove the seam binding at the hem.

Then, using your seam ripper again, open the side seams.  (You may need to use your scissors to get started opening the seam.)  Start at the bottom and get the seam started and then just push all the way up the skirt.  Once the stitches are started being removed, you can move quickly up the seam.

Next, remove any pockets and waistbands.  Look at all the fabric I have to work with!  This skirt maybe cost $1 and there’s lots of fabric.

Before sewing with the fabric, make sure you press it with a very hot iron to flatten any seams and remove any small holes left from the stitches you just removed.

Here are my scraps.

By using an old garment you no longer wear or purchasing a skirt second-hand to re-use the fabric, you’ll save on both money and resources.  Skirts are a great item to re-purpose because they have lots of fabric to them.  Give it a try…it’s very Go Gingham!

If you’ve purchased the skirt used, I recommend cleaning it first.  This skirt is 100% wool and I washed it in my washing machine, on the cold water setting.  I hung it to dry and pressed it with a hot iron before taking it apart.  Make sure you clean fabric before sewing with it in the same way that you’ll clean it after you’ve sewn with it.  Shrinking may occur with cleaning and you want that to happen before you sew your project.