How to Make (Sew) A Skirt from a T-Shirt

This is a simple, easy to sew, beginner's pattern. You can finish it in under an hour, even if you're new to sewing.

If you're large (like me), you can use an old t-shirt, or in my case, a new shirt that I stained the third time I wore it, and turn it into a toddler size girls' knit skirt. Here are some pics to show you what I did.

The first slide shows the cutting layout of the t-shirt. Turn the t-shirt inside out, and cut a horizontal line right below the armpits. Then, cut an angled line on the left side, fold over the fabric to the right edge, matching the bottom/hem, and cut the right side angled line.

This last picture shows the finished skirt, turned right side out.

Please note: I am NOT a professional seamstress, as you can tell from the pics.

If I was, I would have used matching green thread. In addition, I would have folded under the fabric toward the elastic before I sewed it over, so that no unfinished/raw edges would be showing. However, I'm of the opinion that this is just a play skirt, and will mostly be worn for playing around in the back yard or for a change of clothes after swimming. Also, since my girls are growing so fast, the skirt won't last very long before it's too short on them.

In total, I had this skirt cut out and sewn together in 30 minutes on a Sunday morning before church. The true beauty of this is that if the girls wear their shirt untucked, which they usually do, it will still look professional, because the hem is professionally done (the manufacturer did it in the process of making the t-shirt).

I hope you enjoyed this picture tutorial.

Please let me know what you think: are the pictures too small; is the text too small; are the directions clear, etc. Also, email me at rhonda dot parker at dgs dot ca gov or comment on this post if you have any questions regarding the sewing construction of this skirt. Thanks!