Sew a Simple Skirt

 

I’m teaching Amelie to sew with the sewing machine! Work along with us to sew a simple skirt. This is a great project for older children who can work with their grown-up as a team to make a wearable project. The skirt is quick to sew and you can let your child do as much or as little of the steps as you feel is appropriate for their experience and ability. Please be careful and supervise at all times.

To join in you’ll need:

Approximately 1 metre of lightweight fabric. We used a printed polycotton.
Matching sewing thread
Elastic
Sewing machine
Sewing kit – scissors, tape measure, pins, safety pins.

Approximate run time: 20 minutes

Presenter: Laura and Amelie Kemshall

  1. Cut 2 rectangles of lightweight fabric. Measure your little one from waist to knee and add on about 3″. This is the height of the rectangle. The width of the rectangle can be the width of the fabric, or if that is too wide, trim the width. As a rough guide the rectangles for Amelie’s skirt measured approx 36″ x 20″.
  2. Zigzag the long edges of the rectangles.
  3. Place the rectangles right sides together and sew the side seams (short sides of the rectangles) together. Zigzag the raw edges together and press.
  4. Using your elastic as a guide, fold over the top of the long rectangle to form a casing. Don’t make the casing too tight. Press and sew with a straight stitch leaving about 2 inches open near one side seam.
  5. Place the elastic around your little one’s waist to get a comfortable fit and cut to length.
  6. Pop a safety pin at each end, pinning one end of the elastic to the seam allowance near the opening on the casing.
  7. Feed the elastic through the casing making sure it doesn’t twist.
  8. Overlap the ends of the elastic about 1″ and sew together.
  9. Close the opening in the casing.
  10. Distribute the gathers evenly around the waist and then sew a line of straight stitch in the ditch of each side seam across the elastic to secure in place.
  11. Try the skirt on to check for length then press an appropriate hem. We just turned over the fabric by about 1/4″ and then again by 1/4″ and stitched in place with a straight stitch near the edge of the fold.
  12. Give your skirt a final press and wear with pride!