Shirt to Skirt
I just got the June issue of BUST, and it included “Island Girl,” a super cute skirt idea in their Real Life section. The basic idea is to transform men’s Hawaiian shirts into women’s skirts. I was originally looking for palm trees and hula girl shirts, but once I found the pale blue dragon shirt (Men’s size large), the hunt was over.
The instructions the author provides are well-written, but since the shirt buttons were a little too far away from each other for my comfort, I sewed the buttoning area shut and installed a zipper in the side hem instead. This worked really well! I cut a little further out in the sleeves than suggested so I could use the arm hems as faux pockets. I also sewed darts in the front as well as the back darts suggested by the article. That modification helped the skirt fit better. The entire project took around six hours to complete, but if you do it according to their instructions you can be ready to hula in less than two.
I was really pleased with the end result, and this is easily one of the best fitting skirts of this style I’ve ever worn. With this project under my belt, I am excited to find more shirts to convert into skirts. Next time I would like to embellish the design a bit more, perhaps with beadwork and additional fabrics.
Wow, it looks great. 6 hours, huh? Wow!
Jenn,
It’s not everyday that one has a dragon hanging around one’s crotch!
-snickering-