Turning a maxi skirt or dress into (harem) pants?

Hi, everyone.

I bought a summery maxi dress and would like to “quickly” sew a jumpsuit out of it. Is this alteration even possible? Like, just cut it open in the middle, sew the pieces back together as pant legs, and voilà—I have pants? Or will I run out of fabric around the butt and crotch area, if you know what I mean... Though it’s not a tight-fitting piece—it’s more of a loose, flowy style. Has anyone ever done this before?

Best regards,
Karola

It won’t work the way you described it. What you can do is get a pants pattern and place it on the skirt, BUT fold the skirt in half at the side seams so that the front and back of the skirt each have the fabric fold in the same place. Then place the pants pattern on top of that and see if you have enough fabric. That’s because the back of the pants always requires more fabric than the front if they’re going to fit properly. You can usually forget about the top part because, due to bust darts or extra width in the front to accommodate the female bust, it will most likely end up being too tight in terms of fabric usage.
You’re better off buying a nice, lightweight cotton fabric with a minimal amount of spandex and sewing the pants from that—you’ll definitely be better off.
Conversely, if you want to turn pants into a skirt, that always works, but turning a skirt or dress into pants is problematic because there’s usually not enough fabric for the back of the pants.

Best regards, Inge

I’ve never tried anything like that before.

Have you ever tried sewing the skirt section into two pant legs with large stitches? But don’t cut it yet—just make a seam down the leg and then try it on to see how it roughly fits and looks. Depending on the type of fabric, it can drape very differently.

Or you could separate the top and skirt sections, cut the pants out of them, and then sew them back together.

I’m curious to see what other suggestions come up or if anyone has done this before. 

Inge beat me to it. So my answers and ideas are moot now that I’ve read Inge’s post. Inge is a pro when it comes to sewing and giving advice.  

To help you understand better, I took a photo of a worksheet from my apprenticeship; here you can see exactly what the pattern pieces for the front and back of the pants should look like. The front piece is always narrower at the crotch than the back piece, because the butt has to fit in there :-)

Best regards, Inge

Thanks, Inge and Petra.

Yes, Inge, that’s pretty much what I thought. I just couldn’t quite visualize it. Now it’s clearer to me. Too bad, though...

I’ll probably try something anyway—I know myself; once I get an idea in my head... 😄.

Well, I’ve only ever done it the other way around—turning a boring pair of pants into a great, flowy maxi skirt. Back then, we used to sew in gussets of contrasting fabric to make it wider. Maybe it’ll work the other way around too, somehow.

Thanks, Veronika.
If I figure something out, I’ll show it to you.

Karola, here’s a link where you can see that you can easily turn pants into a skirt, but doing it the other way around is more of a problem because there simply isn’t enough fabric for it

https://www.crazypatterns.net/de/forum/topic/191240/ich-war-mal

Best regards, Inge

Thank you, Inge.
The skirt turned out great!

I always admire your sewing skills.

Kind regards
Karola

Thanks, Karola. I actually trained professionally in this field and later took a course in pattern drafting. Today, I really need these skills because, unfortunately, due to various surgeries, I’ve become a bit lopsided—my right side is a good 4 cm shorter than my left—but with clever pattern cutting, I can correct it quite well. You really only notice it when you’re standing right in front of me; otherwise, it’s hardly noticeable—or not at all.

Best regards, Inge

Dear Inge,

How wonderful that your profession and the skills you’ve gained from it are proving so valuable to you today. Thank you for so generously sharing your knowledge here.

Best regards
Karola