Spring 2011 IT SKIRT - Tutorial

Had this gorgeous pink cotton jersey from my fabric market finds and was figuring out what to sew for Shasha. Suddenly had a brainstorm and came up with the ' Outside Ruffles Skirt' !! Yeah I know, not so creative am I :-)

Then as I was walking in Gallery-La-Fayette Paris, the 'ruffles on the outside' concept was the in thing this season, 'Great minds think alike' :)

The skirt is made from 2 pieces of rectangles and really simple and turns out edgy, so I decided to post the tutorial here. Anything thats not clear please let me know. I include measurements for a 6 year old , 15in finished length.

1. Measure the length of the skirt  from waistline - X

2. Measure the 'seat' of your child ( sit her down on a chair and measure height from waist to seat of              chair - A ( this will be for the skirt yoke)

3. Measure her Hip circumfrence

5. The Yoke width is " Hip circumfrence + ease + seam allowance " , if using Jersey, omit the ease 

                                     ( 26 in + 1in + 1in = 28in)

6. The Yoke Length is " A" + Waist band foldover + seams

                                     ( 5in + 1in + 1in = 7in) - I'm using a 1in elastic

7. The Ruffle width is 'Yoke Width x 1.5' + seam allowance

                                     ( 28in x 1.5 = 42in + 1in = 43in)

8. The Ruffle Length is " Skirt Length - Seat Length + hem allowance  ;  X - A = B+ allowance

                                       (15in - 5in + 2in = 12in)

9. Serger stitch Yoke long edges

10. I used a rolled overedge stitch on my serger for the Ruffles long edges. If using cotton, overlock and hem top and bottom.

11. On 'wrong side' of Ruffles, sew two line of gathering stitches , first one 1/2 in from top edge

12. Pin the Ruffles to the Yoke and pull the gathering threads till the Ruffles match the width of the Yoke. Stitch just under the 2nd line of gathering thread.

13. Option : I sewed a a piece of grossgrain ribbon to cover the gathering stitches up front and added cute buttons.

14. Line up the sides of Yoke and Ruffle and stitch and finish with serger overlock

15. Fold over Yoke top 1.5in and sew, leaving 2inches gap for inserting elastic

16. Measure girl's waist and minus 2 inches for the elastic

17. Thread elastic through the gap all the way around, overlap 3/4 inch and use backstitch to secure.

18. Stitch the gap closed

19. I topstitch the side seam to make it flat
20. Your little skirt is all DONE , VOILA !!!!!!

I like skirts with yokes, somehow adds a bit of cuteness , especially from the back :) making this from Jersey is easy and comfy too.

Would love to see pictures if you used this tutorial. Check out this skirt that Lea Michele from Glee is wearing on the cover of Cosmo UK June 2011! Told you it was 'IN' . Have a good weekend friends.