Tools and Materials:
- Old pants or jeans
- Denim skirt (that fits you perfectly)
- Scissors
- Sewing machine
by Kita Liss
Turn An Old Pair Of Jeans Into A Skirt With This Tutorial
4 Materials
$0
3 Hours
Easy
What do you do when you have a pair of jeans you no longer like to wear? I had a pair like that that I was prepared to donate when I suddenly had the idea to upcycle them instead! I’d been wanting a denim skirt anyway so it really worked out perfectly. I’d never tried anything like this before, but it looked simple enough so I was excited to give it a go!
Tools and Materials
Cut down your jeans for your DIY skirt
Cut down your jeans
The first thing you’re going to do is place your favorite denim skirt flat over the jeans. Then cut the legs, leaving quite a bit of space under where your skirt ends. Remember — you can always cut down more later, but you can’t add more fabric. We’ll be cutting it down to the desired length at the end, so be generous with this first cut. We’ll be using the fabric a little later, so don’t throw anything away!
Prep your DIY jeans-into-skirt upcycle
Remove inner seams
Turn your jeans inside out and remove all the inner seam stitches, including a bit from the crotch area so that the fabric lies down flat. This process can take a while, so get comfortable and be patient!
Pin your jeans
Place your pins
Layering the crotch flat on top of itself, pin down the seam to hold the fabric in place. Then add a piece of the fabric you cut off earlier under the opening, and make sure it’s lying flat with no wrinkles. Fold over the edges of your triangle, and pin the fabric under it in place, along both sides of the opening. Cut off the excess fabric, then flip your skirt over and repeat the process along the front with another piece of fabric. The only difference on the front is that you don’t have to fold over the edges before adding your pins.
Sew jeans into a skirt
Sew your skirt
Sew two parallel straight stitches to recreate the dynamic stitching. Remove your pins as you reach them. Once you’re done sewing your skirt, flip it inside out and lie it down flat.
Jeans into a skirt
Cut off the excess fabric
Remove any excess fabric and loose threads from your skirt.
Finalize your skirt
Cut down the length
Place the skirt you used earlier on top of your new skirt as reference for the length, then cut down the new skirt to match the old one. Once you’ve done that, just throw your skirt into the washing machine and you’re done!
Turn a pair of jeans into a skirt
Jeans into a skirt final result
This was such an awesome project! I really enjoy upcycling. Instead of a pair of jeans I didn’t like anymore, I now have a gorgeous denim mini skirt that I love! Even though the jeans were low-rise, which I’m not a fan of, I can wear the skirt as high-waisted. It was super easy to do. Other than the part where you have to remove the stitching of the seams, which definitely can get a bit annoying, it’s a super quick process. I hope you enjoy making your own skirt as much as I did. Let me know what you think in the comments, and definitely let me know if you try this!
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Join the conversation
Can you suggest a way to make a favorite denim skirt that is tight in the hips bigger? I'm all over the jeans to skirt. Out of donations bag, onto my body with new life. Thank you, Ilene
What J suggest is not a bad idea. Keep in mind that getting rid of fabric to take in is always possible but there's no way to enlarge fabric unfortunately, so adding fabric I'd say is the only viable option.
I have made several skirts from jeans over the years! Love it!!