Re Purposing a Mans Shirt into a Girls Ruffle Skirt

Re purposing a mans polo shirt to a girls ruffle skirt
I have a pile in our room of clothes that are bound for Goodwill. I won't let my husband take them just yet though because I am sure I can find a new use for them. This polo has been calling my name for a few weeks now and I finally got the inspiration to do something about it. Owen was at pre-school this morning so I had some time to do some sewing. Really the skirt only took about an hour to make and that's only because I had to take out a couple of seams that I messed up on. So here is the process.
Raid your husbands closet and find an old shirt. The bigger the better. I will be keeping my eye out this summer at garage sales for some XL castoffs.
Cut the bottom hem off and save for the drawstring. Then cut three 4 inch strips all the way across the shirt and then open them at one seam so you have long strips of fabric. Cut about 7-10 inches on the top around where the sleeves are depending on length. Cut the sleeves off leaving yourself with a rectangle of fabric that will become the underside of your skirt that the ruffles are sewn to. Sew the two pieces together to make one long piece. Fold over about an inch of the top part of that piece to make a casing for the drawstring.

Make gathers on your three strips of fabric and then lay the first layer on the bottom of the long 7-10 inch piece. Then sew about 1 inch up placing the next ruffle on making sure it's the same length as the base layer. Do that with the third layer. My third layer was on the same sewing line as the casing line.

Here it is with all three layers and the casing done. Now put the right sides together making sure all your ruffles are laying flat (I usually shake it down while holding the edges together) and sew together. Make sure you leave the top inch open so you can insert your drawstring. Cut off the extra material at the seam. Thread the drawstring through with a safety pin and Viola a new skirt!

So I am sure I will regret using my 4 year old son as a skirt model later, but he is what was at home at the time. My daughter (who is nearly 8) is the same size as he is and I wanted to check on the length as well as the fit. For the record, I will be happy to pay the therapy bill later.

Here's a link to the tutorial that helped me.
http://epicureanstyle.typepad.com/my_weblog/2009/06/tutorial-friday-tshirt-skirt.html