I don't know about you, but spring for me is all about wearing lots of skirts and dresses. After months of damn cold weather, it's heavenly to walk with bare legs and a fluffy skirt flowing in the wind.
So, it was only natural that I itched to sew a gathered skirt. The idea and fabric of this skirt have been sitting on my fabric shelf for years, and with just a few hours of sewing time they were converted into my new favorite skirt.
It was so quick and easy that I thought I'd share the process with you in case you wanted to make yourself a pretty skirt to walz around in. Just click "read more" below to see the full tutorial.
Preparations:
- Fabric - measure the desired length of your skirt, and add the hem allowance (5 cm). You're skirt width should be at least 1.5 times the width of your hips. Cut a square with those measurements.
- Lining is optional - if you want to underline your skirt, you'll need almost the same amount of fabric as your main skirt, only cut the lining square about 10 cm shorter.
- You'll also need wide elastic for the waistband. The elastic band should be a couple of cm smaller than your waist measurement.
First, fold the hem and iron in place. Then sew the hem.
Next, put the lining and skirt fabric together so that the lining in on the wrong side of the skirt fabric, and all the sides except the hem are aligned. Sew the lining to the skirt fabric either with a serger or a zig-zag stitch on your regular sewing machine.
Gather the waist of the skirt slightly. Gather to the point when you can still comfortably pull the skirt up over your hips. Now pin the skirt to the elastic band. Make sure to pin evenly, checking that the center and quarter points meet. Now sew the waistband to the skirt with a zig-zag or straight stitch pulling the elastic as you go.
Great tutorial Hannah! Love the fabric and the giant elastic... You've inspired me to try something similar.
ReplyDeletex Elena @Randomly Happy
Thanks, Elena! Always nice to be an inspiration! Happy sewing!
DeleteGosh you make it sound so simple and the finished result looks great! Enjoy :)
ReplyDeleteHelen, sewing is easier than you might think :D
DeleteI linked this tutorial to my site, I think its fabulous
ReplyDeleteThanks, Donna!
DeleteThanks for making a tute that makes the elastic look glamorous. I always feel like it looks so lame, but now I'm not afraid to try it out. :D
ReplyDeleteI guess we've all been taught by style-shows on tv (like What not to wear and such) that elastic waistbands are evil, but there are so many pretty elastics in the fabric stores right now that an elastic waist can look very stylish and pretty. Hope you'll give it a try!
DeleteHi, so, I was wondering how you gathered the skirt and sewed it before attaching it to the elastic. In the third or fourth picture (depending on what you count as the instruction photos), the skirt is already gathered and sewed before it is pinned to three places on the elastic. How did you do that? Otherwise, seriously great help! I'm just stuck on that one place and can't wait to finish it!
ReplyDeleteHi! You're totally right, I haven't really explained that step very well. So, once the lining is sewed to the skirt fabric, sew two straight seams along the waistline of the skirt (at this point it's just a big rectangle) with a long stitch (I set the stitch length to 4). The seams should be about 0,5cm apart. Then pull from the upper 2 threads of the 2 seams and that will start to gather the fabric. The amount of gathering is hard to pinpoint, but I recommend that you compare the waistline with the elastic band stretched out, and gather to the point that you can comfortably stretch the elastic to the same length as the waistline is. Did that make sense? Now, when you're sewing the skirt to the elastic, sew in between the two straight seams that gather the skirt. Once the skirt is attached to the elastic, you can remove the gathering seams. Here's a great tutorial on gathering: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4jlXqkwaqTM
DeleteHope this helps!
Thanks Hanna, it is so helpfull to have this tutorial..So simple..thumbs up!!!
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome! Hope you'll give it a try :)
DeleteLove love love it!
ReplyDelete