August 15, 2019

Old Skirt Upcycle: Statement Sleeve Top

Upcycling is the key to sustainable fashion. Today, I am sharing my upcycled statement sleeve top. I made this beautiful top using an old trumpet skirt. Enjoy!

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Upcycle Your Old Clothes

I just hate throwing away old clothes. It seems like such a waste! I always prefer to reuse them for something else. I also love to buy old clothes from the thrift store for sewing projects. Older garments were often made using better quality fabrics that have stood the test of time. I recently came across this old trumpet skirt at the thrift store. The animal print jumped off the rack and caught my attention. The skirt itself was unflattering, but since the fabric had so much potential, I decided to give it a chance!

This trumpet skirt is made from a stretchy knit fabric, it also features a very full circle at the hem. I immediately envisioned upcycling this skirt into a statement sleeve top with lots of white to balance the busy print.

Supplies Needed:

old knit circle skirt
1 package single fold bias tape in a coordinating color
sewing machine with basting stitch 5.0
scissors, pins, and thread

Upcycled Top Sewing Directions:

1. Cut off the old waistband from the skirt. Save the elastic for another project.

2. Decide which part of the skirt will be the front. Mark with pins at center front neck. Decide how much ruching (gathers) you want to have at the center front neck, mine was 4″. Double that number to find out how long your gathering stitches will be. I stitched a basting stitch 8″ long at center front for the gathers.

3. Sew another row of basting gathering stitches at the center front, 1/4″ from the first. Pull up all the threads to gather. Cut bias tape to length (4″). Fold the bias tape in half lengthwise and then place over the basting stitches on the back of the garment. Sew over bias tape with 3.0 stitch length while placing gathers down into the feed dog of your sewing machine. This helps the gathers to evenly space as you work.

4. Mark the skirt hem at the top of the arm. Decide how many inches of gathers you want to have at the arm. I used 12″ of gathers at the arms on this top. Mark placement using pins.

5. Using the 5.0 basting stitch, sew a straight line for the gathers from the hem of the skirt to the shoulder of the top removing pins while you sew. Pull up thread ends to gather. Cut a length of bias tape 12″. Place the bias tape over the gathering stitches on the back of the garment. Sew over the bias tape with the gathers into the feed dog of the sewing machine as before. Trim threads and press.

Your upcycled skirt is now complete! I loved this super easy project. Now for the linen pants to match this beautiful new top! I will cover them in another post.

This project was part of the Upcycling Challenge from sewing blogger Candice Ayala. You can find even more of the other upcycle projects in this challenge on her blog.