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Suspender Skirt Tutorial

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I just spent the most amazing weekend up in Portland at Quilt Market hanging out with talented, fun and inspirational seamstresses, fabric designers and shop owners from all over the country!  I really want to tell you more about my experiences soon, but since I’m still recovering from my busy weekend, I thought I’d repost this tutorial I did a year ago for the fabulous series, Vintage May, which is running again right now!  The hosts, Jessica of Craftiness is Not Optional and Kristin of skirt as top, have rounded up some fabulous guests to showcase some vintage and vintage inspired looks, so be sure to check it out!  I was part of the fun last year and I never reposted the tutorial here, so in honor of Vintage May II, here ya go!

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Hello vintage lovers!  It’s amazing what Kristin and Jess have put together here and I’m so honored to be a part of it!  I must have run through 50 ideas for what vintage-inspired creation I wanted to share with you before deciding on something – the possibilities are endless!  I decided to go through some old family photos to see if I could find some inspiration there and I saw a particular style pop up a few times in my mom’s childhood photos.

(Left photo: My mom, standing in front, with her two brothers and mother
Right photo: My mom, center, my grandmother, upper left and their neighbors)

(My mom, lower right, with her brothers and uncle)

I loved the simple and classic style of the jumpers my mom and her neighbor are wearing in these pictures.  So I created a suspender skirt for my daughter and I’ve got a tutorial so you can make one too!

(Did I mention this was from a year ago?  Check out these old pics of Yuki!!)

It’s got a bit of a school uniform vibe, but it’s still cute enough to be worn anywhere.  It’s a simple high waisted pleated skirt with a flat front and elastic in the back.  The buttons in the front are just for fun and completely optional.  The suspender straps are sewn in the front and adjustable in the back for longer wear.  You could easily use this technique to attach straps to any style skirt, pair of shorts or pants.  If you want to make the straps completely removable, you can follow the directions for the back of the skirt in the front, and then the skirt can be worn alone or with the suspenders.  So many options!

Ok, let’s get started.  You’ll need:

Fabric (about a yard, depending on the size)
Contrasting fabric for pockets (optional)
Buttons 2-4
1″ wide elastic and safety pin
Sewing essentials

*I used a 1/2 seam allowance, unless stated otherwise.

Measure your kid’s “waist.”  I say “waist” because it depends on where you want the skirt to sit.  My skirt is so high up it’s practically her chest measurement!  Your skirt pieces will be the “waist” measurement by the desired length of the skirt and you’ll need two.  So I cut 2 rectangles that were 18 x 12 inches.

You’ll also need 4 pocket pieces.  I just drew a pattern freehand in what I thought was a “pocket-like” shape.  Make sure to cut two and then flip the pattern over for the other two.

For the waistband, cut a long rectangle that is the “waist” measurement times 1.5, then add a few inches for good measure.  So I multiplied 18 x 1.5 = 27, plus a few inches – I probably cut mine at 32 inches (I always cut waaay more than I need then trim later).  The height is 4 inches.

For the suspenders, you’ll need to measure your child from the “waist,” up over the shoulder across the back (remember the straps will criss-cross in the back) and then add about 6 inches to this measurement.  The height is 3 inches and you’ll need 2.  So I had two strips that were 3 x 20.

I hope I haven’t lost you already!  Here are my cut pieces, note that the waistband and straps are folded up in this picture.

Working on the right side of one of your skirt pieces, we’ll make some pleats.  We basically want to get this piece of fabric to be half of the waist measurement, plus one inch.  So I need my 18 inch wide fabric down to 10 inches.  The size and amount of pleats will depend on the size of your skirt and how you want it to look.  Mark the center of the fabric and then two equidistant marks on either side of the center.

Fold the fabric on the marks toward the center and pin.

Add more pleats on either side, playing around with the size until your skirt piece the right size.  Press your pleats, pin, sew them down using a 1/4 inch seam allowance and press again.

Place your pocket pieces right sides together on your skirt front and back.  Sew down the straight edge of the pocket.

Press the pocket pieces open.  Lay the skirt pieces down right sides together lining up one side and pocket piece.  The back skirt piece will be much larger than the front still, so just do one side at a time.  Sew them together using a 1/2 inch seam allowance, then trim and finish the edges by serging or zig zag stitching.

