Paper Bag Skirt

 I love skirts!!  They can be paired with a cute pair of sandals, leggings, or boots.  I want to make some skirts for myself, but I am nervous to venture into the world of sewing adult-sized clothing.  I have seen these paper bag skirt tutorials all over the blogosphere and really want to make one for myself.  But first, I decided to make one for Abby.  I can work out the kinks and have a better understanding of the pattern.  And if I mess up, it is less material to throw away!!  So I found this tutorial at Sew Caroline and adjusted it for Abby.

Since Abby was at school, I used one of her other skirts as a guide.  In general, add four inches to the desired length of a finished skirt.  For the width, measure around the largest part of your bottom, divide by two and add 2 inches.  Abby's little skirt ended up being 16" in width and 19" in length.  Cut out two squares this size. 

I pressed my two squares and then pinned right sides together.  Sew two side seams.

Once side seams are sown, turn down three inches from the top and press.  Run a stitch ALMOST all the way around the skirt.  Leave a small opening to run your elastic through.  Then measure about 1.5" closer to the top of the skirt and run a stitch all the way around the skirt.  This will be the casing for the elastic.  (My elastic was 1 inch wide opening was about 1.5".  Adjust sizes for the size of the elastic.)

 

Place a safety pin on one end of the elastic and feed it through the opening.  Work the elastic all the way through the opening.  Be careful not to twist the elastic.  Sew the two ends of the elastic together using a zigzag stitch (do NOT twist the elastic during this step.)

Complete the skirt by adding a seam at the bottom of the skirt.

I decided to make a sash to go with the skirt.  I cut a strip of  material 3" wide (for a 1 1/2" wide sash) and 50 inches long.  (I multiplied the waist measurement by 3 and added two inches.  However, I wish I had added 5 -7 inches.)  I folded the strip in half (folding right sides in) and pressed a crease.  I also cut the ends at an angle. 

So up until this point, I had been working on the skirt for about 30-35 minutes (that is with a 4 year old and an 11 month old who needed a bottle.)  But when it came time to turn this sash right-side out, it took almost as much time!!  I started with a wooden spoon, but that didn't work too well.  So I had to just had to ever-so-slowly pull the right side out.  I later discovered that attaching a safety pin and feeding it through the tube would have been the way to go!!

Once the entire sash is right-side out, close the other end of the sash with a straight stitch, turning the raw edges under.  I also pressed the sash down flat.  I also thought about attaching the sash to the skirt with a simple stitch, but have neglected to do so.

Abby liked posing for the pictures.  To bad she has Hello Kitty bandaids on her legs and I took pictures in front of a light switch!!

I also had a little helper during this project.  Micah was the official "Pin Putter Upper".  He took his job VERY seriously!!

Rachel