mom/daughter party skirts

Let's just jump right in! What you'll need:* Fabric- this can be linen (like used in the adult version) or cotton. And the amount is based on your model. Oh and wash and dry it first. You'd hate to have your brand new skirt shrink after the first time it's worn!* Elastic* Thread* Scissors* Sewing machine (and serger if you have one. If not- just zig zag your edges)* Iron and ironing board* And of course a cute little model to measure!
You'll want to measure around the waist and the length you want it to be.My daughter's waist is 16" and I wanted the length to be 9"(yes- she is a peanut!)

This is what I used for the elastic. I prefer the non-roll in a nice wide width

Alright so lets going!

The main portion of the skirt: the length you measured with 2 inches added by her waist measurement 2 1/2 times. Make sense? No. So for example- my piece was 11 inches wide (I wanted the final length to be 9) and 40 inches long (16+16+8=40).
The waist band: the length is 1 1/2 times your models waist and for width- it'll be about an inch extra to double the width of your elastic. Again- my piece was 24 inches long (16+8=24) and 4 inches wide (1 1/2+1 1/2+1=4).
Elastic: I wanted mine to come out to be 16 inches exactly so it barely fits her now. So I cut the elastic 8 inches- or half of your waist measurement.

This is what you should have:

This is your skirt and all of the material you'll need.

So we'll start by making the waistband first. It is the most time consuming part! First serge your long edges. It is easier to do this now instead of later I found out! Then we're gong to fold it in half and iron a crease. To do this, I tucked the elastic inside the fold and then if you're sewing a striped material, carefully match those stripes up so that they will be straight once finished.

After ironing a small area, go ahead and just slip that elastic out and iron a nice solid crease in the whole waistband.

We're now going to topstitch just as close to the edge as possible down the length of the whole piece to keep that crease there.

Now measure down half of your original waist measurement, add about 1/2 inch for the side seam, and pin.

You're now just going to sew straight seams that length. (so from the end to your pin) This will be the front of the skirts waistband. I wanted it to lay flat and the seams will help with it keeping its shape when washed.

Once you've finished, we're going to sew in the elastic! Tuck it right up snug in that crease/top stitching and push it as close to the seam ends as possible. Sew it horizontal now. I sewed 3 seams on the blue stripes to help keep it in place and strong against being pulled at.

Now with your elastic inside, sew a casing down the rest of the material staying pretty close to the edge of the elastic.

Oh but wait! Before you sew your whole casing, attach a safety pin through the end of the elastic and hook a ribbon (this just happened to be right nearby) through the pin. This will help you in the next step.

So after sewing the casing all the way down, we're gonna pull that elastic through. This is where the ribbon comes in handy! Now don't just try and pull that ribbon because trust me I learned, the safety pin will pop off. :) It will still work, it is just trickier threading that elastic through the casing. So instead, use it like a handle and just gently pull the material back on the elastic, pushing it back. Once you've reached the end of your elastic, sew it in place again as you did on the other end. But leave about a 1/2 inch or so for the side seam. Your waistband should look like this:

Now that the hard part is over, let's whip the rest of this skirt up! What'd ya say?Take the main portion of your skirt and serge all edges. This isn't neccessary but it sure does give it a nice finished look when your done.

Gather the top. If you haven't ruffled before, it's easy! Lengthen your stitch to the longest setting. Loosen your bobbin. And don't backstitch! Now you're just going to sew along the top edge and then pull just one side of the strings (either your top thread or the bobbin- not both!) to gather it into a nice ruffle. One tip- break your skirt up into portions. That way if a thread breaks, it's not the whole skirt that has to be redone. You can see this in the picture below:

Now your going to pin your skirt portion to your waistband. Now this gets a little tricky. First pin the flat portion of the waistband to the ruffled skirt portion. Now when you pin the elastic portion, stretch it out! This will make your material not as ruffled as the front so that when the elastic scrunches back up, the material scrunches. And when the elastic is stretched out, the material will still look slightly ruffled. Does that make sense? Hope so!

Now sew those two pieces together where you have just pinned.

Now just iron that seam flat and iron in those ruffles a bit. Not much, just a little to help it lay nicely.

This is a great time now to check for your ruffling thread. If you see some, no biggie! Just carefully unpick it.

You're almost done!! All we have left is to sew your side seam, press that open, and then hem the skirt bottom. Yay- you have just made an adorable party skirt!

