Monday, December 10, 2007

Easy Skirt Tutorial

I have made a few skirts for the girls recently. They are so quick and easy to make so I thought I'd write a tutorial for the easiest two year old skirt. I have made a few that are all one fabric and some that have two different fabrics. This skirt fits about a 48cm (19") waist and the girls are about 86cm (33 1/2") tall.

1. Cut two fabric pieces - the top one is about 28" by 9" (sorry all my measurements are in inches as I use my quilting board and rulers to cut)
- the bottom is 34" by 5.25"

2. Sew the hems to make two circles and overlock or zigzag stitch the edges.
3. Increase your stitch length on your machine (I turn mine to 4) and with a long tail of cotton sew around the top of the bottom piece. leave a long tail at the end as well. Pull the top tail of cotton at each end gently to gather.
4. Pin to the top piece, matching seams and easing to fit.
5. Sew and then overlock or zigzag. I iron towards the top and then topstitch.
6. Overlock the hem and fold up and sew.
7. Overlock the top and sew down leaving enough width to thread through elastic and a small opening to thread it through. I like to top stitch as well - I think it stops the elastic twisting.

8. Thread the elastic through - I use big safety pins and sew it up. Then sew up the opening. The only elastic I use now is non roll ribbed elastic and for children's clothes I use 3/4" (20mm).

9. Finished!


50 comments:

Blossom said...

Hi Kate, Thanks so much for the tutorial. I've been making LOTS of little girl's skirts lately so a variation like yours is great. Hope the pregnancy is going as smoothly as it can. Love Ainslie

Anonymous said...

thankyou! Am off to make one for my almost 2 year old.

turningwheelfarm said...

Thanks for the tutorial I like easy small things to make. By the time I actually finish a skirt it will be time to wear them again probably! :)

melissa said...

thank you, kate! i've always loved the sweet little skirts you've amde for your girls. I'm looking forward to trying this out! x

Philigry said...

love these skirts! ia m going to make some of these for my two year old!thanks for sharing! and i love that bunny so sweet!

Anonymous said...

Thanks so much for this Kate! I haven't yet made the girls skirts so this will be one of my summer projects.

Anonymous said...

Oh that tutorial looks great. Wish I could get away with wearing one.

Anonymous said...

what a cute skirt!

Sue said...

Thanks for the tutorial Kate. I might have to see if I can make it bigger to fit Isabelle. They are so cute.

Anonymous said...

Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you for the tutorial. I've been wanting to make my daughter a skirt but didn't know where to begin. I guess I could have bought a book. Thanks for saving me the trouble and posting a tutorial for it. Good stuff!

Kris said...

Great tutorial! I just had to say that I like to topstitch the elastic casing too, cause I think it stops the elastic from twisting! Very, very cute skirt.

fi said...

easy peasy, thanks Kate off to make one or two now!!!

nikkishell said...

Gorgeous! I'm having a kids clothes sewing frenzy at the moment for my girls so i'll be adding these to the list.
Thanks:)

Annie said...

That skirt is georgous Kate. I'm trying to think of a 2 year old I know of that I can make it for. Well done for braving some "big shops" I'm terrible at going to them and have loved finding the internet - much more exciting getting things delivered in the post.

tea time and roses said...

Thank you so much for this tutorial. I like easy sweet patterns...thanks!!

Smiles...

Beverly

Melissa Goodsell said...

This is an awesome little tutorial, thanks so much!
Melx

Jenny said...

thanks for the great pattern...I am a non-sewer and just made this skirt this evening....can't wait to see it on my daughter!

said...

Thanks for the tutorial. I whipped a skirt out for my daughter last night in about an hour. Thanks!

Unknown said...

so cute, great job, pictures are perfect!

Anonymous said...

Hi Kate,
THANKYOU SO MUCH. I have had a Janome sitting in my study for over 4 years and I have only ever made an apron. Thanks to you I have just made my first skirt for my 2 year old niece, I have a feeling she is going to love it...

Anonymous said...

Love it, love it! It was easy, and super cute. I posted pictures here: http://aspiringartistry.typepad.com/aspiring_artistry/2008/08/the-one-nap-ski.html

Em said...

This is great! I love how you put fabrics together. I myself have been dabbling in skirt territory myself lately, what with the need to bring on some Christmas bling in our house!:)

Kristin Sellars said...

I love this skirt! I was just wondering though...how long a piece of elastic should I use (19 inches?)? Thanks!

Anne said...

Great tutorial! I posted a link to your project on Craft Gossip Sewing Blog:
http://sewing.craftgossip.com/tutorial-simple-gathered-skirt-for-little-girls/2009/03/10/
--Anne

Brooke said...

I'm thoroughly inspired, which is exactly what I was craving to be. Thanks for the great idea! :)

Anonymous said...

So cute! Thanks.

michelle@somedaycrafts said...

Love it! I linked to this!

Unknown said...

