I found this pale green and white striped knit skirt at our thrift store for $1.49. The fabric is very soft with no pills. It is a straight style, with few seams, in a large size. That translates to yardage :).
My daughter Heidi is growing so fast that her summer nightgowns from last year were too small. I welcomed a break from remodeling projects and took a few measurements, transferred them to this schematic and drafted a pattern.
I wish I had a video elf so I could show you how easy it is to draft a knit pattern like this. Perhaps another day? The front and back pieces are identical. I simply drew a fold line on a large piece of newsprint. Then took 1/4 of the girth measurements and the exact length measurements and transferred them to the paper, connecting the side seams, neck and arm hole curves with a French ruler. I added 3/8 inch seam allowance. Her nightgown doesn't need extra ease because the knit fabric gives her room to move.
To prepare the skirt for recutting, I cut off the waistband and the center back seam.
I placed the nightgown front on the fold to cut out and found that my skirt was too full to fit. No problem, I redrew it just slim enough to fit and folded over the excess.
Since the back of the original skirt had a seam with a kick slit, I had to add a seam to the back of my nightgown. I just cut it out with a 3/8 inch seam down the back and serged it together. Knit has a tendancy to stretch out of shape. To help, I lengthened the stictch and steam pressed to help it shrink back. The first time the item is washed and dried it usually recovers it's shape.
To construct, I sewed the side seams. Then turned under the arm holes 3/8 of an inch and hemmed with a cute tricot stitch.
Then I cut 26" of 1/4" width elastic. This was 6" for each neckline plus 8" for each shoulder strap. I cut several 1 inch wide strips of knit from the scraps and stitched them together quilt binding style. Then I used my longest straight stitch to sew the elastic down the middle of the wrong side of the strip stretching the elastic as I went. When I came to the end of the elastic, I cut off the excess knit strip.
Then I stitched the elastic strip in a circle and pinned it to my front and back neckline, centering everything. This created a finished neck edge and the shoulder straps. I stitched on top of the previous stitching on the necklines and left the shoulder straps free. What a cute ruffle!
To finish the nightgown, I used the same tricot stitch to hem the bottom, but this time I stretched the fabric as I went. This made a nice ruffly hem with a scallop. An alternative to the scallop hem is to add the same ruffle as around the neck.
Cute, Comfy, and Cost effective. What more could a girl ask for?
Don't forget to leave a comment; it makes me so happy :).
That is way cute! You make it look so easy!
Posted by: Janel Bezona | May 28, 2010 at 08:48 AM
BEAUTIFUL! My girls love nightgowns, this would be right up their alley.
Posted by: Katie | May 28, 2010 at 08:54 AM
You are amazing. Love the creativity
Posted by: christina | May 28, 2010 at 09:04 AM
This is great! I sew the same way and sewing is always cheap for me. When people talk about how expensive sewing can be, I tell them they are doing it wrong! People are too intimidated to try drawing their own pattern--if they only knew how easy it was. Keep preaching, sister.
Posted by: Emily | May 28, 2010 at 10:01 AM
I love this, you did a great job and it's so pretty. I found a thrift store jumper that I holding onto so that I can make it into something else for my daughter. She's only two, so I'm thinking a cute summer skirt....
Posted by: Country Girl in the City | May 28, 2010 at 10:25 AM
This is great! If only I knew how to sew. (I'm hoping to learn soon. ) I always love seeing what you're doing and hearing your advice, Angela!
Posted by: Glenda | May 28, 2010 at 10:51 AM
Wow great idea! I wish you were my neighbor, I just finished changing one of my old denim skirts, into 2 pairs of shorts for our ds- 2, and in need of shorts. I made pockets with the scraps, recycled the elastic and still have a zipper to use.
Posted by: Andrea Lewis | May 28, 2010 at 02:09 PM
Oh thats so cute! Thanks for sharing.
Posted by: Tammy | May 28, 2010 at 04:53 PM
both beautiful girls and dress..love it..
Posted by: Medical Advice | May 28, 2010 at 04:56 PM
Absolutely adorable!! As they say, "one man's trash is another man's treasure"!! I don't think the skirt was trash by any means, but the meaning behind it is the same!! You are so creative - I love it - as I am sure Heidi does too :)!!
Posted by: Melinda | May 28, 2010 at 05:05 PM
You are amazing! Thank you for taking the time to document how to do something like this.
Posted by: Cheryl Scott | June 01, 2010 at 08:01 AM
Love it!!
Say, what kind of sewing machine do you have (not the serger). My old machine won't sew decently on knits(sucks it into the bottom- I've tried everything).I am looking to upgrade soon, as the machine has other issues too. Thanks!
Posted by: Lorelei Friedl | June 01, 2010 at 01:15 PM
Lorelie,
I have an old New Home which is made by Janome. I love their machines. You might try using a thinner needles. Say a size 9 or 10 ball point. The right needle fixes a multitude of problems and too thick a needle will shove your fabric into the throat plate. Also start in a little from the edge. It seems fine fabrics started right on the edge will shove down too. HTH.
Posted by: Angela | June 01, 2010 at 02:53 PM
Beautiful and your daughter is beautiful too :)
Posted by: Shelley | June 06, 2010 at 07:50 PM
Cute, cute, cute! I need to do more "re-fashioning". Thanks for the step by step, it was great.
Posted by: Tina @ Squirrel Acorns | June 07, 2010 at 12:46 PM
This is ridiculously cute!! I can't believe you got that out of that plain skirt!
Posted by: Ruth | June 07, 2010 at 08:52 PM
I found a jumper in the savings bank I gripping so that I can do anything for my daughter. It is only, so I think a cute summer skirt.
Posted by: Kitchen units | April 04, 2011 at 12:10 PM