Here's a quick and easy sewing project, perfect when you only have a half hour to sew. It's also a wardrobe-stretcher - a terrific way to use T-shirts that are too short for your daughter, or have stains along the hemline.

What You Need:

* A T-shirt that fits, although it may be too short

* Fabric for a skirt (instructions for calculating how much you need are found below)

* Sewing machine

* Thread

* Pins

* Iron

* Ironing board


How to Do It:

1. Begin by measuring the width and length of the shirt.
2. Multiply the width by 4; this is the width the skirt fabric should be. Divide the length by 2; this is the length of the skirt. (Naturally, you may make the skirt longer or shorter, as you see fit.) Cut the fabric into a rectangle following these measurements.

3. Fold the skirt fabric in half, right sides together. Sew the two short ends together. Finish the seam edges with a zig-zag stitch.


4. Run two rows of gathering stitches along the top edge of the skirt. (To do this, use a long stitch length and stitch one row about 1/4 from the edge of the cloth. Break the stitching at the seam. Run another row of long stitches a scant 1/2 from the edge of the cloth.)

5. If the T-shirt has a thick hem, cut it off.
6. Pin the center back of the skirt to the center back of the shirt. Pin the center front of the skirt to the center front of the T-shirt. (Hint: Lay the T-shirt on a flat surface. Turn the skirt wrong side out. Slide the skirt, waist side down, over the T-shirt and align the edges of the two pieces of cloth.)

7. Gather the skirt fabric evenly and pin it in place. Stitch the skirt in place. Finish the seam edges with a zig-zag stitch.
7. Lay the skirt on an ironing board and turn under the hem of the skirt a scant 1/4 inch. Press. Turn the folded end under another 1/4 inch and pin in place. Stitch the hem in place.