An overall dress from a maxi skirt

My past few refashions have been pretty simple, quick projects. After Christmas, my husband took the kids on a trip for a week, and I wanted to clear out as many items from my refashion pile as possible while they were gone. Recently, though, I had been looking for more of a challenge. I found this too-long maxi skirt by Jones and Co. at a thrift store for a few bucks and fell in love with the soft gray flannel.

Obviously, it wasn't working for me with this length, but I loved the button detail at the waist.

I wasn't sure what to do with it until I saw this super cute overall dress. It was perfect! I started by using a well-fitting skirt on top of the maxi skirt to mark the length, then I cut the top part off with my rotary cutter.

I used my seam-ripper to remove these button facing pieces - they were too cute to be hidden under the flap.

With the buttons removed, I was able to cut the bib for my overalls. The left side here shows how it looked with the raw edge, and the right sides shows how I folded the tab down and then under to create the edges of the bib.

I took in the sides of the skirt, making a nice A-line shape and keeping the original hem. Rather than sew all the way up the sides to the waist, though, I left several inches open at the top on either side. These would form my overlap for the overalls, so I could get them on and off without having to insert a zipper. They also made a sort of pocket in each side. I needed a waistband, so I used the existing back waist band.

I made my own front waistband piece from extra material and sewed the two waistband pieces to the front and the back of the skirt. I also finished the edges of my "pocket" area and sewed on the bib. I made straps from those buttons facings, minus one button each, and some more excess fabric.

Once those were attached, all that remained was a pair of buttonholes at the sides of the waistbands pieces to finish the look. And here it is!

From the back

Close-up with button details.

Now I really can't wait for some warmer weather to wear this piece!

Thanks for reading! 

- Amy