Jenny's Skirt ~~ an alteration complete

Jenny bought a cute dress last week but waited to get home to try it on. It fit but she didn't like the feel or the look or something about the bodice. When you live with your personal alteration expert, you don't let an odd fit get in the way of what you want to wear. 

Jen peeled off the dress and promptly asked me to turn it into a skirt. A skirt. "Just make it into a skirt," she says, as though it's an ordinary thing to do. 

Of course, I don't make things easier for myself--smiling when a grand says, "Grandmay can make anything!" Or in this particular case, agreeing that turning a fitted dress into a skirt could be a possibility. 

I asked Jenny how much she paid, just to make sure I wouldn't be cutting into some expensive garment. It would not be returnable after my attempt. But she assured me "we" would be out only a few bucks if the worst happened.

A quick side note: the dress has a can-can slip! But it occurred to me that her generation may think that a can-can is a whole new idea.


I may have made entered the Sewing Hall of Fame by Jenny's estimation. Talk about pumped--for just a moment I thought she might strip down to her stepins, but she somehow contained herself. She slipped the skirt on over her sports shorts and did a happy dance in the middle of the kitchen with everyone around, laughing at her silliness. 

So how did I do it? It was actually quite simple: I cut the dress about two inches above the waistline, turned down the cut edge to make a casing (instead of a waistband) and finished off the zipper. Really, it was that easy and didn't take much time. 

I considered making a real waistband using the cut-off bodice, but the skirt has this little pointed dip in the front, and that concerned me. I went the safer route. Luckily, it all worked out once I fixed the zipper and added a hook and eye. I even had the forethought to take lots of pictures while stitching on the hook and eye. I'll write a tutorial for that later in the week. In the meantime, have a wonderful rest of the weekend and I'll see you tomorrow for Sunday Quilt Inspiration.