Skirt surgery! The remade neon pencil skirt

Skirt surgery! The remade neon pencil skirt

• 4.17.2013

I have been craving COLOR this spring! So when I found a neon candy apple green pencil skirt at Goodwill I bought it even though they didn't have my size. They had a bunch donated from Target, tags still on and all, but they were all larger than I wear. But I loved the bright color!

So I did some skirt surgery. Truly, surgery. Took it apart, extracted some stuff, put it back together. Here's the rest of the story...

Okay, so this is super embarassing and I'm sorry--I don't have a "before" pic of the skirt. How is this possible?!!?! Again, so sorry. But, Target still sells the skirt in different colors so you can see it on their website... here it is in blue and orange.

The "before"! Sits low on the hips, flat front.

Source: Target Merona skirt

I did take a pic of the back. Weird, I know. So here's the BEFORE (back only, oops!!)/AFTER:

I took in a LOT from the waist and hips!

I took apart the front waistband at the center front and side seams, took a vertical dart in the waistband (outer and lining), pressed, sewed back together. Then pleated the excess on the sides.

(It was still too big...) so I took in the side seams, too. Tapered down to the hem. Made it sit a little higher on my waist, too.

If I made it sit much higher, I'd need to deepen the darts on the butt, but I think it's okay for now. I love the color, and like it more now that it's a little shorter since it sits higher! And it's unique! ;)

I highly recommend practicing your skirt surgery skills on some skirts for spring!!