But if you want to add on the cute bow in front, don't leave me just yet. When I made my party skirt, I made a detachable sash. But that would be tricky to keep in place on a crazy little runner and dancer! So instead, I made a half of sash and attached it. We're going to first make 2 sashes. You'll want to cut these double the width of your waist band and as long as the entire waist measurement. So my two pieces: they were each about 3 inches side and 16 inches long.

Now fold each in half with the right sides together, iron this crease, and cut one end at a slight angle.

Sew around three of the sides creating a long tube. Snip your corners and flip it right side out.

Iron these again keeping those seams nice and flat.

Now just tuck in the one end to close it off and topstitch around the entire sash. I chose to finish these off with my double needle but that was just for style. Any regular topstitch would work great!

Now you should have 2 little sashes (and check your angles at this point to make sure they are laying correctly). Lay these wrong side out and pin just inside or in front of the sides. Sew back and forth a few different times on each side.

Now tie into a bow and voila! You know have a mini Party Skirt- complete with a big bow!

I love the finished look!! And with that elastic back, it'll be sure to last for quite sometime!

Front: Flat fitted look with a gorgeous big bow!

Back: nice and stretchy for easy on and off and to adjust for growth!

It is the perfect little complimentary skirt to the fitted (with a zipper) adult Party Skirt! You can check out that tutorial over at Creative Spaces.

Ok so the first step is to cut our main skirt piece. I cut mine basically in half- 22 inches in length.

(and I serged my piece before cutting it but would recommend cutting it and then serging your edges)

So now serge both sides of your skirt. This is not essential but will clean up your insides once your done. And if you don't have a serger- zig zag your edges.

Now cut your waist band. This is the measurement around your natural waist, where you want the band to sit. Add about 3/4 inch to this measurement since you'll be turning your edges under at the seam for the zipper. Now I wanted my waistband to be about 3 inches wide finished so I cut it 7 inches wide. So at this point- you should have this:

Main skirt piece at least double the length of your waist piece.

So we're now going to make your waistband. Fold in half and iron this crease in.

Now top stitch first at the very edge of your material on the crease. Can you see that seam? Then continue to sew seams about 2 inches apart to cover the entire band. This should help so that once you wash and wear your skirt, your waist band won't fold and twist. It should retain its shape well.

Now serge your edges (again to keep those seams clean) and this is what you should have:

Now we're going to ruffle the main skirt portion. In case you haven't ruffled before, don't be scared away at this point. Ruffling is super easy! Lengthen your stitch to the longest length possible and loosen your tension. Now sew a stitch- without backstitching! Then carefully pull one thread to gather your stitch. One tip that I've learned, when ruffling this long of a piece of material- break it up into 4 sections. Start and stop at 4 different points so that the ruffling is easier and more manageable in small secitons. You can see in the picture below the break between my ruffling seams.

Now attach your waistband to your skirt. Place your right sides together like this:

Sew from one side to the other. Now iron your seam flat.

This is also a great time to check for your ruffling stitch. If a little shows through- no worries! Just carefully unpick it.

Ok so now we sew in the invisible zipper. There is a great tutorial to follow here so I didn't take any pictures. And again- don't let this zipper scare you away! I was scared of zippers but seriously they are so easy and open up a whole new world of possibilities. Check out this tutorial and then come back.

So now that your zipper is sewn in and you've finished sewing your side or back seam, iron it open.

Almost done! Hang in there. You're doing great! All we have left is to hem your skirt. You can either double roll your hem or serge your edges and then hem under. Either way- its a nice clean finish.

And when I sew my hem, I don't worry about ironing or pinning it. I take the lazy way out but after I serge my edges, I just roll it and pull tightly as I sew it. Either way you choose to do it, finish off that hem and try it on! Your skirt is done. You did it!

Now you can leave it here or stick with me a little longer and add that bow. I made mine detached so that the skirt could be worn with or without it. Just so that there's the option to mix it up as wanted.

But if you'd like to make the bow- lets get started! Basically, you're going to cut yourself another waistband except leave it the length of the material- double plus some of your waistband measurement. Did that make sense? No. Simplified: Cut a piece of material 7 inches wide the length of the material. Sew it right sides together to make a tube. I wanted angled ends so I eyeballed the first end. Then for the second end, I laid the other end on top to use as a guide.

Now snip your corners and unpick a small hole in one end of your sash (or just plan ahead and leave a gap!). Turn it inside out and push your corners out. Now iron carefully making sure to help it lay flat and your seam is straight. Now just topstitch around the entire sash and voila! You're done!