How to Easily Make a Cute Two-Piece Dress Out of an Old Top & Skirt

Tools and materials:

• Elastic-waist skirt to upcycle
• Too-short top to upcycle
• Pins
• Thread
• Sewing machine

DIY top and skirt dress - method 1

Pin the top inside the skirt at the waist, aligning all the side seams. With the right sides together, sew the waist seam.

If one piece is wider at the waist than the other, you will need to stretch the fabric on the small piece to fit the larger one as you are sewing.

DIY top and skirt dress - method 2

Start with whichever garment is wider at the waist and turn that garment inside out. For this tutorial, we will assume the top is wider. So, turn the top inside out. 

With right sides facing, place the skirt inside the top, matching up the side seams. 

Use a tight, wide zigzag stitch to sew the pieces together at the top of the skirt, stretching the skirt to fit the top as you go.

The reason you need to use a tight-wide zigzag stitch is so that when you are pulling your dress on, the elastic from the skirt and the top will have enough stretch room in them to go over your shoulders.

Tip: If you are worried about the waist seam of your new DIY dress coming apart, you can topstitch a second tight, wide zigzag on the bottom of the top piece.

In addition to making the seam even more secure, the second row of zigzag stitching also helps the elastic in the waist lay nice and flat.

How to make a two-piece dress tutorial

That has to be the easiest upcycle dress ever! From two pieces that were hiding at the back of your closet or the bottom of a drawer, you now have a lovely new dress that you’ll want to keep at the front of your closet because you wear it so often.

Make sure to let me know in the comments what your DIY dress from two unused wardrobe pieces looks like!