The skirt should only take about 20 minutes. I made 3 and it took me 2 days. This is due to spending time with the kids, having to cook dinner/lunch, kids interrupting me when I was actually sewing/ironing, a migraine and not being able to sew when the kids were in bed because my husband was also in bed (My sewing machine is in the bedroom. He's had a long week at work.) During the school year, when the kids are at school, I can usually do this in 20 minutes.
Disclaimer #2.
The person who taught me to sew is one of my best friends. She is awesome. She also teaches improv for a living (she does workshops and conferences - check her out. http://www.improveffect.com) Her sewing can also be described as improv. There isn't a lot of measurement when making these skirts. So, the technique I'm giving you works for us but you can always improvise on my tutorial to make it work for you.
I went shopping the other day and came across there fabrics I knew that my daughter would love them: Olaf in Summer, Minions and Inside Out. Time to make some skirts!
My daughter is 7 (she'll be 8 in just 4 months) but she's very petite. She just barely wears a 5T in jeans (I have to adjust the elastic in them to make them the skinniest 5T possible). She's between short and average height. Since her waist is so small most of the skirts and shorts at the store are what I consider too short for her. So for me, this skirt is perfect. She gets the designs she wants and I don't have to worry if it's too short.
All you need is 1/2 yard of fabric, 3/4 inch elastic and a safety pin. A half yard is the perfect size for my daughter. It falls around her knees. If your daughter is smaller you may choose to shorten it a bit.
Step 1
Wash your fabric. I do this for 2 reasons. One, every thing I read about fabrics say you should wash them first because of shrinkage. I'm not sure that would be an issue with this skirt but I still do it. Two, the moment I finish the skirt my daughter wants to wear it. It's already washed so I feel okay about letting her. Go ahead and cut off the part of the fabric on the selvage that doesn't look the rest of the fabric (It's the part that that reads that the fabric is copyrighted and for home use only, etc, etc.)
Step 2
Break out the iron. I'll admit right now, I hate to iron. But it's kind of a necessity. The first thing I do is iron my half a yard of fabric to get all the wrinkles from the dryer out. Then at the bottom of the fabric I iron a hem.
Here's where my improv skills come in. I don't actually measure the hem. There are tools to do that and I know that some of you want it to be exact. That's cool. If I were making these to sell I would probably want to but my daughter is okay if it's not perfect and I'm okay if it's not perfect, so I eyeball it. Anyway, I fold the bottom of the material about 1/4 to 1/2 inch, and then fold it over again and iron. The reason I do it twice is to try to prevent the fabric from fraying when it gets washed. If it makes you feel better you can then pin it. I find that for me, with a really hot iron, I don't need to pin it. For those of you who are new to sewing, the hem on this skirt goes from selvage to selvage. A selvage is the finished edge of the fabric. It runs the entire length of the bolt.
Step 3
Now it's time to add the waistband to the skirt. Iron a 1/4 to 1/2 inch hem at the top (you don't have to do the double one like you did at the bottom of the skirt). Now fold it 1 and 1/2 to 2 inches down and iron. Essentially it's folded twice again to prevent fraying in future washes. It should look like this:
(First Fold in Waistband)
(Second Fold in Waistband)
Step 4
Time to sew! I use a zigzag stitch to further prevent fraying. I'm not sure if this is necessary, but it's what I do. First, sew the hem at the bottom of the skirt.
Then sew the waistband at the top. After you are done the back of your fabric should look like this (bottom of skirt is on the left, top of skirt is on the right):
The front of your fabric should look like this:
Step 5
Adding elastic to your waistband. The first thing you want to do is measure how much elastic you'll need. You can either take a soft tape measure and measure your daughter's waist or you can take the elastic, loosely hold it around her waist and then cut it where it meets. Do not add extra to the measurement, it will stretch. Now put the safety pin through one end of the elastic, like this:
Then start feeding the elastic through the waistband.
Use the safety pin to temporary pin the two ends of the elastic together.
Step 6
Now turn the skirt inside out. The right side of the fabric should be touching each other. Pin the side of the skirt.
When you get to the waist band of the skirt, take the safety pin out of the elastic. Overlap the elastic and tuck it into the waistband.
Use another pin to hold it. Now just sew up the side.
Step 7
You're done!
If I'm unclear on any parts or if you just have a question, feel free to ask!!!!
I'm thinking of doing a tutorial next on how to make Minnie Ears. Let me know if you're interested!
