Before & After | Cocktail Dress to Pleated Skirt

After reading about Wardrobe Rehab over at a pair & a spare, I try to review my closet every few months to get rid of clothes that I don’t wear by donating them to thrift shops. Although I made this a regular practice, there are some items that I neglected to part with even though I don’t wear them at all. This cocktail dress is one of those items. I do have an emotional attachment to this dress as this was the dress I wore to my engagement party nine years ago. After that, I wore this once for a work party, but not since. Since I bought the dress nine years ago, now being 30, I feel like this dress is too young for me.Instead of getting rid of the dress all together, I upcycled it by making it into a knee length skirt.

Here is how:

You need:
1. babydoll style dress with pleated skirt (stretch material)
2. 2″ wide elastic band cut in your waist length + 1″ for seam allowance

It was a baby doll style dress, so first I cut off the top part. Sorry for all the white fuzz in the pictures! Right before this DIY, I was working on a white fur… I made a tissue case cover.

Sew the elastic band and attach it to the skirt you just cut. Since the skirt waist was bigger than my elastic, I stretched the elastic as I sewed it onto the skirt. 

Cut two satin ribbons so you can attach it to the inside of skirt waist. This is so that you can hang the skirt on a hanger to store.

All done! Brad new pleated skirt that works in winter with tights and spring! 

３か月に１回はクローゼットを整理して、もう着ないものは人にあげたり、リサイクルショップに持っていったりするようにしているのですが、それでも、着ていないのになかなか離れられない服が出てきます。

私はこのドレスを９年前に買って、自分の婚約パーティーで着たので、もうこんな露出度高いのは着ないと思いつつ、なんだか捨てられないでいました。

そんな時はリメーク！
黒いゴムを、切ったドレスのウエストに縫い付けるだけでプリーツスカートの出来上がり。
ウエストゴムだから、ちょっと食べすぎちゃっても大丈夫。
クローゼットに収納しやすいよう、内側に引っ掛け紐もつけました。

{find me elsewhere: shop, facebook, etsy, twitter, pinterest, instagram}