Old Pants Upcycle

Posted on February 18, 2012 by Meghan

I had an old pair of pants that didn’t fit me anymore, but were way too sentimental to give up. These old, faded cotton pants were one of the three pairs of pants in my backpack during my 8 month trip to South America in 1999. You can imagine how I got sort of got attached to them.

I had a vision that maybe I could upcycle them into a skirt, and at the same time take in the waist so that I could wear it comfortably.

I took in the waist at both side seams and added a dart in the back as well. I left the side seams as is so that I wouldn’t have to resew them, and I added a ruffle detail at the bottom – it was supposed to be box pleats but I didn’t have enough material in the legs to go all the way around the skirt, so I had to unpin the whole thing and start over. I think it turned out pretty cute for a skirt made out of 13 year-old pants!

Check it out: