skirts Archives - girl. Inspired.

Dip Dyed Spring Skirt (Sewing Tutorial)

March 26, 2013 by girlinspired 7 Comments

Last week, I was experimenting with some fabric dye and ended up with this super fun dip dyed spring skirt! To see how to dip dye a skirt, head over to I Heart Naptime today for the full scoop. If you’d like to make your own skirt, read on.

You could dip dye any sort of skirt, but this time I made a high low circle skirt out of jersey knit. I don’t have a great selection of knit fabric to purchase from locally, so I ran to Target and grabbed a twin sheet set for about $20. From the sheet set, I was able to make a skirt for myself as well as three girl’s skirts for my daughters. You will need to use a knit that is 60″ wide, and about 2 yards long, or, if you’d like to use a flat sheet, you may wish to purchase a queen size to make sure you have enough fabric to work with. I’m only 5’1″, so the twin sheet worked out to be just enough for me to get the right length.

Wash and dry your fabric to allow for shrinkage. Spread the sheet out on the floor and fold in half once along the vertical line and once along the horizontal line. You will have a quarter of a sheet with folds along two sides.

Next, you’re going to cut the circle for your waist from your folded fabric. Measure your waist and subtract 2 inches (subtract 2 inches only for knits; for woven fabric, add 2 inches). Divide this number by 6.28. This will give you the radius that you’ll need to cut, for example, 5 inches. Measure 5 inches from the center point out in all directions and mark to form a quarter circle. Cut along the marked line.

Next, we’re going to cut the rest of the skirt. For a circle skirt, you would cut an even distance in an arc all the way around the quartered circle; determine how long you want your skirt and measure this distance from the waistline (it may be easiest to add the finished length to the radius measurement and then just measure from the corner point).

For a high low skirt, open your fabric out so that it is only folded in half, not quartered. Determine the shortest length (in the front of the skirt) and the longest length (in the back of the skirt) you want. Mark the short length from the waistline on one side and the long length on the other side. Gradually expand your arc from the short length to the long length as you arc from one side to the other.

For both skirt styles, you will want to add in any necessary length for a hem (no need to hem knit) and a bit for the seam allowance at the waist (say, 1/2″). Once you open up your skirt fabrics, this is what they’ll look like (the black circle is the hole for your waist).

Now that your skirt is cut out, you just need to finish the waist. You can attach the skirt to an elastic waistband or form a tube of fabric and attach it making a yoga-style waistband. For the heavier high low skirt, I think an elastic waistband might be better. Cut a piece of 2″ wide elastic equal to your waist measurement. Join the two short ends together with a zigzag stitch on the sewing machine to form a circle of elastic. Mark the elastic into fourths and mark the skirt waist into fourths. Connect the skirt to the elastic by pinning each of the four markings. Using a zigzag stitch so that your waistband still stretches, sew the skirt to the elastic; gently pull the elastic taut as you sew to evenly join the skirt. You can hem the skirt if you wish; I did not.

And there you go! Be sure to check out the full instructions on dip dying your skirt! See my tutorial at I Heart Naptime!

Layered Lace Skirt

August 29, 2012 by girlinspired 8 Comments

Today I’m sharing the details on the Layered Lace Skirt that I originally made for the Skirting the Issue event over at Simple Simon & Co.

Participating in the Skirting the Issue series is truly heartwarming and I couldn’t be more excited to see Liz and Elizabeth successfully pull together such an amazing blog event.

The skirt that I created for this event is a simple, but elegant layered lace skirt. To construct the Layered Lace Skirt, I cut a total of four panels of fabric for the main skirt – two lace panels and two underskirt panels (from a coordinating cotton). I wanted the skirt to be very full and flowy, hence I cut the panels quite wide at 40″ per panel. The length should be cut depending on the individual or you can follow a standardized guide when sewing for an unknown recipient. You should take into account the added length from whatever style waistband you will use.

