Turn pants into a skirt (img heavy) PART 1

So I was really bored tonight and asked what I should do....and doing this tute was mentioned, so here goes!!

So there are a LOT of pics, sorry, but I'm not so great with words, and if anything isn't clear enough, I'll try to answer your questions!

Oh, and if you prefer, you can use fabric glue in place of pins, but I'm old fashioned, and don't like the stuff...that and I *must* have a secret desire to become a human pin cushion, as I have already taken a chunk of skin out of my thumb *ouch!*

*disclaimer: I'd like to say that I used white thread just for you to see what I've done better, but honestly I was just too lazy to change the thread in my serger and machine!! It was a plus that you can see it a TAD better! :p

IMPORTANT!! Make sure that you do a double seam/top stitch! I just did a single seam to make this tutorial go faster! Also I would recommend using a bottom weight/twill/more denim, as a woven will not take as much abuse as they will!

So...First, get your pants and your panel fabric (you can use another pair of pants for this or denim, I used a bright woven, for contrast.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v5...irttute001.jpg

Then, cut off the cuffs (you could keep them, but usually the pants length is too long for even a super long skirt, and it’s much easier to rip the seams that way.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v5...irttute002.jpg

Then rip the seams of the legs, and the rip the front from crotch to bottom of zipper. (leave a TINY bit of the original seam at bottom of zipper, else it will be super hard for your machine to tack back down later)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v5...irttute003.jpg

Then flip your pants over…this is what is hard for me to explain, so I’ve tried to take good pictures. If you leave the back the way it is, you will have a “duck tail” when you put your panel in later. So what I do is take the pants and lay them flat, and allow the legs to go the natural flow. Then you will see your “duck tail”. Take that duck tail and fold it over until it is flat. Pin right where the folding stops, and take out the seam from the crotch up to the pin. Clear as mud, right? Do the same for the front, it usually doesn’t have to be folded over much at all. (I didn’t take pics of the front, but really it’s very easy!)

Duck tail:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v5...irttute004.jpg

Folding over

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v5...irttute006.jpg
Folded all the way over:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v5...irttute005.jpg

Pin at top, where it’s not folding anymore:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v5...irttute007.jpg

Ok, this part is optional. I like to leave mine to fray, but some people do not, so I frayed the front and “hemmed” the back. If you are going to hem it and topstitch, you may want to serge/overlock the raw edge, else it may fray inside when you wash, and personally, I can’t stand threads touching my legs *shudder*

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v5...irttute009.jpg

Now pin the front and back where it is curved and sew it down. Do the same for the front. If you are going to let it fray in the front, do not serge the raw edge, just fold it out and let it show.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v5...irttute011.jpg