Flip the skirt right side out and press.

Put the skirt aside while we prepare the suspenders.  Fold the strips in half lengthwise with right sides together and press.  Sew down the length of the strip and down one end.  This will give you one closed end, but leave the other open.  Trim the corner.

Turn the strip right side out using a pointy object to poke the corners out.  Press the strap flat and top stitch around 3 sides, leave one end open still.  Repeat with the other strap.

Now for the waistband.  You’ll want it to be the same measurement around as your skirt.  Lay your skirt down (the front and back will not line up, but that’s ok), and lay your waistband down folded in half (right sides together) with one side lined up and mark the other edge of the skirt.  Add 1/2 an inch to that and mark again.

Cut the extra fabric off, pin and sew along the line to create a loop.

Press the seam open and fold the bottom of the band to meet the top.  One edge of the loop should be raw and the other folded.  Press the fold.

Open up the waistband and pin one raw edge to the top of the skirt, lining up the seam with the one of the side seams of the skirt.  Sew the skirt and waistband together all the way around with a 1/2 inch seam allowance.  Make sure the pleats are laying nice and flat.

Flip the waistband up and press.  Fold the top of the waistband down towards the wrong side 1/2 inch.  When the waistband is folded down it should just barely cover the stitching at the bottom of the waistband.

Fold the waistband down and pin in place.  We’re going to make the casing for the back of the skirt first, so starting at one side seam top stitch along the back of the skirt just above the seam.  Make sure the inside of the waistband is being caught in your stitching.  Stop at the other side seam.

Cut a piece of elastic that is half of the “waist” measurement.  My waist measurement was 18, so I cut a piece of elastic 9 inches long.  I don’t add more for seam allowance because I like my elastic to have a bit of pull.

Using a safety pin, thread your elastic through the casing.  Before the end of the elastic is about to be pulled completely into the casing, sew up the waistband along the same line as the skirt’s side seam catching about a 1/2 inch of the elastic.  Continue pulling the elastic through until it’s about 1/2 an inch past the other side seam.  Top stitch the waist band vertically along the skirt side seam.

Flip your skirt inside out and slide your suspenders into the waistband by about 1/2 an inch.  Pin in place.

Carefully turn the skirt right-side out.  Top stitch just above the seam where the skirt meets the waistband.  Flip the suspenders up and top stitch along the front of the waistband just below the top.

Almost done!  Hand sew buttons into the back of the skirt catching only the inside of the waist band (not the elastic or the outside of the skirt).

Mark on the straps where you want the button holes to be.  I made a few on each strap so I could adjust the length of the suspenders.

Hem the bottom, sew buttons on the front if you want and you’re done!

I played around with two different lengths in these pictures.  High waisted and HIGHER waisted.

Maybe too high?

Thank you so much for letting me share this tutorial with you today!  If you have any questions or think a part needs some clarification, please let me know – I’d be happy to help!  If you’re interested in the pink top my daughter is wearing, stop by my blog for a little how-to on this remix of Oliver + S’s Jump Rope Dress.

If you make a suspender skirt using this tutorial, please add it to the you & mie flickr group!  I LOVE seeing your creations!

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I’ll be back with some fun photos from Quilt Market later this week.  Seriously, it was SO. MUCH. FUN.  Can’t wait to share it with you :)

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Tutorial: Reversible Circle Skirt

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Since I’m busy with a bunch of different projects this week, I thought I’d repost a tutorial I did for Amy‘s Spring Fling series last month.  Most of you have probably seen this, in case you haven’t, it’s a super easy and versatile skirt that I’m sure you and your little one will love!  Hope you are all having a good start to your week!

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Spring is something that I am very excited about.  I live in San Francisco, so I’m pretty spoiled by mild weather, but the gray and the rain get me down just as much as anyone else.  I’m ready for some warm sunny days spent playing outside and going on picnics!  So that is what has inspired the project I’m sharing with you today.