Begin by sewing together the two panels for each layer; sew the two short sides right sides together to form a tube of lace and a tube of underskirt. Next, hem your underskirt – I used a narrow hem, which was so quick with my narrow hem sewing foot – get familiar with the optional feet for your sewing machine – they will save you SO much time!! Now stack your two skirt layers together, matching side seams and the bottom edges. Baste together along the top edge if desired. Run two parallel gathering stitches around the top of the skirt. Prepare your waistband (I used a knit interlock to make a simple waistband), gather the skirt, pin, and stitch it onto your waistband. Add a removeable bow if you’d like and you’re done!

I love this skirt because it is easy to make, it’s age-versatile, it can be dressed up or down, and it is sure to make any girl feel fancy and beautiful.

How cute is my model, by the way??

Layered Ruffles Skirt

April 13, 2012 by girlinspired 26 Comments

This skirt has been on my to-do (again) list for months. I made an initial version of the layered ruffles skirt as a dress (the “light and breezy dress“) for Olivia’s birthday last fall. I do like how it turned out in skirt version this time. To make this style, you are going to make two layers of skirts. The wrap-around, outerskirt is one long rectangle with a curved corner at the base of each side and a ruffle attached all the way around the edge. The underskirt has stacked, horizontal ruffles that peek out when the outerskirt separates at the center front. If the initial steps to construct the skirt are confusing, scroll down a bit to see how it all comes together at the end – I think that will help.

So, let’s get started. Cut a rectangle from your main fabric to form the outerskirt – cut from selvage to selvage for the width and calculate desired length (you will have to decide how long you want the finished skirt, factoring in the length added by the ruffle, 2″, and also the length added by the waist piece, or where you will attach the skirt onto a bodice). So now you have a big ol’ rectangle. Fold the rectangle in half, selvage edges together. Trim the selvage edges. Using a round object, draw a curved line on the bottom corner as shown.

Cut the fabric along the line, cutting through two layers so that you have two matching bottom corners.

Next, you will attach a ruffle down the side, around the curve, along the bottom, and back up the other side’s curve to the top. Does that make sense? To make this ruffle, you will cut strips of fabric 4 1/2″ wide. Connect one strip to the next to form a very long strip. I think my strip was about 200″ long. Press the strip in half, lengthwise, and gather it. I definitely recommend using a ruffler foot for this, but it’s not necessary – when I did Olivia’s birthday dress, I didn’t have a ruffler foot, and it turned out just fine. However you ruffle the strip, be sure to press it afterward.

Then match raw edges of the ruffle and the right side of the skirt fabric, and stitch together your ruffle and skirt.

Turn the ruffle out and topstitch. Set the outer skirt layer aside.

To make the underskirt, you have a couple options. For this skirt, I was stingy with fabric, so I just made a 9″ wide strip of underskirt, which you’ll see in the pictures. I folded the outerskirt over this and stitched the outerskirt down onto the underskirt to close the whole thing up. However, when I made the “light and breezy dress”, I made a whole second skirt underneath and added the ruffles in a center strip on the underskirt. Do as you please. So, the stingy way is this…. Cut strips of a contrasting fabric (4 1/2″ wide), fold in half, gather, and press just as you did for the outerskirt ruffle. The only difference here is that you do not need to join the strips together. Also, serge the edge that you’ve gathered or use a zigzag stitch to finish it off. This edge will be concealed under each row above it, but it should still be finished to prevent fraying. Use the first ruffle to finish the hem on the underskirt by matching raw edges and right sides and stitching together. Turn down and press.

Next, start layering the ruffles, one by one.

Stitch one down at a time, being sure that the bottom of the ruffle falls over the row below it by about 1/2″.

Take your outerskirt and spread it out right side down. Mark the center top of the outerskirt and the underskirt. Place the underskirt piece right side up on top of the outerskirt, matching centers.

