1.5-2yardsstretchy knit fabricFabric should be about 60″ wide. I’m short (5′ 4″) and pretty thin, so I need about 1 1/2 yards. Buy a little more if you think you will need it.
Thread in a coordinating color
Instructions
For this tutorial I will be using a 34-inch waist as the guideline. Alter yours to whatever size your waist is.
Divide that waist measurement in half (so for mine it is 17 inches) and that will be how wide you cut the top of your skirt.Please please please cut bigger than you think you might need. You can always size it smaller but it’s hard to make it bigger if you cut too small. Add an inch or two at the very least the first time you make this. Also, if your hips are significantly wider than your waist, add a little extra to take that into account.
Measure your legs to figure out how long you want your skirt. Measure from your waist clear down to your ankles and then add about 2-3 inches extra to give yourself enough fabric for a hem at the bottom.
Fold your uncut fabric in half. You will cut your skirt on the fold so that it turns out symmetrical.
Starting at the top of your fabric, cut your skirt out.Figure out how wide you need to cut the top of your skirt. Remember, my waist measurement was 34 inches, so the top of each of my 2 skirt panels was going to be 17 inches.Now since my fabric is folded in half, that means I need to half the 17 inch measurement and that’s how much I will cut (because then when I unfold the fabric it will be the full 17).So I am cutting mine 8.5″ as you can see here. This is the top of the skirt: (Adjust this to whatever your measurement should be.)
Mark where the bottom of your skirt will be. As you cut from the top, angle gently towards the bottom of your skirt so that it is wider at the bottom than it was at the top. You want it to be about 13 or so inches wider at the bottom. (So divide that in half since your fabric is folded.) Here's the bottom of my skirt:
And here’s what it looks like when it is all cut out (you should have 2 panels that look like this).
Grab both panels and with right sides together, sew both of the outer sides together. Try it on to check the width. If you need to, take it in at the waist. (By sewing further in on the fabric and cutting off the excess.)
Hem the skirt making sure to make it the length you want it. (Fold over about 1 inch. Iron it in place. Fold it over an inch again so that now you have 2 layers of fabric and sew clear around. Sorry, I took these pictures a while AFTER I made this skirt so it is a little frayed on the bottom from wearing and washing.
To create the waistband, make sure your skirt is still inside out. Cut a piece of fabric that is the same width as the top of your skirt and is about 10 inches tall. Fold this in half making it 5 inches tall by your width-whatever that number is. For this sample skirt it would be 34.
With it folded in half, sew the short ends together so that is makes a big loop.
With the waistband of course still folded in half-because it should now be sewn in place that way, pin this piece in place around the outside of your skirt waist. It should be touching your unfinished part of your skirt because your skirt is inside out. Sew around the waist.
This part will fold down over the top of the skirt to make a nice looking waistband. When it’s sewn in place and the skirt is finished, it should look like this: