Turn a Sweatshirt Into a Sweatskirt With This Easy Tutorial

Tools and materials:

• Sweatshirt
• Scissors
• Fabric ruler
• Marking chalk
• Rotary cutter
• Sewing machine

The first thing you’re going to do is flip the sweatshirt inside out. This will allow you to see the seams of the sleeves better. Then carefully cut out both sleeves. 

Place a fabric ruler right under the armholes, and use marking chalk to draw a straight line down. Then line your ruler back up with the line and use a rotary cutter to cut across the line. 

Try on your skirt and pin where you want to take it in. Then lie the skirt down on your work surface. The part that used to be the bottom is now going to be the waistband of your skirt. Then mark 2” at the waist on both sides, ½” at the hip area, and 1” at the bottom. Then use your marking chalk to connect the lines and create a curve. 

Once you have your lines drawn, you can place pins along it to make it easier for you to follow while you sew. Then sew down the line, starting at the waistband and making sure to backstitch. One thing I did that I found to be really helpful, was to pin and sew one side, then flip it over and pin and sew the other side.

The next thing you’re going to do is cut out the pocket out of the spare fabric that you have from cutting off the sleeves. I used the pocket from a hoodie I have to create the pattern. If you’d like to use the same pattern as I did, take a piece of paper and mark a horizontal line on the bottom of 15½”. From the end of that line, you’re going to mark a vertical line of 8½”. From the top left corner, mark 4” in, and from the bottom left corner, mark 2½” upward. Then draw a diagonal line connecting those two points, and cut that line out on both sides, leaving you with a trapezoid. If you’d like a visual of how to make the pattern, go to minute 1:48 in the video. Once you have your pattern, lay it down on your spare fabric and use your ruler and rotary cutter to cut out the shape of the pattern.

Starting at one of the angled sides, fold in the fabric ½” and pin it down. Do the same on the other side, then at the top. Lastly, fold in the small straight edges on the sides and pin them in place as well. The only side you’re leaving open is the bottom for the time being. Once your pins are all in place, head over to your sewing machine and sew down the edges. Start at the shortest edge and work your way up to the angled side, up to the top, and down to the other side. You want to sew about ¼” and remove the pins as you go and pick up the presser foot when you go around the corners. This will give you a clean finish.

Lay the skirt on your work surface and lay the pocket onto it, right sides facing each other. Then pin down the bottom part of the pocket (that you didn’t hem) so that it kind of looks like a flap. When it’s all pinned down, flip it up, and sew it in place, starting from the bottom, then working your way up the sides and to the top. Before starting to sew, though, make sure to open up your skirt so that you don’t accidentally sew the front and back of the skirt together. Make sure to backstitch at the top and bottom of the pocket. You can sew it any way you want, but I found it best to sew the bottom, then flip over the skirt and pin and sew the top part, finishing with the sides. I also recommend sewing on the same seams as the hem so that it looks like one line. 

The last thing you’re going to do is cut off any long threads that may be leftover from sewing. Then cut the excess fabric from the inside. Once you’ve done that, turn your skirt right side out and you are done! 

That’s it, y’all! This project was fantastic! I love the way this skirt looks and it’s definitely something I would wear on a day-to-day basis. I just think it’s so cute, especially with the sweatshirt pocket. It was so quick and easy to make, and I would definitely try it out again. You can use any sweatshirt you have lying around, meaning that the possibilities are endless. What color is yours going to be? Be sure to drop a pic in the comments!