Skirt Hack: Reverse a Skirt Slit (EASY SEW)

I had a maxi dress that I really liked but the slit was too high for my comfort zone. It was fine if I wanted to wear it to the pool but I wanted more use out of it than that. I figured there had to be others out there like me with a skirt or dress hanging in your closet that you'd like to convert from 'beach' to 'boardroom.' So read on for this super easy skirt hack to put that slit in reverse.

Materials:

• Fabric (similar weight and same color as your skirt) - great use of a scrap
• Steam-a-seam, 1/4" on a roll

• Sewing machine
• Iron
• Thread

With skirt on, pin where you would like your new slit to end. Walk, sit, and even do steps in your pinned skirt to make sure it won't confine your movement.

I took mine from above-mid-thigh to above-knee, a 5.5-inch difference that put me squarely in my comfort zone.

Use a fabric scrap/piece that is similar in color and weight to your skirt. Cut 2 strips that measure 1.5"- 2" wide by however long you want your slit reversed plus 1". I cut the edge of one of my short ends along the selvage which is the manufacturer's finished edge of the fabric.

If your scrap doesn't have this edge, make a 1/4" hem on that side. Of course if you have a serger, you can serge that side to finish it off but, excuse me for stating the obvious, you'd have to use the same color thread. I used a different color so you could see what I was doing.

Finish off the 3 sides of your rectangle pieces with a zig-zag stitch or a serger stitch.

Turn skirt inside-out and iron to remove all wrinkles.

Place 1/4" Steam-a-seam as close to each edge of the slit as possible and with 1/2" above/beyond where the original slit started. Iron (press) on. Once cooled, peel off paper backing and center the rectangle you made over the slit with the selvage/hemmed edge exactly at the spot where you want your new slit to start. Iron again and repeat if you have 2 slits to reverse.

Turn skirt right-side out and start your sewing along the bottom of your rectangle in order to make that side reinforced. You will also end along this bottom side of the triangle and back stitch.

Sew along (on top of) the skirt's original stitching line (where the slit was hemmed by the manufacturer) so as to camouflage the new stitching line. You will basically be sewing a very long & skinny rectangle, leaving your needle in down position each time you pivot a corner.

It's that easy! This skirt hack took me about 15 minutes from start to finish.

Hope you can enjoy more use out of that skirt with a slit needing a little reverse action!

Here's the video tutorial:

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