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There is a box, in the corner of my sewing[br]room.

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It is a box whose contents have not seen the[br]light of day for many a month.

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Many crafters will be familiar with this box,[br]in all of its forms: There’s the ever-growing

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amorphous lump[br]that lies underneath your desk…

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The monster underneath your bed…

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The stuff you vacuum-packed in a fit of organization[br]and stuffed into your garage in the hopes

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that you’d never have to deal with it again…

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This, my friends, is the UNFINISHED SEWING[br]PILE.

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So the item that I grabbed out of the top[br]of the style pile box today was this robot-print

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dress.

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I thrifted the dress a couple of weeks ago[br]for 50 cents, because I LOVED the fabric,

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but it had this massive rip on the sleeve.

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I thought about simply removing the sleeves[br]and keeping it as a sleeveless dress, but

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after trying it on, I realised that it was[br]too tight across the bust, and it "pancaked"

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my boobs - so I decided that I would turn[br]it into a skirt.

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So first up, I laid the dress flat on the[br]floor, and I made sure that the front and

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back were even.

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I put some pins into the fabric to hold the[br]front, back and the lining fabrics in place,

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and then I drew a chalk line straight across[br]the fabric just underneath the arms.

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And then I cut through the front, back and[br]the lining fabrics with a pair of fabric scissors,

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leaving me with this – and it’s already[br]looking like a skirt, right?

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I turned it inside out, and because it has[br]lining fabric which I want to keep, the first

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bit of sewing that I did was to attach the[br]lining and the skirt fabrics together at the

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top here.

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This will keep the lining in place.

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And for this I used a long straight stitch.

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Next, I got myself some elastic and I measured[br]it to fit my waist, at the part of my waist

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where I want the skirt to sit.

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I made sure the elastic was slightly snug[br]around my waist, and then I cut it to this

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length.

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Now it’s time to make some casing for that[br]elastic!

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I lined the elastic up next to the skirt,[br]because I’ll need this casing to be just

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a little bit wider than the elastic.

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And then, with it still inside-out, I simply[br]folded the top of the skirt down like this,

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making sure both the robot fabric and lining[br]were folded in the same way.

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When I was happy with how it was folded all[br]the way around the top of the skirt, I pinned

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it in place, and then I sewed using a straight[br]stitch all the way around the top of the skirt,

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front and back, leaving a SMALL GAP here.

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And I used black thread because this stitch[br]will be visible on the right side of the fabric.

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So after sewing around about 95% of the casing,[br]I stopped because I wanted to leave this small

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gap in which I could insert some elastic.

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To insert the elastic into the skirt, first[br]I put a safety pin through one end of the

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elastic, which will help me to guide it through[br]the casing.

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And then I guided the elastic through the[br]casing, all the way around, until it came

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back out the other side.

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Then, I sewed the two ends of the elastic[br]together like this, using a zig zag stitch,

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and then I sewed over that small gap in the[br]casing.

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Then I tried on the skirt, and I could have[br]finished here – but I decided that it would

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look a little bit better if I could wear it[br]with a belt – so the last thing that I’m

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going to do is to make BELT LOOPS.

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Which would have been a lot easier to do before[br]installing the elastic.

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But, hey – I never sew things in a logical[br]order, and I’m not going to start today.

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I thought about using the rest of the robot[br]fabric for belt loops, but then I remembered

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how flimsy the fabric is – that rip didn’t[br]happen because the fabrics were strong – so

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instead I grabbed myself some thicker black[br]linen.

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I drew equal-sized 4 rectangles onto the fabric,[br]and then I cut these out.

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For each belt loop, I folded the edges of[br]the fabric into the middle like this, and

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then folded this in half, and then I sewed[br]down this edge.

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Then, I folded the raw ends in like this,[br]and sewed over the top of them like this.

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Then, I attached each belt loop to the skirt[br]equally around the waistband, by sewing the

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bottom of it on just underneath the casing[br]like this, and for the top of the belt loop

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I hand-stitched on to the top of the casing[br]like this.

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If I hadn’t added the elastic first, I could[br]have sewn it with my machine – but I didn’t

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do that.

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Anyway, illogical sewing aside, this is how[br]it turned out!

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I really, really, really like it!

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Now, you can basically do this for any rectangular-bit[br]of fabric, that is larger than your waist

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and that you can fit over your hips, and that[br]you’ve sewn into a loop.

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This is a really good method of making a dress[br]- without a fitted waist - that you loved

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but maybe that you've outgrown into something[br]that you can wear again!

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And I was definitely right about adding the[br]belt loops – I think that the skirt looks

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SO much better with them.

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I’m so happy that I was able to give this[br]broken dress another life as a skirt.

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Thank you all so much for watching, and if[br]you haven’t already – check out my Patreon

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page!

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It’s really only through Patreon that I[br]have a stable source of income, which allows

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me to keep making these videos.

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Doing youtube and being my own boss is basically[br]the best kind of job for somebody living with

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a disability, like me, because it means that[br]I can work whenever I’m feeling okay and

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take breaks when I need them - plus I love[br]making these videos - but I gotta be able

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to eat and pay the rent, too.

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Any amount, even $1 per month, will really[br]help me out.

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If not, at least turn off your ad-blocker[br]and don’t skip ads before my videos ;) And

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tell your friends about me!

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Thank you all for watching, supporting me,[br]and I'll see you all next time – bye!