DIY Zippered Dress to Skirt Refashion

So last week I was derping around shopping for a skit costume and came across this goofy looking dress. I loved the skirt however so I bought it and decided to chop off the top and make a skirt out of it.

So I wanted to keep the original zipper that's in the back but it only came up about two inches above the skirt seam. Which meant I would end up with a small zipper potentially making it difficult to get on. Thankfully It didn't turn out that way. So without further ado here it is.

You'll need:
The dress you want to refashion
Scissors
Pins
Sewing machine
Straight edge or ruler
Fabric chalk

Depending on how long your zipper is, you'll need to either measure or eyeball how wide you want the waistband to be and mark it. I wanted mine about an inch or so wide so I marked from where my thumb is about an inch and a half to allow for a 1/2 inch seam.

Make sure the zipper is unzipped and laying closed and cut the top off. Keep the zipper open.

Every project needs coffee.

Your skirt/dress should look something like this.

Turn your skirt inside out. Pinning the zipper and getting it even is the most important part. The nature of the dress I had was very tailored. To compensate for the tailoring I had an uneven looking seam when I pinned it. Measure your seam and then pin according to how wide you want your seam allowance. Pin your waistband making sure all the pins are vertical. This will be very important when it comes time to sew.

While I was pinning I noticed that one of the bodice inseams was coming out. This is easy to fix. I cut off the corners and crosspinned it to keep it in place.

Beginning on the pinned zipper, start sewing using a straight stitch. Make sure you go over the zipper part a couple times to make sure it doesnt come out later on. When I came to the crosspinned part I just went over it, backstitched and then went over it again.

Turn your new skirt inside out and you're done! Depending on where you want your skirt to lay, you might need to sew darts like I did. I wanted mine to be at my waist and not my hips. For darts, simply fold over the waistband and pin in place like in pictures 2&3. Sew vertically.

Like I mentioned earlier, this project was for a skit costume. My character is a twelve year old girl so I think it will work nicely. Thanks for reading, let me know if it was hepful. Comments are always appreciated!