Fold the outerskirt over and place the sides in the center, leaving a one inch gap. (You may notice that my underskirt ruffles do not come up to the top edge in these pictures. I trimmed off a big chunk from the top of the skirts when I figured out what type of waist I was going to use.)

Baste together the outer and underskirts along the top edge. Now, run two parallel gathering stitches around the top of the skirts, gather, and attach to a waist piece or a dress bodice. On this particular skirt, I added a wide, flat-front waist with elastic in the back. Finally, if you’ve used the “stingy” method, you’ll need to stitch the outerskirt onto the underskirt ruffle piece. I just stitched directly over my topstitching on the outerskirt ruffle, from the waistline down on each side.

Then, I serged off the extra fabric from underneath. It’s a bit of a botch job. I’d recommend “for home use only.” If you want to be professional about it, make a whole second skirt underneath and leave the outerskirt to flutter freely over the top.

You might also be interested in the tutorial for the coordinating Ruffled Neckline Tank!!

Ready to Bustle?

February 28, 2012 by girlinspired 33 Comments

Tutorial for the skirt of this Gorgeous Princess Gown!

I promised I’d tell you how to make the skirt of the princess gown, so here goes. You can use your favorite dress pattern for the bodice and sleeves, this tutorial will cover how to create the skirt portion of the dress. The dress should be worn over a very full pettiskirt/tutu to really get the lifted effect. I assembled the whole dress and did the bustling last.

Princess Gown Tutorial - learn how to sew the skirt for a gorgeous princess gown!

Assemble dress, making sure that you have a very full skirt. I used a full width of the fabric for both the front and the back of the dress skirt – I didn’t measure the fabric, but it was probably 45″-50″ wide or so. So, the full circumfrence of the skirt would be around 90″ – a very full skirt!! Gather the skirt and attach it to the bodice – here’s a more detailed tutorial on gathering – How To Gather Fabric

Find and mark the top and bottom center of the front of the skirt.
Measure the distance from the center to the side. Divide by 3 and mark along the bottom of the skirt. So, let’s say that the distance from the center to the side is 24″. You’re going to mark every 8″ – the center, at 8″ over from the center, at 16″ over from the center, and at the side seam (24″). Repeat for the other front half.
Mark 6″ up from the bottom at each side seam. Then, 9″. Then 12″. Then 16″ at the center. These increments may vary depending on the length of the dress you’re making. I made about a 2T/3T. The top of my center point (16″ from the bottom) was about 3 1/4″ down from the top of the skirt.

Sew two parallel lines (using a gathering, or a loose, stitch) straight down from the top mark to the bottom. Secure your thread at the top so that you can scrunch it up without the bobbin threads pulling loose.
Now scrunch…cinch…whatever you wanna call it! Be sure you scrunch all of your bustles an even amount. The finished length of my scrunched portions were about 2 1/2″.
Secure the threads. I tried to just tie triple knots in the thread, but this won’t hold. Stitch using a regular stitch right down the center of the gathered portions; be sure to backstitch at the beginning and end of the section.
Fluff and wear!!

peek-a-boo skirt

August 10, 2011 by girlinspired 9 Comments

I think I like sewing skirts. I haven’t made too many.

But they really are a quick sew and don’t take a lot of fabric.

I was inspired to make this little peek-a-boo skirt by Kristi, who blogs at Creating Chaos. She wrote up a great tutorial for the skirt, but I missed a couple steps because I was too impatient to wait for her to post it. If you want to make a skirt, you can check out her how-to, here.

I had a lot of fun dressing up my little form for some pictures. The little sweater was a gift to Olivia on her first birthday and I think it’s finally too small for even Addie to squeeze into. It pleases me tremendously that I can carry on its usefulness.

fabric: Amy Butler Lotus Wallflower in pink (discontinued, sorry!)

Dip Dyed Spring Skirt (Sewing Tutorial)

Layered Lace Skirt

Ready to Bustle?

peek-a-boo skirt

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