I had a great pair of jeans from Old Navy that I definitely wore into the ground. There were holes in the legs that would be embarrassing if they got just a little bigger. I had put them in the trash pile as I was going through my closet a few weeks ago. As the pile was getting larger, I kept looking over there at all the fabric that would go to waste once I put them in the trash.

I admit that I get my best ideas while doing those menial tasks like cleaning or running. As I was thinking about the jeans I was shifting some bins I had under my bed. I came across one that had a bunch of scrap fabric. This is all that fabric that I just cannot throw away because it has bigger pieces, but those pieces are not enough to really make much out of like a skirt or a shirt. So there it goes into the bin with the idea of maybe making a pair of hippy scrappy pants that you see at festivals. Why not just create something like that with those pants? It may not be original and you see blog posts about this all the time, but these were just so perfect. I had these triangle pieces of gray fabric, triangles of gray printed fabric and a long block of another grey fabric with another print design. Why not put all of these together into a lovely long skirt?

I wish I would have taken a picture of the scraps of fabric I had for all these different pieces, but I was too excited to get started on the project. These were left overs from a project that did not quite pan out which made me very sad. I loved the different grey fabric together with the little muted splashes of color. The pieces were actually not that different from what you see in the finished piece. The colorful print was already in triangles that I just sewed together. The darker grey was just long strips that I made into triangles. The bottom part was a long block. These colors fit so nicely together into a vibrant yet subtle pattern. There is a lot going on here, but when put all together I find the combination lovely and calming.

I did not want to look like I was wearing a quilt or an art project. When you repurpose a piece of clothing, you have to figure out what you want it to look like first. After that, you can work backwards. Search your fabric stash to see if you have anything that currently fits that look. If you don’t, it is fine to put it in your bin for later use. Just make sure that you are not hoarding fabric! Also be prepared that what you make may not turn out how you want. There will be a certain amount of trial and error with repurposing. It is fine if it does not work the first time around. It is a learning process – just like the rest of our sewing projects. It may happen that what you make will be recycled because it just didn’t work.

Another thing to keep in mind is that no one will be able to see your mistakes. Looking at this skirt, I bet you did not notice how the bottom flares out a bit too much at the bottom. I made the triangle too severe at the bottom and had to go back and correct it a bit, but it still flares out. Not that big of a deal really. Also how I joined the top with the bottom was a little difficult as well. I had to stretch the denim to make sure that I would not lose that stretch when I put the skirt on. If I had not stretched the denim a bit, the skirt would not fit around my bum. I bought that pair of stretch denim for a reason! I also did not cut the legs off too well. The front looks like I made a high-low effect.

If I did not point out these little things, you probably would not have noticed anything. This was my first denim pants to skirt refashion and I am in love with the finished product. I think my years of making skirts and pants helped me envision what I wanted to look like in the end. Even those mistakes look like I did them on purpose. When you first start to refashion clothing, there will be many failures. There will also be some fantastic wins as well! I am still learning how to do this myself. Check back periodically! I hope you will get some ideas from me here.