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Cute easy skirt tutorial!

Is it just my girls, that really LOVE skirts? Most days my two year old, C. E , refuses to wear anything that isn't either a skirt or a dress. Lucky for her I am constantly making skirts and dresses. :) I haven't even purchased her any pants for a year. ( well I did purchase one pair, but it had a skirt attached so it doesn't count.) Each day after I get C. E dressed, ( in either a skirt or a dress) she always says "I wear dress lite (like) a pincess (princess)."  It always makes me giggle a little. So this is my latest skirt. It is inspired by that pre shirred fabric you can get at any fabric store. they didn't have any made from corduroy  though, so I decided to make my own. If you can sew a straight line, then you can make this skirt! It is the easiest skirt I have ever made, and I have made A LOT of skirts,  It is made with grey corduroy, so it will hold up well, and the interchangeable sash will ensure it will go with anything.  C loves wearing this skirt, because the shired waist makes it really comfy.


 This is how I made it:



Measure the waist, then double that number. 
measure from the hip bone to the desired length add 3/4 inch.
cut your fabric according to those measurements.

for example if waist is 23, and hip to just below knee is 19 then I would cut a pice of fabric
46 wide x 19 3/4 length.



 After the fabric is cut to desired measurements,  cut it in half width-wise.




determine the top of the skirt, fold that edge over 1/8 inch so the two wrong sides of the fabric are touching.  Sew the fold close to the bottom edge.
Fold the same edge again 1/4 inch ,  Sew the new fold close to the bottom edge.

 


 You should have a beautiful folded hem, that should be 1/4inch thick. 
Repeat hem on the bottom of the skirt piece,  only making the folds 1/2 inch instead of 1/4 inch. 
Repeat on the other piece of fabric.




 Now you should have the two skirt pieces, with both top and bottom hems.


Cut two pieces of fabric measuring: 1 inch x (distance from hip bone to mid hip).
On my skirt it was 1 inch x 4 inches.

Iron the edges of the fabric strip down as shown below.


Then fold those edges over again, make one edge overlap the other a little.



Sew each  folded edge


 
 When finished it should have two seams over each folded edge.
Repeat on the other fabric strip.  Then set aside for later.

 Now for the shirring.  Loosely hand wind elastic thread around a bobbin.
Make sure you don't pull the elastic thread taught or the shirring will not work.
Place the bobbin in your machine, and pull the elastic up through the sewing plate.
Set your machine on the running stitch. ( you may need to adjust tension settings, I recommend practicing on a scrap before doing this on your skirt).
Now with the right side of the fabric facing up,   start sewing, and be sure to back stitch well to secure the elastic. Sew a straight line across the width of the skirt.



 It should look something like the picture below.


Now keep sewing straight lines across the width of your fabric, using the previous  sewed line as your guide. Make sure you are stretching the fabric out while you sew. As you sew each line, your fabric will shrink together.  I kept going until I had 4 1/2 inches of shirring.
 When finished iron the shirring and it will shrink up fully. 
Repeat on the other fabric piece.


 After you have shirred both fabric pieces, place the right sides of the fabric together. Position the belt loop between the two pieces and pin together. 
Sew the Fabric together. Repeat on the other side of the skirt.


 Now trim your threads and your done!








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