DIY Refashion: Ruffle Skirt and Off the Shoulder Top

8 Materials

$10

3 Hours

Easy

Two-piece sets are so on-trend this year! I had an old dress that was very pretty but I knew it had more potential. I decided to refashion it into a modern, gorgeous two-piece set. I am so pleased with how this upcycle turned out! This ruffle skirt and off the shoulder top two-piece is one of my new wardrobe favorites!

Ruffle skirt

Tools and materials:

Measuring tape
Ruler
Chalk
Rotary cutter
Pins
Sewing machine
Needle and thread
Elastic

Upcycle an old dress

This is the dress I decided to upcycle. I love the fabric and I couldn’t wait to start the transformation.

Ruffle mini skirt

Seam rip the skirt

The first step in this upcycle project, was seam ripping the skirt.

Measure to the desired length

Cut to the desired length

Once I had finished opening the seams, I used a measuring tape and a piece of chalk to mark the new length for my ruffle skirt.

DIY ruffle skirt

I then used a rotary cutter to cut the skirt to the desired length.

Pin the sides together

Sew the skirt back together

Next, I laid down the fabric and pinned both sides together.

Sew a straight stitch

I then sewed a straight stitch along each side.

Easy ruffle skirt

Next, I pinned and sewed the fabric to the waistband.

Mark the excess fabric

Add the ruffle to the skirt

To make the ruffle piece for the skirt, I marked 200cm (79 inches) by 11cm (4 inches) on the excess fabric.

Cut the fabric for the ruffle

I cut the fabric into 4 rectangles.

How to make a ruffle skirt

I then pinned and sewed each rectangle together to make one long piece.

Fold and pin

Next, I made a double fold and pinned the edge of the fabric.

See the fold

I moved back to my sewing machine and stitched the fold in place.

How to sew a ruffle skirt

I then hand basted the stitch to create the ruffles. I made sure that there was thread hanging before and after stitching.

Skirt with ruffle

I then pulled the thread to create the even ruffles. I made sure that the ruffle had the same width as the skirt. I went ahead and pinned and sewed the ruffle.

Pin on the ruffle

With the ruffle finished, I pinned it to the bottom of my skirt.

Sew on the ruffle

I stitched the ruffle on to the skirt using a zig-zag stitch.

Sew the ends together

Make the sleeves

In the next step, I worked on the off the shoulder sleeves. I cut two pieces of fabric 16cm (6 inches) by 49cm (19 inches). I then pinned the edges together and sewed them to make a sleeve.

Measure the fold

To create a puff sleeve effect, I used the elastic to measure how wide I would need to fold the fabric.

Sew on each side

I folded the fabric on each side of the sleeve and sewed leaving a small opening for the elastic.

Insert the elastic

I attached a safety pin to the end of the elastic and thread it through the small opening. I pulled it all the way through, sewed the ends of the elastic together, and sewed closed the small opening. I did this on both sides of the sleeve.

Pin on the sleeves

I used the same method to create the crop top and once it was finished, I pinned the sleeves onto it.

Sew on the sleeves

All that was left to do was sew on the sleeves.

Make a skirt with ruffles

This ruffle skirt and off the shoulder top two-piece is absolutely stunning! I know I will get a lot of use out of this set! Let me know your thoughts on this upcycle!

Suggested materials:

Measuring tape
Ruler
Chalk

See all materials

1 comment

Rachel Jonas
on Jan 19, 2021

Love that matching sets are making a comeback, especially this summery one :)

1
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