Brother Sews Ambassador

I love refashioning clothes that I already own into something else. Usually it involves turning adult clothes into outfits for my kids. Today I’m going to share a fun refashioning tutorial to turn a flannel shirt into a sweet skirt. The larger the shirt, the larger the skirt you can create. This tutorial will turn a size S women’s shirt into a cute skirt for a 7 year old. If you had some men’s shirts you could create larger skirts too!

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Flannel Skirt Supplies:

• Flannel shirt (larger shirt = larger skirt)
• Sewing machine (I used my Brother LB5000
  and Serger SB 3734)
• 1” wide elastic

Pretty cute, right? You can see that I added large front pockets, and I’ll give you the details for those as well in this tutorial. I also have to note that when I was sewing the skirt and sweater separately I thought both fabrics were red; when I put the outfit together I can see that the reds are not so red, but it works (haha)
Grab a shirt and let’s start sewing.


Depending on the shirt pocket placement, it may be in the way. Start by picking off the shirt pocket. You can keep it and move it, or just create new pockets.




Cut the shirt in half under the arms. This is the longest your skirt can be. If it is too long at this point, trim fabric off from the top. I kept it as is for this skirt.




If you want to add larger pockets to the front you can cut pockets from the sleeves. Open up the sleeves and cut a square from each one for a pocket.




Now you have all the parts to start putting your skirt together.




Prepare your pockets by finishing all the raw edges, then turning over and stitching a top hem. Iron back a seam allowance on the other three sides.




Finish the raw edge top of the skirt with a serger or zig-zag. Then fold over to create a casing for your 1” elastic.







Sew on the edge of the fabric to create the casing. Leave a 2” opening to thread the elastic through.




Thread the elastic through the opening and around the casing. Overlap the edges of the elastic and sew to create a circle. (NOTE: at this point you should pin and sew on your pockets. I forgot to do this until after the elastic was in and it was harder.)







The waistband is now complete. Perfect!




Place your pockets a few inches down from the waistband and pin on three sides to skirt.




Sew the pocket on three sides to secure. I was able to use the lines on the plaid to keep my pockets straight.




Enjoy your skirt and try out a few different size shirts to create skirts in different sizes.


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