I'm so glad I found this. I'm getting ready to make some clothing for my store and want to crochet the bodice and attach a gathered skirt to create some summer dresses. This tutuorial helped give me some ideas!

Christine - Origami Mommy said...

I just made this skirt and linked back to your tutorial. I loved it. It was a very easy skirt for me to make and your photos and instructions were great for a newbie sewer like myself.
http://www.origamimommy.org/2009/07/felt-sweets-and-twirly-skirts.html

Zura said...

oohh..just found this! perfect for my 2 year old I'll be making this tonite! thanks!

jennifer said...

hi, I got a little sewing bug just before school was to start a few weeks ago, started searching and found your skirt. Wanted to post a pic of the finished outfit, but I don't see how...Anyway, thanks so much! JGA

Kimmie said...

Hi Kate;

Thanks for sharing this. It looks very easy and your *how-to* is very understandable.

I hope to squeeze out some time in the next few days to whip up a bunch. Randi (I have to Sew) is helping me gather skirts for the mission field in Chile.
Want to sew? Or tell your reader/friends...we only have a short time to gather skirts this time...the team is off the end of the first week of November...

thanks again for sharing your skirt. I appreciate it.

Kimmie
mama to 7
one homemade and 6 adopted

עינת said...

thanx! do you think it will work on corderoy as well?

Anonymous said...

Pretty cool site you've got here. Thanks for it. I like such themes and everything connected to this matter. I would like to read more soon.

michele said...

thanks for the tutorial! i made one today and linked back to you! very easy, clear instructions....the hardest part was the math for figuring out my daughter's size! (and that's pretty sad as i was an accounting major *sigh*)

http://mfnusz.blogspot.com/2010/01/punk-princess-skirt.html

Anonymous said...

It is rather interesting for me to read the post. Thank you for it. I like such topics and anything connected to this matter. I definitely want to read more on that blog soon.

Best wishes
Alice Tudes

The Hobby Barrel said...

Really great easy skirt tutorial! I love fun and flirty skirts. I have a skirt how to on my site. Check it out and let me know what you think.
The-Hobby-Barrel

Unknown said...

I had forgotten how little material it takes to make little girl skirts, and how quickly they whip up! I made the bottom ruffle much longer, and added a 'poof' in it. Took about an hour, and we now have a very cute twirly skirt :)
I'll be posting the results on my blog once my eldest girl finishing sewing her skirt. :)
www.naturallysidetracked.blogspot.com

ILikePaperCutting said...

I have just made one using your tutorial. Thanks.

Jennifer Harris said...

I am really new to sewing but wanted to learn to make clothes for my little girl. I thought this skirt looked like a pretty easy project. My only problem was I was unsure of what it meant by using "a long tail of cotton sew around the top of the bottom piece. leave a long tail at the end as well". What does this mean. Are you using another piece of fabric? I would love someone to explain this step. I would really like to make this skirt.

Kate said...

Hi Jennifer, it just means when you sew the gathering stitches have enough cotton at each end so you can hold on to it and pull the stitches to gather them. Good luck!

Stephanie said...

Thank you so much for your tutorial. I found it online last night, and made a skirt for my daughter in 45 minutes... which is fantastic for a beginner like myself. Can't wait to do it again!!

Julie said...

How darling is this?! I just adore that print combination. So cheery!

Kathy said...

Thank you for the great pattern. I made one for my granddaughter out of Toy Story fabric (her favorite characters as of the moment). It turned out great.

Sara Sousa said...

Super cute skirt! I'm on my second one now, and I've increased the width on the bottom piece (for 2T) to 40". It gives 6 extra inches of material to get a good ruffle! It's super cute... not that yours isn't! I was experimenting. Just personal preference! THANKS for sharing an easy (for me) and fun (for my daughter to wear) pattern!

erika said...

Hi. New to sewing and just wanted to know how I would come up with the width of each piece of fabric for the size of my girls? Thanks!

Kate said...

Hi Erika, I have put measurements for a bigger size in another tutorial, just go to the tutorials at the top of the page, otherwise do a google search there are so many tutorials out there.

Anonymous said...

i love this skirt its gorgeous i would like to make one for my daughter she is 6 and her measurements are waist 24" and i need the overall length to be 15" approx im a newbie so i was hoping you may be able to help me out with how much fabric i will need for each piece please? x

Becky J. said...

You have been featured on a +30 little girls skirt round up- thanks for your great tutorial! http://www.patchworkposse.com/2013/07/30-elastic-waist-skirt-tutorials-little-girl-summer-skirts/

Unknown said...

My daughter is 7 and whilst I am a craft sewer and embroiderer,I have never done any dressmaking.Found an easy skirt to make and after 10 minutes just need to fit elastic which I have ordered. Cannot believe how easy it is so will be doing a ruffle bottom like yours next!! Thanks for the tutorial, wish I had done some a few years ago when she was younger.