In today’s tutorial I’ll be showing you how I shortened this lined skirt! I got this skirt at the thrift store a while back because I loved the color and the buttons up the front. I just thought it had some fall vibes, which I really liked. But I did not particularly like the length of the skirt, so decided to shorten it! a midi length tan skirt with a row of brown buttons down the front and a belt at the waist I made a video tutorial for you that will take you through the whole process! You can watch the video below. Or if you prefer photos and written instructions, just scroll down past the video for that. 🙂 But first, here’s what you’ll need.

What you need

  • skirt that you want to shorten
  • straight edge ruler
  • fabric chalk or marker
  • scissors
  • iron/ironing board
  • sewing machine/needle/thread

Video Tutorial

Alright, so here’s the video tutorial!

Written Instructions

Now if you prefer a written tutorial instead of the video, this section is for you! Let’s get started. First, I tried on the skirt and folded it up to decide where I wanted the new hem to be. I decided that I would cut it right at the 6th button down from the top. folding up a midi length tan skirt with buttons down the front to decide on the new hem Then I took the skirt off and brought it to my sewing table. I started drawing in my cutting line using a ruler, going through the 6th button. drawing the hem line on a tan skirt with a clear square ruler and tailors chalk I then continued this line around the back of the skirt. At this point I also measured down from the top with a tape measure to make sure my line was straight across the skirt. continuing the hem line around the back of the tan skirt

I ended up having to go back in and straighten out my line on the front because after measuring down from the top with a tape measure, I realized it was a bit crooked.

Next, I cut the skirt along this line I had just drawn, making sure to cut only the outer fabric and not the lining. I also seam ripped off that sixth button at this point since it was in my way.

Once the outer fabric was cut, I pulled it down and out of the way. It was still attached to the lining at the very bottom, but this won’t matter since we’re just going to trim the lining as well.

I then roughly cut the bottom of the lining off about an inch below where I had cut the outer fabric. This is just to get the bottom of the lining out of the way – we will even things out in the next step.

Next, I turned the skirt inside out, smoothed out the lining and drew a straight line all the way around the lining about two inches above where I had cut the outer fabric. You want the lining to be shorter than the outer fabric so it doesn’t show when you wear the skirt!

Then I cut along this line, making sure to cut only through the lining layer.

Finally, I ironed and pinned a rolled hem on both the lining and the outer fabric and topstitched both hems down (separately). And that’s it! Here’s how the final skirt turned out – I’m super happy with it!

 

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial and feel inspired to upcycle a skirt for yourself! If you want more sewing and DIY tutorials, I would love to have you sign up for my email newsletter!