Infant Girl Clothes: The Cuff Skirt Tutorial

In the last cold snap, I realized my daughter barely had any warm dressy clothes.  Using a flannel shirt of my husbands that was headed for Goodwill, I made a skirt from the shirt sleeves before church that morning.  Yes, I did this in like two hours, and that was figuring it out as I went.  What does that mean?  It’s easy and it’s quick, and you can make one too.  I’ve made another one, slightly more refined, complete with step-by-step instructions and photos!  I’ve dubbed it,  the “cuff skirt.”  So, if you’re wanting to make some infant girl clothes on the cheap, this skirt is for you.  Read on…

You will need:
-1 men’s dress shirt (mine is a size large).  The larger the shirt, the larger the sleeves, the bigger the size skirt you can make.
-Coordinating thread
-Sewing Machine
-Needle
-Fabric Scissors
-Fabric Measuring Tape

Let’s begin!  Start with a men’s shirt that would be discarded.  This had an ink stain in and around the pocket.  I starched and ironed mine before beginning.

Next, cut off the sleeves.

Seam rip at the button placket (the area where the buttons are).

Cut the sleeve at the joint of the placket, so the sleeve fabric lies flat now.

Now it should look like the picture below.  Repeat with the other sleeve.

Remove buttons from one of the sleeves.

To preview how the skirt will look, with right sides together, button one of the cuffs.  Note that one sleeve’s right side is still the right side and one sleeve’s wrong side is now the right side.  This is important.

Now determine your skirt length (measuring the recipient if possible), and add 2 1/2″ for the hem.  My skirt length will be 10″, so my total length is 12 1/2″.  (My skirt fits my daughter who ranges from a 9 month to a 12 month size.)

Cut sleeves to length.

With the scraps from the excess sleeve, cut two rectangles.  The width should be two times the width of the button placket, and the length should be slightly longer (1/2″) from the hem to the end of the button placket.  In my picture, there was a seam about 2/3 of the way down the placket, and I’m going to have my strip start there (as the arrow shows).  Yours may be different.  My rectangles measure 2″x6″ if that helps.

Fold over the top and sides of the little rectangle so it matches the width of the button placket and the length of the skirt.  Starch and Iron.

Pin rectangle fabric in place (as shown below).  Right sides together.

And sew.

Pin the other side in place.

Topstitch on three sides as shown below.

One side done!

Repeat the folding, pinning, and sewing for the other side.

Pin the cuffs so that the waist will be the proper size.  Then sew up the side without the buttons, making one side of the skirt fixed.

Fold up the hem 1/2″, then again 2″ all the way around, and pin in place.

Sew as close to the top hem as possible.

Add the previously seam-ripped buttons on top of the buttonholes on the fixed side, securing well.

Press your finished garment and you are done!

Enjoy on your little girl!

now in flannel! (This was my original skirt.)

If the little girl is older, say over 12 months, in-line pockets could be a nice addition where the button plackets are.  I thought about adding them, but I know my daughter is still too young to care about pockets, so I just got some extra sleep.

If you make this skirt, please let me know, and add your pics to the Handmade Baby Clothes Flickr group!

If you would like other inspiration about turning men’s shirts into handmade baby clothes, look here where I took the rest of the afore-mentioned flannel shirt and turned it into a dress.  Also I have another inspiration post of other men’s shirts turned baby dresses here.

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