This skirt was so quick and easy it barely deserved a blog post, but then I thought I'd try my hand at making a Pinterest-friendly tutorial illustration for it. It truly took me just 15 minutes to sew — it has just five seams, after all.
I wasn't going to hem it at all, but it initially turned out 4 inches too long and a bit dowdy.
So I decided to hem it with a twin needle ... and my walking foot really chomped on the hem. Then when I was trimming off the excess I managed to stab three additional holes in the hem and had to hand-sew them shut. So no hem closeups this time!
And yes, I know I'm a black-&-white-&-polka-dot broken record. But I have a lot of this black & white ITY jersey in my stash, and I had already drafted the half-circle skirt for this dress that I wear constantly, using Patty the Snug Bug's handy calculator.
This no-elastic waistband treatment is pretty common in ready-to-wear skirts—it's kind of like a yoga pants waistband. The key is giving it just the right amount of negative ease, or it will sag and bag around your midriff.
If you do give it a try, please leave a comment, I'd love to see your version!
P.S. If you don't want to draft the skirt yourself, just use a purchased half-circle skirt pattern like the Cake Patterns Tiramisu instead of the self-drafted skirt! Even EASIER.
I have duly pinned your very cute tute! Great skirt!
ReplyDeleteI just pinned this as well! Looks like a great tutorial! I'll have to try it out.
ReplyDeleteTerrific tutorial. Makes it seem so simple!
ReplyDeleteThanks everyone! Honestly it REALLY is that simple, it's barely even a tutorial. And you could even do it with a big tube of fabric for the skirt (creating a gathered skirt effect) or just by eyeballing an A-line skirt shape.
ReplyDeleteNice! This totally falls in the "I knew how to do it, really" category but the tutorial is still nice because it prompts me to actually just do it. And putting in my pinterest "to make" list is a great way to save it for one of those days when I just want to make something quick and don't have a lot of spare brain to figure out how it ought to go together.
ReplyDeleteThanks for this! I have a few maternity dresses in my closet still (youngest, 2 years old) that are nice knit pieces. I have plans for turning them into easy-to-wear skirts and this no-elastic waist is much easier than anything I could have masterminded--and probably more comfortable!
ReplyDeleteLeu
www.leusewsinnyc.wordpress.com
That's a great idea. You could pretty much take any knit skirt and add a knit waistband to it this way to keep it up! You might also be able to do it with some very lightweight wovens, but most wovens could probably overpower the stretching capabilities of lightweight spandex blend knits.
DeleteThanks for posting this. AFter a summer of mostly unsuccessful sewing, I whipped up a nice skirt for my first day of the semester teaching tomorrow!
ReplyDeleteOh how awesome! Would love to see if you can share a link?
DeleteI have used your lovely, simple idea to make some toddler-sized skirts. So quick and easy! Thanks (see here at end of post http://www.meggipeg.com/2013/09/baby-car-seat-blanket-and-toddler.html)
ReplyDeleteHi Mikhaela :-) just wanted to write a little gratitude comment :-) I was trying to sew the tiramisu dress from cake pattern and something went terribly wrong...the top gapes like there's no tomorrow and the waistband comes way too high on my ladies :-( I thought that at least I could try to salvage the skirt part and I did it using your tutorial and it turned out great! :-) It actually looks like a skirt from Ruche that I really liked but would never buy at that prize and that anyway didn't even come in my size. So thanks a million, your tutorial pulled me out of a rough sewing patch :-) All the very best to you and yours. Christina
ReplyDeleteGreat tutorial!! I'm going to link to it from my facebook page!
ReplyDeleteHi Mikhaela :D
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for this awesome tutorial. I gave it a go and now am a round owner of my own handmade yoga skirt. I used a purple knit fabric and made it a midi length - it's so comfy, I love it. I blogged about it here: http://www.sewinlove.com.au/2016/03/25/how-to-make-a-skirt/
Rin x