DIY - How to make a Skater Skirt.

Hello guys,

Today's post is going to be mostly centered on how to make a skater skirt.
Skater skirts (or flared skirts) are lovely and easy-to-rock skirts which i'm sure you all must be already seeing in stores, in magazines and in preceding posts from the winners of the Christmas giveaway. 

These skirts are really fun and flirty and in the right color/print, it can be perfect for going to the beach, park and even to hang out with friends. Very great for dancing, twirling or wiggling your hips on the dance floor.

They are also incredibly simple to make so if I'm going out to the movies but can’t be bothered about making a dress, I’ll whip a skater skirt up in about 45 minutes.

Ebele Udeozor; Grand prize winner

To begin, you will need:

1.    Around 2 - 3 yards (1 yard = 36" by 50"/60") of fabric  (depending on the desired length)

2.   Lining fabric

3.   Chalk or easy removable fabric marker

4.   Fabric scissors

5.   Pins

6.   Measuring tape

7.   An 8"/10" skirt zipper

8.   A sewing machine

9.   Matching fabric thread

10.   Skirt hook

11.        PATIENCE!

Items: Tiger Print Fabric, Lining Fabric, Scissors, Pin, Chalk and a Measuring Tape.

8" skirt zipper, skirt hooks and sewing machine

So to start, it is really important you have the right size of fabric to suit your frame. The fabric I used measured 2 yards (60” by 72” i.e. 36'" one yard x 2 = 72") and if you would like it make a longer skirt, you will need a wider fabric. 

Fold your fabric in half on a big table or ideally on a hard flat surface like on your floor if you have floorboards.

Take your waist, hips and length measurements 
e.g mine is 30” – waist, 44" - hips and 20” - length.

Now you’re ready to start cutting! Fold the fabric into four squares and mark out your waist measurement (This is your waist measurement divided by 4 e.g. 30"/4 = 7.5") 

Fabric folded and ready to cut

Once the waist line is marked out, you cut along the chalk line

And then mark out your hem line, measuring from your waist line to the desired length (e.g. my length is 20")

After marking your waist line and hem line with a visible chalk on the folded fabric, cut it out with your scissors.

cut waist line and hem

Then unfold so you have a circle the circumference of your waist.

Once the skirt is fully unfolded, you will end up with a piece that looks like a huge doughnut

Then on one side, cut an 8cm slit so you will be able to put the skirt on (then put a zip in of course)

Cutting a slit for the zipper

With the fabric discarded from cutting the bigger semi circle - cut out a rectangle (3"- 4") the length of your waist + 3 extra inches and fold in half inside out - this will become your waistband.

To sew, run a long and lose stitch from one end of the cut fabric to the other end twice – one inch (1”) apart.

two long and lose stitches, one inch apart

Pull both ends of the thread carefully until you attain a level of ‘gathers’ on the cut fabric.

Fold the fabric in half and sew up the slit until you reach the 8” (for the skirt zipper) mark.

Attach the skirt zipper and sew up.

Place the wrong side of the 4” skirt band on one end of the sewn fabric and sew through, turn it inside out, fold and sew till the end.

You can now manually fix the hook to the skirt with a needle and thread.

TADA!!!

Ebele Udeozor; Grand prize winner

To sew the zip in:

Fold the edge of the waistband along with side of the slit we cut earlier a cm , place on top of one side of the zip where the teeth start, then top stitch to the end of the zip (where the teeth ends not where the zip ribbon ends)

Keeping the needle in the fabric , spin the fabric 90 degrees , sew a till you get to the other side of the slit , then repeat this step till the other side of the zipper has been sewn with the start of the teeth being where the waistband starts also. 

The only thing left to do is to hem the skirt. 

Hemming a circle skirt is slightly more difficult than other skirts as the edge is perfectly curved all the way around. You will need a great deal of patience as even I stuff up sometimes when my mind drifts off. As long as you are alert you should have no problem. 

You will need to make sure the pressure foot is exactly the width of fabric you have folded over and straight stitch very very slowly. Every 2 inches you will need to stop and realign the fabric so the next couple of inches are perfectly straight and the same width of the pressure foot.

 The fabric will always try to shrink at an angle so you have to keep the hem taunt and pay attention otherwise it will be super wonky and you will have to unpick the hem and start over 

(Think it took me at least 4 goes the first time before I had a perfect circle skirt hem so don't get too frustrated - sewing is super fun once you have these skills :)

Do you think you can successfully make a skater skirt? leave a comment or two in the comment box below.

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Cheers. 

Xx