DIY vintage long skirt to pinafore dress

Hey!
Here is a little dress I made using an old vintage skirt I got for a £1 in a charity shop. I was just going to turn it up and make it into a skater skirt but I thought I had loads of fabric left that I could make a pinafore dress from! 

Here is the before:

It had a nice fit actually, with pockets and an elasticated waist.

And here is the after pics:

 Pinafore dress DIY, watch Michael Kors (fake from ebay), Vans Authentics from Office, Grey T from H&M

How I did it:

1. Turn up the skirt. Try on, pin it to desired length, overlock the raw edges (or just use pinking shears to finish), hem on the machine. 
2. With remaining fabric cut out a square to use as the top part. I don't have exact measurements for this, I just used trial and error depending on how wide/high I wanted it to come on my front.
3. Sew your square right side to right side with more of the skirt fabric (only if you have enough), or another cotton. Leave a gap to turn right way out, and iron.
4. Add button holes using a function on a machine, or by hand if you're clever. Add them to the two top corners where your straps will be fastened.
5. Pin the square onto the waistband and topstitch across neatly to join the two. Make sure you try it on so you're happy with where it sits on the body and that its even.
6. With remaining skirt fabric make straps. Mine were 4cm wide and I cut out a piece of fabric 9cm wide and as long as I could. 
7. Sew strip into a tube and turn inside out. Press with a hot iron making sure the seam is straight down the back of the strap. 
8. Measure how big each strap needs to be and cut your long strap to size. I crossed mine over but you don't have to!
9. Hem the straps' raw edges. Pin on straps at the back, try on to make sure you're happy, then sew the straps down.
10. Add buttons to the other ends of the straps.
11. Cut off any dangly threads and you're done.

This was surprisingly easy to do and I'm really happy with how its turned out. But I think its definitely not warm enough to wear yet, and I'm definitely too pale!

If you have basic sewing knowledge you could make this from any old skirt. Just as long as its long enough to make the pinafore part and straps. 

Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed. In the future I will try and do a step by step of how I alter my clothes as that will probably be easier to understand!

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What I wore - friends leaving party

Hi!

Just thought I would share what I wore out the other night to a leaving do. The three boys in question I went to nursery, primary school and high school with, so you could say I have grown up with them. They leave to go to Australia for 2 years at the end of the month; so it was an emotional but amazing night with some people I haven't seen in a long, long time! 

Here's what I wore:

This is a very bargainous outfit- 

Top £3 from Primark that I made into a crop.

Skirt 99p from Primark via ebay. Favourite skirt ever for day, night and work.

Bag around £12 from H&M, tassel on zip fell off when it was stolen in a club :(

Watch from Marc by Marc Jacobs, not so cheap.

and the SHOES were my last purchase from Office which were £58 without staff discount. I quit my job at Office just because I got bored of working 6 days a week and wanted to enjoy my weekends. I am obsessed with them, the colour, the style, everything! I can't stop looking at them! Buy them online here.

I was very happy with this outfit; I like the clash of the different blues and I'm a big fan of the bodycon midi skirt and crop top combo right now!

And I've had my hair 're-ombréd'. Not 100% sold on it because its just such a difference from my natural colour of dark brown. But for summer it makes a nice change. 

Thanks for reading!

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Charity shop buys this week

Hello,
Here's a little look at some of the bargains I have found this week. Safe to say I am pretty obsessed with charity shops; high street shops are closing all over the place in Ipswich at the moment which sucks but this does mean that charity shops may take over the town. They are popping up everywhere which can only be a good thing for me!
Also I am doing this post entirely on my new iPad! So bare with me the camera quality is TERRIBLE. I really should invest in a new camera by the time I go back to college.

So first up my beautiful black shoulder bag

Look at all those pockets! It's everything I could want in a bag. The perfect size, simple design, gold detailing, real leather, and only £2.50. (Purse inside is from All Saints)

Black and gold art deco style gold necklace £1 - its like a smaller, daintier version of the House of Harlow one. 

Dungaree skater skirt £3 originally from Primark. It had some naff gold buttons on it so i swapped them for plain black ones.

Huge tweed blazer. This is taking oversized to the extreme, but Im not sure how feasible altering it would be. But it was 50p. Wasnt exactly going to leave it behind!
I also got a navy Jack Wills jumper!!! and a cream cardigan, and a burgundy oversized silky top from Topshop Maternity (ahem).
I think I could shop solely in Primark and charity shops and I would be happy!
Thanks for reading, and apologies again for the awful photos.