I call this The April Showers Skirt (because, you know, April showers bring May flowers!) and it is a reversible circle skirt.  Of course, you can use whatever material you want for yours, but I chose to make one side gray and cloudy and used a bright floral print for the other to represent the changing of the seasons and the sometimes erratic weather patterns of spring.  The best thing about this project is, not only is it SUPER simple but, you get 2 skirts in one!

So let’s begin!  Here’s what you’ll need:
About 3/4-1 yard of lightweight cotton fabric in 2 coordinating fabrics
Elastic
Bias tape
Safety pin
Sewing essentials

For optional applique:
Scrap(s) of fabric
Fusible web

A couple of notes about choosing fabric:
1. Since you are layering two pieces of fabric and adding bias tape for the hem, you want to keep the fabrics lightweight so you don’t weigh it down and it’ll still have that bouncy, twirly effect that circle skirts are famous for.

2. Also, you’ll want a print that looks good from all angles since that’s how the fabric is going to lay.  If you pick something that has a clear up and down, your print will appear upside down on one side of the skirt (and sideways in other parts of the skirt).

3. Lastly, when choosing fabrics, hold them up against each other to see if one will show through.  Since I picked a light gray and a bold print, you can see a little bit of the print from the gray side, but I was ok with it.

To begin, you’re going to need to know how to make a circle skirt.  I used this awesome circle skirt tutorial from made to help me figure out how to make my circle skirt pattern.  You’re going to need the waist measurement and the desired length of skirt and a little bit of math to make this pattern, but Dana did a fabulous job of breaking it down, so go over there and make your pattern and then come back here!

(Note: In Dana’s tutorial she attaches the elastic to the outside of the fabric and leaves extra fabric in the length for hemming.  Here, we’re not going to hem the bottom, but we’re going to make an elastic casing from the material, so I figured it kind of balances out.  I cut my fabric exactly the way Dana described, and it worked fine.  If you plan on using a wide elastic or just want to be cautious, add an extra inch to the skirt length and you can always trim it at the end.)

Ok, so now that you have your custom circle skirt pattern, fold both of your fabrics into fourths and cut out your circle.

This is what it should look like when they are still folded.  If you unfold them, they should look like donuts.

If you’re going to add applique, which is optional, now is the time to do it.  Cut your scrap of fabric to the approximate size you’ll need and then cut your fusible web slightly smaller than that.  Follow the directions that are specific to the fusible web you have.

The one I use most often is Pellon Wonder Under and I love it.  It has a rough side and a paper backed side.  Place the rough side down on the wrong side of the fabric and iron it on.

Now draw your design on the paper side and remember to flip your image since you are drawing on the wrong side of your fabric.

Cut it out, place it on the skirt where you want it to go (at this point, there is no front or back to the circle skirt, so you can put it wherever you want).  Cover it with a damp cloth and iron it on.

It should be nice and adhered, but I always zig zag stitch around my entire applique to make sure it stays put!

Repeat with any other appliques you want to add to either side of the skirt (I decided to add the second cloud later, but I should have done it all at once).

Now to sew the two sides together, place them on top of each other right sides together.  Pin the inner circle together and sew all the way around.

Take one layer of the skirt and push it through the center of the circle turning it right side out.  Press.

Now we’re going to make the elastic casing by top stitching another circle around the waist leaving an opening to insert the elastic through.  Make sure your casing is slightly larger than the width of the elastic you’ll be using.

To insert the elastic, separate the two layers and find the opening that you left.  Attach a safety pin to one end of your elastic, and push it all the way around the circle back to the opening.  Sorry, I didn’t photograph this part, but take both ends of the elastic and sew them together, trim the extra off and sew the opening shut.  We’re almost done!

(At this point, you can measure the length and trim off extra fabric if necessary).  Pin your bias tape around the outside of the circle.

Leave a few inches of bias tape at the beginning unsewn, then top stitch all the way around.  When you get back to the beginning, you should be able to measure out where the bias tape needs to be sewn together.  Sew the two ends of the bias tape with the right sides together.  Press open and then finish top stitching the bias tape on.

And you’re done!!

Now your little one has two skirts to skip around in during the upcoming spring months!

I love both sides, but I think it’s extra fun to catch a peek of the colorful flowers on the underside of the gray.  So fun!

