Mountain Mom{me}: Simple Skirt

Monday, October 15, 2012

Simple Skirt

Simple is the key word. I think this skirt was originally called "The 15 Minute Skirt" but since it took me an hour, I decided the name didn't really fit with the project. But it is a simple skirt, it just takes me longer than the average Joe...or Jane..to complete. I found this material last year for $2.00 a yard. The goal was to make the skirt last year, but that item was checked off the to-do list over the weekend. Since the material was corduroy in nature, I decided to make it a little longer for the fall and winter. Abby especially likes that it has an elastic waistband. Even with her rapid growth spurts, she should still be able to wear this skirt for quite a while.

Step 1: I used another skirt of Abby's as a rough pattern. I essentially cut a large rectangle, folded it over and sewed together one seam.

Step 2: Press down seam

Step 3: Fold over 1/2 inch to make hem. I set my sewing machine to make a zig-zag stitch. I also folded the hem over and made another hem, just to have nice, clean edges

Step 4: I reset my machine to a straight stitch. Fold over 1/2 inch on the top of the skirt and sew using a straight stitch.

Step 5: Using another skirt of Abby's, I measured the elastic. I added about 1 1/2 inch. You will need a little overlap to sew the elastic together. I also added a little extra to the elastic to give Abby more room.

Step 6: The elastic I used was 1 inch so I folded the top of the skirt over about 1 1/4 inch. The elastic pocket does not need to be too large or the elastic will get twisted. Sew the pocket leaving a two inch opening. I hooked a safety pin on one end of the elastic and fed it through the pocket. ( This can be a little time consuming.) Once the elastic is fed all the way through I noticed that the end the safety pin was hooked on was slightly frayed so I trimmed that off. I used the sewing machine to sew the two ends of the elastic together.