DIY Sweater Skirt

Do you remember the sweater I used to make my faux boot socks? After I had made my boot "socks" I had this left over:

 

And since I'm kind of in love with the weird sparkly gold zebra stripes on this material, I didn't want to just throw away this lovely chunk of fabric.

Also, on Pinterest the last week I came upon these tutorials for DIY sweater skirts  here and here, and desperately wanted to try it myself.

The difference with mine is that I can't stand bulky waistbands! Both of those tutorials depend on folding over the unfinished top and making a casing for and elastic waistband. When you use thick material like sweater knit, you almost always get a really bulky, unflattering waistband.

So I am going to show you how to make a sweater skirt that has a smooth waistband! 

You will need:

An old sweater for the skirt

2 inch wide elastic

sewing machine

scissors 

1. Cut the edges of your sweater to contour to your hips like this:

Then sew up the new side seams. so you have a basic skirt with no waistband.

2. Take your 2 inch wide elastic and measure your waist where you want the waistband of your skirt to sit. 

3. Sew your elastic together into a circle. Match the circle of elastic up with the top of your skirt, with the elastic on the outside. You will also probably want to contour the waist of your skirt as shown. I found that when I tried it on without the contouring it rode up in back and didn't cover my butt! I'm all for a good short skirt occasionally, but covering my backside is a must. by cutting the waist with a scoop in front like this, you are essentially making your finished skirt long enough in back to cover everything that doesn't need to see the light of day.

4. Pin the elastic in place, and sew it with a straight stitch on the OUTSIDE of your skirt. The raw edge of the skirt should be on the inside and you should see a smooth piece of elastic on the outside, like in the bottom picture.

 You should also stretch your elastic and skirt a bit as you sew, especially with a straight stitch. This will keep your stitches from breaking when you put the skirt on over your hips, and keep the elastic stretchy.

Here is the final product on me! I wore this to work and got several compliments. I looked cute and stayed comfy and warm all day! I can already think of at least three other sweaters I could do this with.