I feel like the possibilities are endless with this reversible skirt.  I might just have to make one for every season! :)

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Oh and don’t forget, if you make a skirt using this tutorial (or any tutorial or project on this site), I’d love to see it!  Just add it to the you & mie flickr pool!!

KCWC S12: Day 1 – Shirt to Skirt Refashion

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Made it through Day 1 of Kid Clothes Week Challenge Spring 2012!  Did you know that there are 550 640 people participating!?!  You should check out the flickr pool to see all the amazing clothes being churned out this week.

I’m really excited to be getting around to some projects I’ve had floating around my head for awhile.  I’m MOST excited about the Jump Rope Dress!  I decided to get this pattern because it was available as a downloadable PDF pattern from the Oliver + S site and I have a minor obsession with PDF patterns.  Plus I’ve heard so many amazing things about O+S patterns that I thought I should try one.  Then I saw Gail’s Jump Rope Dress and it is perfection!!  The thing I love most about it, is that I would never have picked that fabric for this dress, but Gail did, and I LOVE the way that it came out.

So I made myself a little schedule for KCWC, especially for the Jump Rope Dress.  Gail pointed out that they did a sewalong for the dress on Sew, Mama, Sew, awhile back so I looked at their schedule and they broke it up into 7 days.  The first day was tracing your pattern and cutting your fabric, which I’ve already done, so I figured I could just do the other 6 parts over the next 6 days and have a pretty little dress at the end of the week!  Well that’s the PLAN anyways.

I still have about 3-4 little projects that I’ll work on each day on top of the Jump Rope Dress and we’ll just see how much I can get done.

I’ll just say upfront though, that I plan on spending more than an hour each day sewing.  Even today’s project which was supposed to be a super simple refashion took me about 2 hours.

I bought this shirt at the thrift store because I really liked the fabric.  From far away, it probably just looks grayish, but it’s actually got super colorful and super tiny stripes.

At first I was just going to cut out a rectangle over the pocket section of the shirt, hem it and make an elastic waistband and call it a day.  But of course, I like to complicate things.  I couldn’t use the section with the pocket because the sleeves started right there.  So I removed the pocket and sewed it back on right above the bottom of the shirt (yay, no hemming!).  Then came the idea for the pleats in the front, which I thought would look better with a flat front waistband and I didn’t want to fold over the pleated fabric, so I made a separate waistband.  A few mistakes and some ripped out and resewn seams (isn’t that the WORST?) and 2 hours later and I have this little skirt.  AND it somehow turned out too big!  I had to pin it for these photos, but I’m sure it’ll look great on her when she’s a bit bigger (like when she’s 4) :P

I really do love it though.

Today’s task for the Jump Rope Dress was to make the placket.  Pretty intense, but following the sewalong post was really helpful.  I’m proud to say that I did not totally screw it up!  Plus, I have the hard part done and hopefully the rest will come together pretty smoothly.

I’ll try post an “in progress” pic of the dress every day that I work on it so you can see it come together.

Day one.  DONE.  Hope we can keep this up . . .

(it’s a joint effort, you know)

Tutorial: Lucky Chevron Skirt

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I made this skirt for St. Patrick’s Day and though I realize it’s a bit late for you to make one, it’s really a great skirt for any time of the year.  This has been a pretty popular idea recently and my original inspiration was a skirt I saw a little girl wearing.  Hers had bunch of different colors (maybe 10?) in skinny stripes, pieced together to make a chevron pattern.  I wanted to recreate that skirt exactly (and maybe I still will), but for this holiday, I had these three lovely shades of green and greenish-yellow so I made some adjustments.  I decided to make my stripes different widths to make it more interesting, but you can make yours as skinny or wide, and all the same or all different, as you want.  And use as many colors as you want too!

