I’ve not been sewing much of late. The kid has been requesting I make her something for ages but a combination of a lack of motivation form me and the knowledge her wardrobe is not lacking meant it got put off and off.

Being my daughter and a bit like me, she doesn’t give up easily when she wants something. So she plonked the fabric she chose in front of me and suggested a ‘super easy’ dress. I declined that invitation on the grounds she has LOADS of dresses. So we compromised on a skirt. Being lazy and lacking any oomph I decided printing out a pattern was to hard so I opted for a easy, self drafted skirt that is tried and tested and works every single time.

The recipe goes like this …

  • Measure child waist to knee, add approx. 4 inches for seams. Then divide that length into 3 to give you each tier’s depth (or length if you prefer to think of it that way)
  • Cut 5 selvage widths of chosen fabric(s) the depth previously worked out by taking over all length +4inches divided by 3.
  • Tier 1 is one selvage width and will include the fold over waistband casing you will make.
  • Tier 2 is two selvage widths sewn together and gathered and stitched onto the bottom of tier 1.
  • Tier 3 is 3 selvage widths gathered and sewn to the bottom of tier two.

You can attach each tier however you prefer – since this skirt was knit and the kid requested ‘ruffle edges’ I sewed the gathered edge to the right side of the bottom edge of the fabric of the tier above so the edges showed. See below.

This suited me fine as I was not enthused to try and make everything ‘perfect’ – I do so love sewing with knits! See below … not pretty on the inside … but also not going to fray either!

You could also sew right-side to right-side for a cleaner edge. And finish all seams on an overlocker .. if you felt fancy. Or are sewing with woven.

Construction wise I created each tier first, sewing the widths together where needed. Then I gathered the third tier and attached it to the second tier. I then gathered the top of the second tier and attached it to the first tier. This gave me a ‘flat lay’ of the three tiers all attached to each other.
Then I sewed up the side seam from top to bottom.
Fold over approx. 1 inch of the top tier to create an elastic casing. Stitch round leaving a small hole to add the elastic into.
Measure recipients waist and cut elastic accordingly. Feed elastic in, sew elastic together, stitch up hole.
You’re done. Feel smug.

user Crafting, Homelife, Sewing