Layered Denim Skirt

We often receive hand-me-downs, and although I really appreciate them, the items that we need usually aren't in the bag.  Evie has piles and piles of jeans...but nothing appropriate for church.  Her last bag of hand-me-downs had several pairs of "skinny jeans."  Why anyone would buy skinny jeans is a mystery to me.  Although Evie is skinny enough for most skinny jeans, there were some pairs that were too skinny for any healthy child.  Instead of passing the unwearable jeans to the thrift store, I decided to repurpose them and fill in Evie's wardrobe gap!

I combined two tutorials I found online: one is from my friend's blog and the other is Dana's Layered Skirt.  The jeans were cut just above the legs (but under the back pockets) and the fabric (scored from my favorite thrift store) was cut from selvedge to selvedge in four inch strips.  Evie had a great idea about halfway through the sewing...I should have left some of the legs attached so she wouldn't have to wear leggings or shorts underneath.  Next time, I will leave some leg!

I serged, hemmed, gathered, attached, pinned, and sewed two layers of ruffles...each layer used three four-inch strips: two for the ruffle, one for the layer... (boy, do I hate gathers)...

 ...refilled my bobbin after I sewed the last ruffle strip...and then sewed the ruffle on for real the second time...

...and then made a little belt out of the seventh four-inch strip of fabric!  Not a scrap of the fabric went to waste.  The little edges I trimmed off before I started cutting the strips were just perfect for a...

...Scrappy Hair Flower!  I'm sure looking forward to Sunday! (The color is strange in the last two pictures. The actual color is better represented by the first three pictures.)  I love the feeling of getting two items out of the junk pile and back into serving a purpose!