Last week end I had an awesome thrifted haul. I've been very inspired to incorporate more 1940's pieces into my wardrobe. Not true 1940's, but more like pieces that can pass for 1940's without breaking my student bank account. Keep in mind I am very cheap, I hate paying a lot for my clothes and I am a real sucker for a good deal.
One of my purchases was a dark blue linen skirt. I liked the length and the buttons down the front. It have me that 1940's vibe but it was far to big for me. But, I decided that the price of 55 Swedish Kronor, or 7 USD was too good to pass up even if I had to make some minor modifications.
Here is the fit of the skirt before the modifications, far too big around the waist. (Pardon the weird feet and yoga pants XD). I wanted it to have that high waisted look and the waistband to be nice and flat.
1. Unpicking the waistband was the first step, this was fairly easy. Using a seam ripper I unpicked the seams attaching the waistband to the skirt. Leaving the top untouched so the belt loops would not come completely off as they are still sew into the top of the waistband.
2. I then measured my waist and decided how much I wanted to shorten the waistband. The waistband was made up of 3 pieces of fabric the seams were on either side, above the pockets. I unpicked those two seams and shortened the ends equally until a got the desired waist measurement. I then sewed the seams back together. Sorry I forgot to take a pic of this step.
3. I then had to create a couple of pleats so that the skirt would match up to the waistband. I decided to put these pleats in the back.
Here are the new pleats in the back, pinned into place:
4. Once the skirt waist measurement lined up with the waistband measurement I then proceeded to pin the waistband back onto the skirt.
One of my purchases was a dark blue linen skirt. I liked the length and the buttons down the front. It have me that 1940's vibe but it was far to big for me. But, I decided that the price of 55 Swedish Kronor, or 7 USD was too good to pass up even if I had to make some minor modifications.
1. Unpicking the waistband was the first step, this was fairly easy. Using a seam ripper I unpicked the seams attaching the waistband to the skirt. Leaving the top untouched so the belt loops would not come completely off as they are still sew into the top of the waistband.
2. I then measured my waist and decided how much I wanted to shorten the waistband. The waistband was made up of 3 pieces of fabric the seams were on either side, above the pockets. I unpicked those two seams and shortened the ends equally until a got the desired waist measurement. I then sewed the seams back together. Sorry I forgot to take a pic of this step.
3. I then had to create a couple of pleats so that the skirt would match up to the waistband. I decided to put these pleats in the back.
Here are the new pleats in the back, pinned into place:
I ended up doing this with two seams: started by sewing one side of the band and then a second stitch going through all the layers because it was tricky to catch it all in only one go.
There was also the bottom of the belt loops that I had to be sure to catch between the waistband and the skirt.
Finished result! I was very pleased with the finished result of this quick little thrifted transformation. Here you can see two different styling that I tried out. A more summer look with a thrifted checker shirt, the linen will be lovely once the warm weather comes back to Sweden.
And then I put on a more formal look with this little thrifted vest and white button up shirt. A very Anne of Green Gables vibe but I think it is lovely.
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