I am so excited to be sharing my first sewing tutorial! Because I have learned so much from following other sewing tutorials online, I really wanted to share my experiences so that I may help others as well.
My girly girls LOVE to wear skirts as full and twirly as possible. So, of course I had to google how to make pettiskirts and lo and behold, I found a great tutorial from Make it and Love it here! However, the thought of gathering and adding all those layers of chiffon was a little daunting.
Because I really liked the technique Ashley used to make the waistband to attach the two layers of skirts, I decided to use a similar technique to make a fabric pettiskirt version. Below is a tutorial of how I made the Twirly Girl Skirt. Please read all the instructions before beginning. I think I attach the gathered skirt different from conventional methods.
Fabric Measurements:
Step 1: Fold each waistband strip with right sides facing each other and sew together with a 1/4" seam allowance. Turn inside out so that the right side is facing out.
Step 2: Place one waistband inside the other one as shown in A below. Align the top edges of the waistbands and sew together with a 1/4" seam allowance as shown in B. Finish top edge with serger or zig-zag stitch.
Step 3: Turn the waistband inside out and iron the top edge. Topstitch 1/4" from the top around the waistband as shown in A. Topstitch 1" down from the 1/4" mark to form the elastic casing. Leave about an inch opening to thread the elastic into the casing at the end as show in B.
Step 4: Take two inner skirt pieces and attach the ends together with right sides facing each other. Take the third inner skirt piece and attach to one end of the piece you just attached together so that now you have one long piece of strip of skirt. Use a 1/4" seam allowance and finish edges with serger or a zig-zag stitch. REPEAT FOR THE OUTER SKIRT STRIPS.
Step 5: Gather the inner skirt strip with your favorite gathering method. I like to use my ruffler foot. MADE has a great tutorial for gathering fabric here. Gather enough to fit the width of your waistband. When gathering with a ruffler foot, it is not as easy to get the correct gathering ratio set up, so for fuller twirl, I always cut the length of the fabric to be gathered three times the length of the waistband or whatever you are attaching the gathered material to. REPEAT FOR THE OUTER SKIRT STRIPS.
Step 6: Place the gathered INNER SKIRT, wrong side up, on top of right side of the inner skirt waistband and align the top edges. Be sure to line the side seams of the skirt to the side seam of the waistband as shown in A below. You can pin the skirt to the waistband, if needed. I don't pin - I like to position the gathered skirt close to the edge as I sew without pinning. Start about an inch from the edge of where you first lay the skirt onto the waistband and sew the gathered skirt to the waistband with a 3/8" seam allowance. Stop once you get to about 2" from where you started.
Step 7: Once you get a couple of inches away from where you started sewing, lift the presser foot and remove the fabric from the sewing machine. Measure the width of waistband remaining as shown in A. Then sew the side seams of the gathered skirt closed with right sides together (B) so that it is the same width as that measured in A. Cut extra fabric to 1/4" seam. Finish edge with serger or zig-zag stitch.
Step 8: Sew the rest of the gathered skirt onto the waistband. Use a serger or zig-zag stitch to finish the raw edges.
Step 9: Turn the skirt over to the right side and topstitch close to the seam. I used a coverstitch in the photo below.
Step 10: Repeat Steps 6-9 to attach the OUTER SKIRT to the OUTER WAISTBAND.
Step 11: Prepare the small band for the bottom of the OUTER SKIRT. Attach the three band pieces together as described in Step 4. Fold the entire strip in half with wrong sides together and press with an iron.
Step 12: Similar to how you attached the skirt to the waistband in Step 6, start about an inch from the edge of where you first lay the band onto the bottom edge of the OUTER SKIRT (see A) and sew the band to the skirt with a 3/8" seam allowance. Stop once you get to about 2" from where you started. Measure the width of waistband remaining as shown in B. Then open up the band on both edges and sew the side seams of the band closed with right sides together (C) so that it is the same width as that measured in B.
Step 13: Sew the remainder of the band onto the skirt as shown in A. Use a serger or a zig-zag stitch to finish the raw edge as shown in B. Fold down the band and topstitch. I used a coverstitch as shown in C.
Step 14: You can sew a band on the INNER SKIRT hem as shown in Steps 11-13 or attach a gathered chiffon strip as shown below. I purchased a 2" slit chiffon roll (30 yards long) from AFC-express as shown in A. Gather the chiffon with a ruffler foot or other gathering method as shown in B. Attach the gathered chiffon to the inner skirt hem as described in Steps 6-8 and shown below in C. Finally, fold the chiffon over and topstitch. I using a coverstitch as shown in D.
Step 15: Insert the elastic into the casing with a safety pin as shown in A. Pull the elastic all the way though and secure the two ends together by sewing the pattern shown in B. Close the opening by sewing on the right side of the waistband as shown in C.
Your skirt is now complete!
Put them on your twirly girls and let them have fun with it!!!
This Twirly Girls skirt is ideal for the scorching summer we have heading our way. A big thank you to SewLoveLe for this magnificent tutorial.
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