Hawaiin Shirt to A-Line Skirt

I love how my title sounded like a line from a poem. Good morning! Does anyone have some fun plans for the weekend? We're travelling some next week because it's spring break and I.am.so.excited. This is the first "kid vacation" we're taking and I can't wait to see PB's face when we get there! By kid vacation I mean one where we go to a certain place because we have kids. We're staying at a resort that has a mini water park. I'm ready to get some shopping in and some good eats!

I am completely ready for spring to get here! We have had some great weather but these dang cold fronts keep coming in from the north! To help encourage some warm weather I decided to make this skirt.

My husband was recently gifted this Hawaiian shirt. I took one look at it and decided he would most likely never wear it. He already has a couple and he hasn't worn them one time in the 7+ years I have known him BUT I liked the pattern and I thought it had great potential. I had visions of a  great high-waisted a-line skirt. I conceptualized and browsed through a few tutorials and this is what I came up with and it has POCKETS! This craft is somewhat wayward. I was making it up as I go so things aren't necessarily in their proper order but this is how I did it:

Need:
One Hawaiian shirt
1.5(ish) yards of lining fabric in coordinating color
A skirt that fits to see basic shape

 The first thing I did was take the pocket off the front. I then cut across the top to take away the collar and shoulders. I wanted the buttons in the back so I buttoned up the shirt and sewed along the left and right seams on either sides of the buttons. I flipped the sleeves in and sewed along the rim to make them face inside. I then flipped the skirt inside out and sewed the sleeves closed to make the pockets. I took the lining fabric and folded it in half top to bottom and side to side. I laid it under the existing skirt and traced along each side adding about half an inch on either side to make a waist band. I cut along the lines and sewed up each side.

 I then flipped it inside out and make sure it fit comparing it to the other skirt. I trimmed the extra fabric on the waist band depth and compared the top of the skirt to the width of the waist band. I added pleats in the front and back to match the sizes. I basted the pleats and then flipped the waist band inside out.

 I put the waist band and matched the corners. I pinned it and sewed along the top.

 I wanted the skirt to be a-line to I noticed the bottom needed to flare more. I used more of the lining fabric I folded it over and traced the line I wanted to skirt to follow. After trying on the skirt I adjusted these. I cut them and sewed the outer edge and then sewed the edge onto the skirt.

I then folded the piece of lining fabric in half and marked the edges of the skirt from the waistband down to make a lining for the skirt. I sewed the lining along the edge where the waistband and the skirt meet. I then decided to make it a tie closure in the back. I cut two 4"x15" (approximate) lengths of the lining fabric and sewed them into tubes and turned them right side out. I cut a 6" seam down the back and flipped them under and sewed them. I sewed the ties onto the waistband and tried it on. I made a couple of adjustments and trimmed off any extra fabric and strings.

 front

 back

Have you stolen permanently borrowed any of your husband's things to upcycle? I have another shirt I have my eye on of his :)