Pants to Skirt Tutorial

Hiya! :) Well here is a tutorial for turning men's pants into women's skirts :)

from this...

to this! :)

Just a disclaimer, I'm apologizing now if any pictures are blurry! my camera is fickle :)
So first off, grab a seam ripper and turn on some jams :) (lol thats what I do!)

 you're gonna grab the inside seam of the legs (one at a time obviously :) like so...

 and stick the needle of the seam ripper down in the seam and SLOWLY push it down the middle slicing through the threads, Now be careful cause its really easy to rip the material if you're not careful (I've done that more times than I'd like to admit!)

 You can see that it cuts through those thread but the seam is still intact. That's because its surged on the other side. well get to that in a min.

 now once you get to the bottom you'll have to seam rip the hem just about and inch or 2 on each side of the leg seam

 once you've done that you can lay the hem flat so you can seam rip it all the way down. continue seam ripping the INSIDE SEAM ONLY!

 now turn the pants inside out so you can see the surging.

 remember the seam we just ripped out on the outside? you're gonna pull that thread on the inside and it'll come off in one big string

 now do the surging :) you just slide it along like the picture shows

 and then you can separate the legs :)

 now the legs are open and we head to the butt of the pants

 again pinch the seam and start all the way at the top of it and work your way down til its all open :)

 like so...

 now the crotch area. this side can be a little tricky so I start about a centimeter (or half and inch) down and start ripping!

 til its all the way open

 now you are ready for the fun part! :) lay them flat on the floor or table and try to lay all the pieces flat. the back can be difficult but don't worry we'll flip it over once the front is right

 ok so we want to figure out how long these suckers are gonna be :) so I lay down a yard stick or a measuring tape (whatever you have) and figure out how long you want it. if you have a skirt you like the length of, lay it on top and mark. be sure to add an extra inch or so for the hem.

 I chose 24"

 lay the ruler even with the waist band and measure 24" down. make a small cut and go til you hit the ruler.

 shift the ruler over *still making sure its even with the waist band* and cut to the ruler

 continue to the other side...

 Voila!

 Now were gonna lay the crotch flap flat... sound confusing? i promise its not! :)

 See! that was easy!

 now be sure to pin it or it will come undone and all your hard work will go *kuput* make sure everything is laying flat or when you're wearing your finished skirt it'll look like you have major puckering and it'll just look bad and you won't feel amazing like you are :)

 lay it flat and remember to fold under the seam.

 pin it all pretty :)

 now remember the part we cut off the bottom of the legs? ok get that piece and cut off part that will fit into your "V"

 lay it in there and make sure the "grain" of the fabric is going the same way

 Lay it flat and start a few pins.

 I've found its easiest to do one side at a time and lift the top flap up while you pin the flap underneath

 Pin down the other side and trim off the excess.

 now lay the back flat

 starting from the top work your way down the curve of the butt.

 use lots of pins on this curve or it wont lay flat

 again lay down the other piece from the leg

 be careful when you pin one side so that you don't accidentally go through the front too.

 trim and now we're ready to sew!

 start at the crotch and sew down the curve. once you hit the point leave your needle down and shift the material til it once again is straight.

 sew all the way down the top piece to the hem, then go back to the "V" section and do that little one

 don't for get to clip strings :) (inside and out or you'll be tickled later!)

 now for the back side!

 start at the top and work your way down to the point, needle down, lift foot, and shift material :)

 ok now that we've sewn all those fun seams we need to trim all the extra off the inside. just be careful you don't accidentally cut through the skirt itself.

 now idk about you but I hate pockets on the hips cause it gives me thunder thighs and Lord knows I don't need any help!

 you can pin it if you're not super comfortable but I just do it without :)

 now turn the skirt inside out and trim off the pocket we just sewed shut. if you like pockets, then by all means skip this part :) lol

 again we want to trim off the extra flaps. so trim this part (it's part of the original pant leg) next to the new seam we just made :)

 like so :)

 now rounded bottoms make hems difficult so i cut mine straight across. lay a ruler from point to point and draw a line

 then cut  :)

 head to the ironing board and fold over 1/4"

 then again a 1/2"

 and then sew :)

 make sure you press all the seams nice and flat so they won't bubble or pucker.

tada!!!!! you're very own skirt!

Now go raid your man's closet! lol :) or head to the thrift store :) you can get them for just a couple bucks and have a fabulous new skirt! :)

Have a fantabulously wonderful day!