I shrunk some yardage and fell about 50 cm short for the dress I wanted to make, so I turned the fabric into a skirt. This is an easy design that will adjust to many sizes. The measurements are for my skirt–I’m about 5’7″ and I wear a US size 10/12.
The skirt is three tiers, with the top tier falling just above the knees with 15-20 cm ease to make for comfortable walking without bulk around the waist. The lower tiers are about half the length of the one above. Each tier is 1.5 times as wide as the previous one. This gives enough fullness for suitable flair while dancing, but without using too much fabric.
The Cutting
From a 220 cm length of 95 cm wide fabric, cut the following pieces (measurements are approximate):
- 2 – 63 cm W x 50 cm H
- 2 – 95 cm W x 28 cm H
- 3 – 95 cm W x 1/3 the remaining material (about 15 cm)
I used a ruler to measure and then folded the fabric and cut carefully on the fold. I’m a really lazy cutter!
The Sewing
- Sew the tiers into tubes on the short sides
- Hem the bottom one with a narrow hem.
- Sew a casing for elastic in the widest one.
- On the top edge of the middle and lower tiers, baste with contrasting thread, breaking the stitching at each side seam
- Mark the center, center back, and sides of each section with pins
- Pull the gathering basting on the middle tier up to meet the pins on the top tier
- Pin into place. I use 8-16 pins per tier to keep things from moving too much in the next step.
- Sew tier to top, keeping gathered side up. This helps prevent the edge of the gathers from folding over into the seam as you sew.
- Turn the seam allowance up. Press, if you desire.
- Topstitch seam allowance to previous tier.
- Repeat gathering and stitching for the lower tier.
- Fit elastic; thread through casing.
- Sew elastic together and close casing.
- Enjoy your skirt.
