How to Tailor a Thrifted Skirt to Fit You!

One of the main problems with being a small is the difficulty in finding clothes that not only fit but are modest. Everything is either too large around the waist or way too long. Luckily, I started sewing about a year ago which has allowed me to tailor what I buy to fit me!

A few months ago, after much prayer and discernment, I decided to start wearing more skirts and dresses. (Stay tuned for the Post on why next week!) I wore pants and jeans almost everyday for my whole life so when I wanted to switch I had to start from nothing. With a small budget I set out to find skirts that would be durable enough to wear around my toddler.

Before going and spending a ton of money I thought I'd check out my local thrift shops. I didn't expect to find any in my size, since it's hard enough finding clothes that fit in regular stores, but I did find some a few sizes larger. ( a size 6 and 14--More than a few sizes but they only cost me a few bucks!)

This is my white skirt before, it was a size 6. I had to take it in by 6 inches!

That meant that I couldn't just take it in on the sides I had to take the whole thing apart!

I started by seam ripping the back off of the skirt into 2 separate panels, and seam ripping the waste band from the back to 3 inches into the front.

Once all of the seam ripping was done I cut the back seam of the waste band and took in the 6 inches needed. I made sure that it fit my waist before I sewed it back together. There is 2 pieces of fabric in the waste band and I only sewed the back piece together because when I reattached the band to the skirt I was able to just slip it over the skirt and sew the finishing stitch.

I then pinned the back panels together taking 1 inch on each side of the pockets. That way the pockets did not have to be taken off and reattached. Once the back was finished I pinned them to the front to fit my frame.

After a few fittings and needle pricks later, I sewed the sides together, followed by finishing with the reattaching of the waistband. And…. TA DAH! A super cute fitted white skirt which cost me $2 and a days worth of sewing!