Tutorial Tuesday - The 20 Minute Skirt

Happy Tuesday, all!  Let's take a break from the Royal Baby madness for a skirt tutorial!

My girls love to wear skirts, especially when I make them.  This is a super easy skirt, and literally only takes 20 minutes to make!  All you need are two fabrics, some 1/2 inch wide elastic, and your sewing machine and general sewing stuff (scissors, thread, pins, etc.).  I used Moda's Oh Deer fabric for this - isn't it adorable? 

First, take your daughter's measurements.  I made this skirt for my 8 year old.  Her waist was 22 inches and the length from her waist to her knee (where I wanted the skirt to hit) was 18 inches.

Subtract 3 inches from your waist to knee measurement.  For my daughter, that was 15 inches.  Now add an inch for your elastic casing.  I got 16 inches.  This is the length of the skirt before adding the contrasting band a the bottom. 

Now it's time to make your fabric cuts:

Main Fabric: Length (16 inches, in my case) x 44 inches (selvage to selvage of your fabric)
Contrast Fabric: 7 inches x 44 inches
Elastic: waist measurements plus 1 inch


Here's my fabric after it was cut:

First, fold your contrast fabric in half lengthwise with wrong sides together.  Press well.  Pin the band to the bottom of your main fabric, right sides together, so that the raw edges are lined up.  Using a 1/2 inch seam allowance, sew the two together.

Serge, zig-zag, or pink the edges to finish, press downward towards the band.

Topstich along the top of the band.

Now, if you have a serger you can serge to top edge of the skirt.  If you don't, just fold it over 1/4 inch and then again another 3/4 inch to make the casing for the elastic.

Sew it up, leaving about an inch open so that you can thread your elastic through the casing that you just created. 

Stitch the ends of your elastic together, then sew up the rest of the casing.

Voila!  a cute little skirt that only took you 20 minutes!

I love the band at the bottom - such a fun touch!

Put your skirt on your favorite little girl and watch her twirl!

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