Ta Da! Double layer skirt.

Wow was it ever nice today. Mary didn't actually wear this today but it was definitely skirt weather. The perfect time to whip up a few new skirts for the cute little girls crawling out of the wood work in your home. Okay so not everyone has a substantial girl population at their house like I do but this skirt is really easy to make and doesn't take very long so it would make a great gift as well. The best part about this pattern is it goes off of 2 body measurements so you can make it any size from preemie to adult. If you're the kind of adult that likes to wear girly looking little skirts anyway ;).

 

* Edited to add-  One of my super fabulous readers Kilty from Sewforum made this tutorial into a pdf document so it can be printed.  If you’d like to print it to have the instructions in hand while you’re making it you can save it from here.

Another reader Elizabeth from Sisters in Zion Recipes made an excel document that will calculate the fabric cuts for you based on your waist and length measurements.  Just change those two fields and you’re set. You can download that here.

Thanks a ton ladies, you rock! *

 

I made my skirt about a size 5 out of home dec fabric that was 60" wide. I'll list the measurements and yardage I used for Mary's skirt and tell you how to measure for any other size as well, it just takes a second to find another size and to figure how much fabric you need. It isn't a hard skirt at all so don't freak at my desperate attempt to explain the easy sizing and cutting.

 

Lets get started shall we? Here are the approximate materials you will need, you'll need more for larger sizes and less if you are doing a preemie size, obviously ;).

Under skirt fabric- 3/4 yard (1/2 yard for 60" fabric)
Top skirt fabric- 3/4 yard (1/2 yard for 60" fabric)
Waistband fabric and top skirt binding- 1/4 yard

3/8" elastic length of the real waist measurement

Matching thread
A rotary cutter and mat with a ruler are really handy but optional

To cut your pieces first you need to measure the waist size and the length you want your skirt to be. Measure your child's waist and add 5". This gives us the measurement for the waistband and how wide to cut the underskirt. For a full skirt you multiply the waist + 5" by 2. If you want a slightly less gathered skirt you multiply that by 1.75 or 1.5 but not less than that. You're also going to need to measure how long you want your skirt. There are several different ways you can do this but 2 that work best for me is to find a skirt you already like the length of and measure that from waist to bottom hem or measure your child from your child's waist to the desired length.

Waistband cut- 1 rectangle 4" by waist measurement + 5". Mary's waist is 20" so I cut a rectangle that was 4"x 25". Hint: Having two side seams makes gathering easier so you can fold this rectangle in half and cut it on the fold to get two pieces that are 4"x 12.5" so you have 2 side seems to match both skirts to for gathering.

Under skirt cut- 2 rectangles that are the length of the skirt measurement by the waistband measurement. From waist to knee Mary measured 13" so I cut two rectangles measuring 13" x 25". (Don't worry about the extra length from the waistband here, it will get used up with seams and elastic casing so cut the under skirt the length you want your skirt to be not the length you want just that part of the skirt to be. Does that make sense?)

Top skirt cut- 1 rectangle that's 4" shorter than the under skirt width wise (waist measurement doubled because the under skirt is in 2 pieces) and about 3" shorter length wise. My underskirt was 13" long and 50" wide total (double the waist measurement) so I cut one rectangle that was 10" x 46".

Top skirt binding- 2 strips of fabric 2"x 44" (2" x 60" if using home dec weight).

That really was the most painful part. Now to the fun part, construction! I used an average seam allowance and zig zagged after every seam I sewed.

First- Sew the waistband with the fabric facing right sides together at the side seams on both sides. Set aside.

Next sew the underskirt together with right sides facing each other at the side seams. Set aside.

Sew the 2 strips of top skirt binding, right sides together, on one side making a one long strip. Press the seam to one side then press the strip in half right sides facing out. Fold the outside edges in towards the center of the fold and press again.


Fold your binding in half at the center fold and press. Your raw edges should be on the inside when folded now.

Open the binding and place the raw edge of your upper skirt fabric on the inner binding fold. Fold the binding over the fabric and pin in place on the 2 ends and bottom edge of your upper skirt.

Sew your binding as close as you can to the outer edge on the outside making sure you catch the binding on the inside as well.

Your upper skirt should look like this now with your continuous binding sewn on.

Grab your outer skirt fabric and turn it right side out. Lay it on top of your upper skirt fabric with the outside edge of your upper skirt fabric extending about 7" from the underskirt side hem. Making sure the top edges line up fold the upper skirt around the underskirt and pin along the top edge.

Sew 2 gathering stitches along the top edge at about 1/4" and 1/2" through both layers of fabric at once. Set aside. (If you choose home decorator fabric I have a nifty trick for gathering that's a lot easier than this but it's not as easy to control so if you're interested just leave a comment and I'll show it later, it's 1 a.m. right now)


Grab your waistband and fold over the top edge about 1/4" and press.

Grab your skirt layers and pin the top edge of the skirt to the bottom edge (unfolded edge) of the waistband, right sides together, matching side seams and pull your threads to gather. Pin in place then sew. I always sew around the gathers twice for good measure. Press the seam up towards the waistband.

Fold the top edge (folded edge) of the waistband under another 1/2" to form the casing for your elastic. Pin and sew close to the edge and leave an opening for your elastic. Thread the elastic through and sew. Sew casing shut. Fold the bottom hem of the skirt about 1/2" and press, fold again by another 1/2" and sew in place.

Viola`! I'm sure there's something I'm leaving out so don't hesitate to let me know if something doesn't make sense or I left a step out. It's really late and I'm out of chocolate!

I want to make Mary a matching shirt and fabric flower to match so I'll post pictures when I'm done. If you make one I would love to see a picture or if you have any questions don't hesitate to ask. I'm not the fastest at responding but I always do eventually- dontlickthefloor@hotmail.com .

Happy sewing!!!

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