Before I begin, I must add that I was just making this up as I went along and it may not be the best or the “proper” way to do things.  In hindsight, I definitely would have started out with more fabric, because I ended up with BARELY enough.  You need a lot more fabric than you’d normally need for a skirt because you cut away a lot (bummer)!  Anyways, here we go:

What you’ll need:
About 1.5-2 yards total in different colors
1 inch wide elastic
Safety pin
Sewing essentials

First cut your fabric into strips.  Like I said, you can make them as wide or narrow as you want.  I didn’t know how much fabric I’d need when I started, but as an estimate, I’d make sure you have enough strips to form 2 rectangles that are 1.5 times your desired length, by 2 times the waist measurement.  For example.  Yuki’s waist is 19 inches and I wanted the skirt to be about 9 inches long.  So I’d need two rectangles that are 38 inches (19×2) by 13.5 inches (9×1.5).  Again, this is just an ESTIMATE, so please go bigger if you can and don’t blame me if it’s not enough! :)

Here are the strips I cut.  The first one was about 1.75 inches wide, the second was 2.75 and the third was 2.25 inches.

The bottom strip in the picture is the waistband.  You’ll need a rectangle that is 3 inches wide and twice the waist measurement in length.

Start sewing your strips together by pinning them together along the long side of the strips, right sides together.

Continue adding strips to form one rectangle.  Then start again in the same pattern to make your second rectangle.  Because you want all your rows to line up perfectly when you piece them together later, try to sew your strips together keeping your seam allowance straight and consistent for all your strips.

I zig zag stitched each seam as I went along to prevent fraying.

When you’re done sewing all your strips together, your rectangles should look something like this.

Press all the seams in the same direction.  To keep those seams laying nice and flat, I top stitched along each strip in coordinating thread.  This step is optional.

Now we’re going to make an angled cut on each end of your rectangles.  The larger the angle, the sharper the chevron V is going to be.  I could already sense I wasn’t going to have enough fabric, so I made my cut at an angle smaller than 45 degrees.  This made my chevron V wide.

Whatever you decide, make sure you cut it exact on each end of your rectangles to form two isosceles trapezoids that look something like this.

Place them on top of each other, right sides together, make sure that the seams match up as closely as possible.  Pin and sew.

The line you just sewed is now the front center and back center of your skirt.  Press the seam open and it should look like this.

Chop off the top and bottom (along the white lines) to make them straight.

Next, you’d want to cut off the sides to make a rectangle.  My skirt was getting tiny at this point and since I didn’t want it to be a mini skirt, I cut mine at a slight angle to leave more room at the bottom.  Ideally though, if you have enough fabric, cutting it straight will give you a nice angle for your chevron pattern on the sides of the skirt.

Place your two rectangles right sides together and sew up the side seams.

Now to create your waistband, fold your strip in half, and sew the ends together to make a loop that is the same as the width of the skirt.

Move seam to the center and press open.

With right sides together, slip the waistband over the top of the skirt, lining up the seam with the center of the skirt in the back.  Pin all the way around and sew.

When you flip the waist band up, it should look like this.

Fold the top of the waistband in about 1/4 inch and press.

Now fold it down again to create a casing wide enough to fit your elastic.  The folded edge should come down just past the bottom of the waistband, covering the seam ever so slightly.

Pin the waistband in place.  Starting in the back, about 1 inch right of the center, start top stitching around the waistband, making sure the casing is wide enough for the elastic.  Sew all the way around and stop about 1 inch from the center, leaving a 2 inch opening.

Attach a safety pin to one end of your elastic and push it through the casing.

Sew the ends of the elastic together and finish top stitching the waistband to close the casing.

You’re practically done!  Just hem up the bottom of the skirt by folding and pressing it 1/4 inch and then another 1/4 inch to hide the unfinished edge and sew all the way around.

Done!

Unfortunately, I didn’t get very many good pictures of Yuki wearing the skirt since we were running out the door to go somewhere.  But she was definitely all decked out in green for St. Patrick’s Day!  And now she has a new bright skirt to wear through spring and summer.

There are so many variations of this skirt that would be fun to make.  What combo of colors and strip widths will you use?

Now I gotta come up with a project where I can use all the poor pieces I had to cut away from this skirt so they don’t go to waste . . .

Lucky Chevron Skirt Preview

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UPDATE: Tutorial here!

I realized that Yuki didn’t have anything green to wear for St. Patrick’s Day so I wanted to make something fun.  I was looking through my stash for something appropriate when I realized that I had bought green fabric to make a chevron skirt back during Project Run & Play.  I had this idea for a skirt and was going to make it for my signature look.  I decided against it, and set aside the fabric for later.  I’m so glad I stumbled across the fabric when I did!

