Yesterday, I  made a t shirt quilt, and I had a ton of scraps.  Scraps that were huge and itty bitty.  I was originally going to make a plain skirt, but after staring at it, I decided to try make it have a fish scale texture.

1.  Lay out an old t shirt (I had the bottom half as a scrap) and trace a skirt that already fits you. Cut.

2.  To make a foldover waistband (like on yoga pants) cut one long strip that is twice as tall as what you want the finished waistband to be. Sew up the short sides to make one giant loop.

3.  Turn the raw edges of the waistband to the inside as you fold it in half.  Also, sew the two side seams of the skirt body together.

4.  Place right sides together.  As in, flip the band over so that its raw edges match the skirt body’s raw edges.  When you sew them together, you will sewing through 3 layers of fabric.

5.  All raw edges should be on the inside, stitch them down, and now you can fold over the waist band.

6.  Cut out your first fish scale.  Mine is 4 inches wide, and 3 inches tall.

7.  With tailors chalk, mark where you want your layers to overlap.  I did mine every 1.5 inches, except the bottom.

8.  Cut out a ton of scales.  I did 12 for each row (all the way around the skirt) for 7 rows.  I cut out 84 scales.

9.  Make sure you have your machine set to a stretch/knit setting.  (I didn’t use a normal zig zag because it warps my fabric like crazy.)

10.  Sew your scales onto the body of the skirt, following the lines you drew.  I overlapped my scales half an inch while sewing them onto the skirt.  Also make sure you alternate your rows- this way they won’t line up perfectly.