Skirt Tutorial

*edited to add.... hi... I feel terrible that I have to add this... but this skirt tutorial is provided for your own FOR FUN at home use ONLY, please do NOT take this and make or sell a pattern of it. I just saw today that someone took my patchwork skirt tutorial and is selling a pattern of it... not cool.. I want to keep putting this stuff up for free and to share, but only if everyone can play nice!****

So for about 1 month, I've been stuck inside due to sick kids.... my only outings seem to be to Dr.'s offices or Church... I'm beginning to lose my mind I think... Today while surfing the net to "destress" after my 7 yr old puked all over my car, I found that cute skirt on the Heather Bailey website... I LOVED IT!!! I finally felt like making something! Luckily I stash fabric, and the skirt doesn't take more than 1 yard of a couple of prints... I even had the t-shirt laying around. I love it when I can make a craft and don't have to buy anything for it!


Okay, here is the tutorial for the skirt. Tonight after I got home from church I decided that it was not fitting her right. My daughter is very tiny and the skirt is very full. I decided that it needed a waistband to help the transition from the full skirt to the smaller waist.
btw--- poor kid was throwing up today but I HAD to try it on her ... she was such a good sport and even flashed me a smile.

To make the skirt I started with a tutorial here... House on Hill Road. I can't leave well enough alone and ended up making some changes. It needed some ric-rac.. I love ric rac.. If I were not 35 years old I would sew it to my own clothes!
First of all- it is IMPEARATIVE that you PRESS and steam each piece AS YOU GO.. Don't wait until the end to do it all.. this is the biggest thing you can do to make your garment look professional and not home-made.

First the pattern...
You need:
2 pieces for the skirt top
2 pieces for the underskirt
2 pieces for the skirt band
1 piece for the waistband
To figure out the size of the skirt top, measure your daughters waist... and double it. Sydney's waist was 20" so I cut 2 pieces of fabric 12" x 40"....she is about a size 6x-7. (I picked the 12" length after I measured how long I wanted it to be on her)
For the underskirt add 3" to the length of the top skirt.... and cut two more pieces... so 2 pieces 15"x40"
For the skirt band cut 2 pieces 3.5"x40"
For the waistband measure your daughter's hips and add 2"... Syd's were 24" so I cut 1 piece of fabric 26"x4".... or just add 4-5" to the waist measurement.

To attach the band to the skirt, refer to the tutorial above.
After you have done that, sew the underskirt pieces together at the side seams. Press open.
To attach ric rac to the hem of the skirt, do the following:
The bottom of the skirt will need to be finished in some way before you sew on the ric rac, I just used the overcast stitch, you can also use a zig zag stitch or a serger.




Next pin the 2 skirt pieces together.
Run 2 rows of gathering stitches along the top of the 2 skirt pieces. Set aside. On waistband piece, sew side seams and fold under one side 1/4" and press. Fold under again 1/2" and press. Then sew along bottom edge, leaving open 1/2" to make elastic casing.

Gather skirt and attach to waistband. When I gather skirts, I think it is easier to gather in sections rather than the whole skirt, that way if the thread breaks you don't lose the whole piece.

Sew skirt to the UNFOLDED edge of waistband.

Measure a piece of 1/4" elastic to size and thread into waistband. Sew casing closed.

Press!

Viola! Finished!
Now to make some changes to the t-shirt---- where is a bedazzler when you need one? (I don't have one any suggestions to add some "bling" to the shirt).