So here’s my little Lucky Chevron Skirt for St. Patrick’s Day.  I’ve seen a lot of people making chevrons from striped fabric or strips of fabric recently, so I thought I’d give it a try too.  This is 3 different colors of fabric, and each fabric is actually made from two tones of thread so the colors in person are really gorgeous.  I decided to make my strips in different widths just to make it a bit more interesting.

I haven’t gotten a chance to take any pictures of Yuki in it yet.  And I don’t know when I will since it’s raining buckets over here at least through the weekend!  But I also plan on doing a tutorial for this soon, so hopefully I’ll have that by next week.  Until then, you just get this preview :)

Here’s the outfit I have imagined for this Saturday’s holiday:

And of course when it gets warmer, she can wear it all summer with less layers:

Aren’t these shoes ADORABLE!??  Yuki got them for Christmas from our very good friends and she hasn’t really been able to wear them yet since she still needs to grow into them, but I might just double up her socks and put ‘em on her this weekend anyways.  How could I not?

Any green sewing projects for you this week?

Tutorial: Double Layered Simple Skirt

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I’m so excited to share this skirt with you!  It’s kind of a Sew & Tell, Tutorial and Repurposed Project all in one!  I wanted to do an add-on to the Simple Skirt Tutorial to show you an easy way to add another layer and get a fun new look.  I also had some fabric laying around that needed repurposing, and this was the perfect way to use it.

I started off with a tank top that had a stain smack in the middle of it.  I was ready to let go of it as a tank top, but I loved the unique scalloped eyelet bottom.

I thought I’d be able to use the material for a skirt for Yuki.  Since it has large eyelets I knew I needed another layer underneath so it would be appropriately modest for my little one :)   Luckily I had this old bed sheet I had bought at a thrift store for about a dollar.  I’ve used it to make lining for a pillow case, a mock-up for a jacket, and now this skirt and there’s still tons of fabric left.  What a great deal!  The sheet had a ruffle of eyelet fabric on the bottom that I thought might add some volume and why not add small scalloped eyelet to big scalloped eyelet?  Wouldn’t that be fun??

So let’s make the skirt!!  Like I said, this is variation of the original Simple Skirt Tutorial.  The first tutorial includes more information about materials, measurements, and hemming, which is NOT included in this tutorial, so please refer back to that one if you have any questions.

Materials:
Fabric – You can use two different fabrics, or the same fabric for both layers.  You can also repurpose something or use new material.  It’s up to you!
Elastic – I used 1″ wide elastic and you’ll need it to be as long as the waist measurement plus 1 inch.  If the kid’s (or adult’s) waist measurement is 17 inches, cut 18 inches.

You’ll also need the essentials – sewing machine, iron, thread, scissors, pins, and though it’s optional, a safety pin is super handy.

Let’s get started.

First (and always), wash, dry and iron your fabric.  Then it’s time to cut it.  For more details about measurements, see the Simple Skirt Tutorial.  For this project, I wanted to keep the width of the skirt fabric the same as the tank top so that I wouldn’t lose any of the eyelet and I wouldn’t have to re-sew up the sides (basically, I didn’t cut the tank top yet).  For the bottom layer of the skirt (white) I folded it in half and measured the same width as the top (blue) material plus a 1/4 inch for seam allowance.

For the length, I measured the bottom layer first.  I cut it at exactly the length I wanted the finished skirt to be.  The great thing about using these fabrics is that the bottoms were done and required no hemming!  And yes, you do need a bit of room for seam allowance on top, but you’ll see later why I didn’t add any length to the bottom layer.

For the top layer (blue fabric) I laid it on top of the white fabric at the length I wanted it to be.  Then I added about 1/2 an inch to the top and cut it.

If you are using fabric that needs to be hemmed at the bottom, be sure to add another inch.

Here is my cut fabric:

Make sure the white fabric is folded in half with right sides together, pin and sew up the short end.

If you are using new fabric that is unfinished on all 4 sides, you will need to sew up both short ends on both fabrics.

