Layered Holiday Skirt

Did you see our guest post at Naptime Crafters yesterday?  We shared the details of our daughters' holiday outfits.  So cute!  Jessica made the skirts and Heather made the shirts. 

Being that it is so close to Christmas we also wanted to share the tutorials here this week.  Today we'll share the skirt tutorial and Saturday you can come back to see how Heather made the snowflake shirts using puffy paint.

To make the skirt, you will need the following supplies:

-3 different fabrics

        Top Layer: 7"x36" (2 pieces)
        Middle Layer: 7"x36" (2 pieces)
        Bottom Layer: 10"x36" (2 pieces)

        Waist Band: 3.5"x27"

*This is for a 2T. I would suggest adding about 1 inch in the length of each piece/size increase

-Ribbon for the bows *varies depending on how big your want your bows but I used about 2 yards
-Elastic thread
-1 inch elastic
-Trim for the layers like lace or tulle
Regular sewing supplies like scissors, thread, etc

Step 1: Cut out all your pieces. Sew each of your layer pieces to the matching piece right sides together on one side to make 3 long layer pieces.

 

Then you are going to turn the bottom of each piece over 1/4 inch and another 1/4 inch and sew down to create a hem. Repeat with all the pieces. Next add your trims to the bottom and middle layer pieces. 

 

Here is what you end up with:

Step 2: Lay all your pieces on top of each other with the bottom piece on the bottom and the top piece on the top. Baste your pieces together at the top of the skirt. Then with a loose stitch, sew across the top of the skirt leaving the ends long for gathering. Sew another line next to your first line again with a loose stitch leaving your ends long. Gather your skirt at the top until it is the same length as your waist band piece.

Step 3: Fold your waist band piece in half wrong sides together and press. Then sew the waist band piece to your skirt piece right sides together. Flip your waistband up and press.

 

Insert your elastic into the waistband using a safety pin. Pin the elastic ends to each end of the skirt. Now you are going to sew up the side of the skirt with the right sides facing each other, make sure to sew both ends of the elastic together and back stitch at the waist band to ensure the stitches stay.

  

Step 4: Now you need to decide where you want your bows. I wanted 3 in the front and 3 in the back so I measured the front of the skirt in the center, then I split each side in half and marked those pieces giving me 3 equal sections of the skirt.

 

Repeat with the back. Now you are going to stitch a line up those sections using your elastic thread stopping about 1.5 inches from the waistband. *For more info on sewing with elastic thread look HERE.

 

 

Step 5: Now you have gathered areas of the skirt you are going to use these gathers to hand stitch your top layers up. I scrunched the fabric at each elastic thread line until it was the length I liked. Then I stitched the scrunched portion together. Finish each scrunch with a bow by forming the bows and sewing it by hand onto the skirt.

 

 Finish all the elastic areas as instructed above and then your skirt is done!

Such a pretty holiday skirt!