Upcycled Painted T-Shirt Skirt

I am on a t-shirt kick this week.  Did you see the scarf and dress I made for Kayla already? I thought it would be fun to paint stripes on an old t-shirt (that got accidentally bleached – DOH!) and turn it into a ruffled striped skirt for my daughter.  I did this project a couple of years ago and my daughter still wears the skirt. While is is almost ready to be passed down on the hand-me-down train I thought we could retake a look at it once more before that happens.

I am so impressed with the results. It is super comfy and a wonderful way to repurpose a shirt that was destined for the trash.  And my little sweetheart loved it.

Supplies:

Scotch Blue Edge Lock Tape

Old t-shirt

Martha Stewart Crafts Fabric medium and acrylic paint or fabric paint

Foam roller and tray

plastic to cover work surface

sewing machine

1 1/2” non-roll elastic

scissors or rotary cutter and mat

safety pin

1.  I deconstructed my t-shirt.  I wanted to keep the bottom edge of the t-shirt so that I didn’t have to create another hem.  The middle part of the shirt was for the top part of the skirt.

2.  Then I cut open the t-shirt loops and started taping my fabric in place onto some plastic drop cloth to prep it for painting.  I did horizontal stripes for the top and diagonal ones for the bottom soon-to-be ruffle.  I just used the width of the tape as my guide for the width of my stripes.

3.  Then I used a foam roller and some white acrylic paint mixed with Martha Stewart Craft Fabric medium and rolled two coats of paint on it.  The paint seeped in but I didn’t want stark lines so that was just fine with me.

4.  After it was completely dry I ironed it with a press cloth to set the paint and then I washed both pieces to take the stiffness out of it.  Then I trimmed the pieces to even out the edges.

5.  On the longest and widest stitch I ran the bottom piece through my sewing machine to create a small gathered ruffle. I also cut my top piece to give it an angle and then sewed one side back together.

6.  I pinned the ruffle to the top piece of the skirt right sides together and sewed the ruffle on.  I then top stitched it so the ruffle would lay flat.

7.  Then I pinned the sides of the skirt right sides together and sewed.

8.  Next I pressed the top of the skirt under 1/4” and then under 1 3/4” to create a casing for the elastic.  I sewed that leaving an opening for my elastic to slide in.  Using a safety pin, I slide my elastic through the casing and then sewed the elastic together.  Finally I sewed my casing shut.