Turn your fabric right side out and press the seam.  Now you should have two tubes of fabric that are the same width.

Now, with both fabrics right side facing out, you’re going to insert the top layer inside the bottom layer.  So in this case, the blue tube was inside the white tube.  Line them up on the top and pin all the way around.

Sew along the top edge around the entire waist, using a 1/4 seam allowance, back stitching at the beginning and end.

When you are done and you pull the material out from inside, it should look like this.  On the left is the bottom layer, right side up, and on the right is the top layer, wrong side up.

Flip the top layer down over the bottom layer.  I did not want any of the white fabric to show at the top of the skirt, so instead of pressing it open right on the seam, I made the fold with about a 1/4 inch of the blue fabric on the inside of the skirt.  This is why I didn’t add any seam allowance to the bottom layer fabric when cutting the length, but I added an extra 1/2 inch to the top layer – a 1/4 inch for seam allowance and another 1/4 inch to fold over to the inside of the skirt.  Does this make sense??

Press all the way around and pin.  Now we’re going to make the casing for the elastic.  Leaving about a 2 inch opening, sew all the way around the waistline, making sure your casing is wide enough for your elastic.

In the picture above, I was using the elastic to make sure I was sewing my casing wide enough.  After you’re done, you should have a 2 inch gap that is open for you to slide the elastic through.

If you have a safety pin, insert it into one end of the elastic.  This will help you guide the elastic through the casing.

Pull apart the two layers to find the opening for the elastic.  Using the safety pin, pull the elastic through the casing.

Pull the elastic all the way around the waist and back out through the opening.  Make sure the elastic hasn’t twisted at all and is laying flat the entire way around.  Overlap the elastic by about an inch and sew them together.

Finish sewing up the casing and you’re done!!

Now, I don’t know if you noticed this, but in the original simple skirt tutorial, I said you needed about double the waist measurement for the width of the fabric.  So for a 17 inch waist, you need 34 inches of fabric.  For this skirt, I didn’t want to cut any of the blue fabric away, so I left it at it’s original width, which was at least 42 inches.  All the extra fabric, plus the extra layer made this skirt really full!!

This skirt reminds me of something you’d wear to a tea party or something.  But all our lil’ tomboy wants to do is climb things and play with dirt and rocks.  That’s our girl!

Luckily, we live in California where an outfit like this might still be appropriate for November.  But it won’t last long, so I promise I’m going to start focusing on more winter-ish clothes soon.  Fleece, flannel, and sleeves, here I come.

As for this tutorial, I’d really like some feedback.  When I’m trying to explain the steps, I feel like I’m not being clear and that it’s too confusing.  If you have any suggestions for parts that need clarifying, I’d really appreciate you letting me know.  Or asking me questions if you need help.  I want to help!  :)   I hope you try a Double Layered Simple Skirt.  And if you do, please send me a photo!!  Have fun!

Sew & Tell: Winter Party Skirts

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Our whole house has been sick for over a week, but I think we’re finally getting better.  At least Yuki is better and that makes things waaay easier.  I’m trying to get back into a blogging schedule and this week I have at least two projects to share with you.

This year for my sister’s birthday, I told her I’d make her a skirt as her present.  So we found this tutorial from Creative Spaces for a party skirt and went fabric shopping.  I took her to my favorite fabric store in the city, Peapod Fabrics, and she picked out this gorgeous Japanese fabric that just screamed AUTUMN.  It was perfect.

I like to call this color burnt butterscotch.  It’s such a rich warm color.

It took me forever to actually make, so instead of being an autumn skirt, it ended up being a winter skirt.  But I finally finished it and decided to make Yuki a little matching number with leftover fabric.  Yuki’s has a flat front, elastic waist in the back and ties for a bow that can be tied in the front OR back.  My sister’s has a zipper in the back and a removable sash that can be tied in the front, back or taken off completely.  The only thing I forgot to add is pockets!!  It would have been a great addition.

These pictures are of the kid’s version of the skirt.

Here’s some pictures from our Auntie-Niece photoshoot!

Happy Belated Birthday to my sister, Julie.  Isn’t she beautiful?  I swear, she got the beauty, the brains, and the heart.  She’s absolutely amazing.  Best sister and fantastic aunt to Yuki.  AND she lives close to us.  We’re so lucky!

