DIY Two Piece Set: Turning Silk Pants into a Gorgeous Summer Set

Hello, my name is Tiffany, and I welcome you to my channel. If you enjoy sewing and upcycling videos, you’re in the right place. I apologize for the long gap between my posts, but I’m finally back with another upcycle by LittleToh, where I breathe new life into old, forgotten items. Currently, I’m back in New York while renovations are still happening in the Kentucky house, so there will be a bit of back and forth. But for now, I’m thrilled to be home, reunited with my sewing machine.

In today’s video, I’m going to show you how I transformed a pair of gingham silk pants I found at an estate sale into a perfect summery two-piece set. I love making sets because of the versatility they offer, with the ability to mix and match the pieces.

I started by seam ripping the original pants. These are the pieces for the front of the pants, and I’ve kept them sewn together along the center front seam. I measured 5 inches on the inseam and made a mark, then measured and marked 16 inches on the outseam. I cut straight across using the gingham print as a guide. I repeated these steps for the other side, and here are the front of my shorts.

This is the back of the pants, and again, I kept them sewn together along the center back seam. Using the front of my shorts as a guide, I cut them to the length that I need, and here is the back of my shorts. Now, I’m placing the front piece right side spacing, and I’ll sew together along this side, but I’ll only sew from this point to the hem on this side, leaving the top open for the zipper.

I’m using an invisible zipper and I’ll insert it into the opening. Here is the zipper sewn on, and I’m going to use bias tape to hide the raw edges of the seam allowance. I’m sandwiching the raw edge between the bias tape and also to secure on both sides. Here is a close-up of what that looks like, and it just makes me so happy because everything looks so clean.

I know that this may seem a little bit tedious, and it definitely adds a few additional steps, but it just makes me so proud to see the inside look just as nice as the outside. Here are the shorts so far with the zip zone on, and the next step is to attach the waistband that I saved from the original pants.

I start by unfolding the waistband, lining up this edge with the top of my shorts, and I’ll sew this together all the way around. Here is what it should look like with the front of the waistband attached, but the back still left unsewn. To sew that on, I’ll stitch in the ditch all the way along the front, but for the back also from here to here, leave a small gap, continue sewing, leaving another gap, and then I’ll continue sewing the rest of the way.

I have my shorts turned inside out, and here are the two gaps that I left open. I’m using three-quarter inch elastic, and I’ve already attached a safety pin to one end. Then I feed the elastic through the waistband and pin the side in place. I continue to feed the elastic through, creating these gathers, and then pinned the other side in place. I removed the safety pin and tucked the rest of the elastic into the waistband. I’ll sew the elastic to the waistband here and then finish sewing the rest of the waistband to the shorts.

Adding elastic is totally optional. I just personally like to have a little bit of stretch in my clothes because some days I get a little bloated. This is what the back of the shorts should look like now with the elasticized waist. The last step is to hem by folding up twice, hiding any raw edges, and sewing with a straight stitch.

Moving on to the top, my original plan was to turn these pants into a romper, but I decided to go with a two-piece set instead, just because I felt it would be a little bit more versatile since I’ll be able to mix and match the pieces. I’m going to be making a pretty simple crop top with a lace-up back, and I am using a pattern that I self-drafted, but I think I’m going to upload it and link it down below so that you have access to it as well if you want to recreate this top.

Using leftover fabric from one of the pant legs, I folded it in half, and using the pattern I drafted, I cut out my front piece. Next, I’ll sew the darts, and this is what the front bodice should look like now. Moving on to the back, this is my pattern, and here it is cut out of the fabric. I’m placing my pieces right side spacing, and I’ll sew together along the side seams, and it should look something like this.

Next is to add the straps. I want to make really thin, long straps for this top, but to make things a little bit easier, I’m going to show you how I do this with a smaller piece of fabric. I start with a strip of fabric, and I’m folding it right side spacing. I’ll sew these together, creating a long tube, starting wider on this end, tapering in, and then continuing with my desired width the rest of the way.

Following the same steps, I made these two long straps, and now I’ll sew them to the front of the top. Here, this is what it looks like sewn on, and now I’ll make the loops for the lace-up back. I went ahead and made more straps and cut them into 10 even pieces. I’ll fold this, making a little loop, and then I’ll place the loop on the top and sew that in place. I’ll sew five loops to each side, and here is a close-up of what that looks like sewn on.

Now that I’ve sewn all the loops to both sides, I’m placing my lining that I made using an old bed sheet right sides facing, making sure to line up the side seams. Starting from this point, I’ll sew these pieces together all the way around, leaving a small gap at the bottom here. Here’s what the top should look like now, and from the hole that I left, I’m going to turn the top over to the right side, and you should have something that looks like this.

To sew up the hole, I’m going to press and then top stitch all the way around, and here is what the top should look like now. I also wanted to show you a close-up of what the loops look like when they’re turned to the right side. The last step is to lace up the straps along the back, and this top is finally complete.

This matching set makes me so happy, and I’m so excited to wear it all summer. I love the simple neckline off the top, and I especially love that everything is adjustable. I hope you all enjoyed this video, and I promise to be better at keeping a posting schedule, and I’ll definitely post more often.

If you want to see more photos of this outfit, make sure you follow me on Instagram @LittleToh. And if you liked this video, make sure to give it a thumbs up and subscribe to my channel. Leave me a comment down below because that really helps me out. As always, thank you so much for watching.