DIY Upcycle Jersy-Knit Girls' Skirt

I have been craft-obsessed with making these jersey skirts for my girl this summer. A friend of mine kinda walked me through the basic concept, and with a few hand-me-down t-shirts and "nap" time quiet I have taken her idea and run with it.

Did I mention that this is a no-sew project with only five basic steps? And that it takes about 15 minutes per skirt?

I'm telling ya. You're going to see how easy this is and make a thousand of them. Seriously.

What you'll need:

Supplies: a pair of sharp scissors, a flat work space, and a cotton jersey-knit t-shirt
(size of shirt depends on how big/long/full you want your finished skirt to be)

Step One:

Cut bottom of shirt off just below the armpits- for a longer skirt go all the way to the sleeve seams, for a shorter
skirt cut further down... adjust according to what you want.

Step Two:

Take bottom half of shirt and fold in half to make sure you cut straight (clearly I did not- trim as needed).

Step Three:

With the tip of your sharp scissors, make two tiny vertical slits within the bottom hem
of the t-shirt (take care to only nip one layer, don't cut all the way through!).

Step Four:

Cut a long, narrow strip of jersey from what remains with the sleeve half (make sure it's not
wider than the hem of the bottom half) and stretch it as far as you can get it to stretch.
(above: stretched on the left, un-stretched on the right)

Step Five:

Put a safety pin in each end of the stretched-out jersey strip. Pin one end near one of the
small slits you cut, and use the second safety pin to thread the strip through the second slit
all the way around. When you make it all the way around, pull enough slack so both sides have
about the same length, take the pins out, and tie a knot in each end (or add a bead).

That's it. See? Five steps, no sewing (thank you jersey knit fabric!), and instant gratification. The perfect project for a hot, humid day when no one wants to be outdoors and everyone has a little creative energy to burn. Recycling (or upcycling) at it's finest!

And what to do with the top half of the cut-up shirt? Quarter it and add it to the dust rag bag! No one can resist helping on cleaning day when you can dust with fuchsia rags. Everybody wins!