In shop news, I’m really starting to feel the pressure as holiday shopping season officially has begun.  I think I’m abandoning my “grand opening” idea and planning on just opening the shop with one or two items and adding more as I have them.  I’ll keep you all updated, but here’s a secret – the kid’s version of this skirt (with pockets) will be available in the shop!

Tutorial: Simple Skirt

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My first tutorial!  The first few tutorials I’m going to put up are very easy projects and are nothing unique or original.  I figured we should start with some really basic items and then we can get into more add-ons, embellishments and complicated patterns later.  And this is also really good tutorial writing practice for me.  I would LOVE feedback on things that I missed or things that need clarification.

Although I’m starting with a really simple project, I am not starting from the very beginning.  I’m assuming that you already know the basics of how to use your machine and use some of the basic stitches.  If not, that’s ok!  Just search the internet for some sewing 101 info and I’m sure you’ll find TONS of helpful tutorials.

So today I’m going to show you how to make a simple skirt for a toddler.  This is probably one of the most basic pieces of clothing you can make.

If you haven’t already, take a look at the supplies I consider essential for almost any sewing project.

Here’s what you’ll need:
Fabric (a lightweight cotton or cotton blend should work nicely)
Matching thread
Elastic
Safety pin (optional)

And that’s it!  First (and always) wash, dry and iron your fabric.

The amount of fabric and elastic will depend on the size of the skirt you are making, but I’ll try to help you figure that out.  You’re going to be cutting 2 rectangles of fabric.  It’s easiest if you fold your fabric in half and cut them at the same time.  Here’s how you figure out what size to cut your rectangles.

First, measure the child’s waist.  This will be the width of your 2 rectangles.  For example, if the child has a waist size of 17 inches, you’ll want 2 pieces of fabric that are 17 inches long.

If you can’t measure the child, find a pair of pants or a skirt that fits them and measure the width and then double it.  In this case, the pants measure 8.5 inches across, so if you double that you get 17.  Again, you’ll want 2 pieces of fabric of this width.

For the length, measure the desired final length of the skirt from the waist and then add 3 inches.  It’s always better to have extra fabric that can easily be shortened when hemming, than to cut it too short.  I wanted the skirt to be 8 inches long, so I cut my fabric to 11 inches.

You’ll want enough elastic to go around the waist and then add 1 inch for sewing the ends together.  This will leave plenty of room for your little one to grow into the skirt (longer wearability)!  I cut my elastic to 18 inches.

Here are my two rectangles: 11×17.

Now we’re ready to start sewing!

Place your 2 rectangles on top of each other RIGHT sides together (The right sides refer to the side of the fabric you want to show when finished, the wrong side is the side that faces in when finished.  Most fabrics have a right and wrong side which you can tell by the print.  Some don’t).

Pin up the sides and sew a straight stitch about a 1/4 inch from the edge.  Back stitch at the beginning and end (always!).  If you want, you can zig zag stitch the edges to prevent fraying.

Press the seams open.

Now we’re going to do the waist.  Fold the top edge down about a 1/4 inch and press.

Now fold the fabric down again and make sure that your fold is slightly larger than your elastic. Press and pin in place.

Sew along the folded edge.  I like to start in the back about 1 inch right of the center.   Sew all the way around and stop 2 inches from where you started leaving an opening to slide your elastic through.

Attach the safety pin to one end of the elastic and push it all the way around the skirt back through the opening.

Overlap the two ends of elastic about 1/2 an inch and sew them together.

Close up the opening by sewing along the edge.

We’re almost done!!  Now we just have to do the hem.  Fold the bottom of the skirt up about a 1/4 inch and press.

Make another 1/4 inch fold and iron again.  Pin and sew.

And you’re done!

Now step back and admire your handy work and how cute your little one looks.  Take pictures and then show them to me!

Phew, for a simple project, that was still a lot of directions.  I hope you were able to follow along, but if there is anything that needs clearing up, please let me know!  And really, if you make this project, I’d love to see your pictures.  For the next tutorial I’ll show you a few ways that you can spice up your simple skirt!