I’ve had a few people asking about how to make a pencil skirt from pants after my post about pants into a skirt. So I thought I’d try to write something out for everyone. I’ll warn you though, It probably won’t be pretty. Also apologies for the crappy images I didn’t take pictures of the process so this will have to do.
First find a pair of pants that fit well in the waist. It’s okay if they are a little tight in the pants legs, that will get taken care of when you’re sewing it back together. Just make sure you like how it fits for your waist.
Now take your trusty seam ripper and remove the inside seam so the inside is completly open and resembles a kind of wierd looking skirt that probably doesn’t cover much.
Next flip your future skirt inside out and put it on. Pinch the front flaps of the skirt closed and pin them in a straight line down.
Repeat for the back.
Carefully take the skirt off so as not to prick yourself with the pins, then take it over to the sewing machine.
Sew along where its pinned taking out the pins as you go. Once it’s finished put the skirt / pants back on and determine the length you would like. Mark it with chalk or a pin. Remove the skirt
Draw out the rest of the line then cut off the excess leaving 1 inch extra for hemming.
At this point I did a top stitch on the front and the back seams to make them a bit sturdier and to give it a cleaner look.
After that trim off the excess fabric and hem the bottom of the skirt, I just folded mine and did a straight stitch, you could also do a blind hem stitch if you would prefer.
Ta-da! You’re done!
**Optional: You can also add a slit up the back or the skirt if you would like a little more movement. When you are sewing the pinned sides makes sure to decide on the length at that point.
