Girl's ruffle skirt how to. Easy sewing project.

So today will be how to day. Keep in mind this is the first how to I have ever written up so bare with me and make sure to comment if I have left out something. I will show you the super easy way to make a super cute girls ruffle skirt, perfect for over tights and leggings. What a great way to make matching skirt sets for sisters. And also great for the girls who can never find what they like in the store. This is super easy to make and takes about a day. You have to be able to sew a straight line and do a zig zag stitch. Okay here we go.



This is what the skirt will look like finished. The size I am going to show is girls size 3, but will go over how to adjust for different sizes at the end.

Supplies:

**Fabric, stretch or cotton will work, it is best to pre-wash just because some fabric shrinks more than others.

Use 1 or 2 different colors/patterns, your choice.

**Elastic, soft stretch 1/2 inch width.

**Thread

**Scissors

**Ruler

**Straight Pins

**Sewing Machine

Let's get started, the first thing we are going to do is cut out all our needed pieces. The pictures that are below show how to do that.

Now that you have all your pieces cut let's start sewing.

Put 2 of the same color/pattern 12 inch by 2 inch pieces face to face(the part that is on the outside) and pin the ends together and sew a straight line 1/4 inch from the side.

Continue to sew all the 12 inch by 2 inch pieces the same way. I will usually overcast, serge or just a simple zig-zag stitch the ends so the fabric will not come apart.

Put 2 of the same color/patter 20 inch by 3 inch pieces face to face (the part that is on the outside) and pin the ends together and sew a straight line 1/4 inch in from the side, finish with a overcast, serge or zig-zag stitch on those ends.

Continue to sew all the 20 inch by 3 inch pieces the same way.

Next is the tricky part(well not that tricky).

Take one of the 20 inch by 3 inch pieces and open in and lay it face down length wise toward you on your machine. Start near a seam about 1/2 inch from the top of the fabric.

With you machine still in a straight stitch, centered in the middle, hold the top thread in your hand and depress your needle up and down one time to grab the bobbin thread and pull it up through the fabric.

Now you will want to pull both upper and bobbin thread out equally 14 or so inches. Twist those threads together so they don't get away from you while sewing and put them under your presser foot.

Now switch you machine to a loose zig-zag stitch and carefully zig-zag stitch over the thread that you pulled out, don't loose your ends you will have to pull the a little to bunch the fabric as you are sewing. Stop at the next seam, make sure to have enough left over thread from the end of the zig-zag to tie with the thread that is under the zig-zag, but don't tie off now.

Do the same zig-zag over thread for the other side top of the 20 inch by 3 inch piece.

Now you will be pulling the tread that is under the zig-zag stitch to evenly bunch your fabric, you need to check it against the seam to seam measurements of the 12 inch by 2 inch piece, when they are even tie off the ends so you don't loss your bunch/ruffle.

Continue to do the zig-zag over thread on all of the 20 inch by 3 inch piece tops, take your time and remember to tie off only after you have the bunched/ruffled part equal to the length of the 12 inch by 2 inch pieces.

You are now going to pin the bunched top to the bottom of the 12 inch by 2 inch pieces, face to face(the outside of the fabric).

Make sure your seams line up and make sure to use alot of pins like every 1/2 inch.

Smooth out all your bunches/ruffles and now sew a straight stitch at the bottom of the zig-zag.

Set that piece out of the way and now continue to do the same thing to the rest of the 20 inch by 3 inch pieces and the 12 inch by 2 inch pieces.

When you are done doing that you should have 5 ruffles on 5 bands(the 12"x2" pieces).

Now to attach your pieces so you can finish your skirt.

In the next picture you will see two pieces, piece marked 1 is with the band facing down and inside of the circle.

Picture marked 2 is with the band pulled up.

You now will place piece 2 on the outside of piece 1, pin the top of the band(pic.2) to the middle/zig-zag seam of pic.1, matching side seam to side seam.

Now looking at your pinned section your ruffled part will be on the inside of the band, sew a straight stitch about 1/2 inch in, it should be almost right on top of the straight stitch on pic. 1 from when you attached the ruffle to the band making the middle seam.

Continue to attach the top bands to the middle seam with your remaining pieces. When you are finished you will have a top band with nothing to attach to it.

Now get some elastic and measure your little ones waist, not to tight.

Cut the elastic about 1/2 inch extra. Set aside.

At this time I like to to the finishing, with overcastind, serge or a zig-zag stitch on all your loose ends, the top band, all the middle seams where you attached all the layers and all the ruffle ends. Now you also want to hem your ruffle ends with a straight stitch.

For the waist, you will fold the band in half on the inside of skirt and sew it right at the bottom of the band right above the seam that attaches the ruffle to the skirt.

When sewing leave a opening about 2 inches so you will be able to feed the elastic in.

Next feed the elastic through the top of the skirt, making sure to leave the ends out and now sew the ends of the elastic together.

Finish sewing up the 2 inch section you left open and TA-DA you have a cute ruffle skirt.

Different Sizes

So now to figure out how to get a different size. I like to measure the widest part of the hips, add 2 inches to that and then divide it in half, and that will be your top band piece length (up above it would have been the 12"x2"). To get the width of the pieces will depend on how big you want your ruffles, if you want your ruffles 4 inches wide your bands will be 3 inches if you want 5 inch ruffles your band will be 4 inches. All except the top band, which I like to keep 2 inches wide.

Your ruffle length will be anywhere from 8-10 inches longer than each of your band pieces, depending on how much ruffle you want.

EXAMPLE:

Your daughter is widest at her hips at 30 inches and you want your ruffles approx. 5 inches.

First you add 2 to the 3and then divide in half. 30+2=32/2=16

Your length of your bands is 16 inches.

The width of your bands is going to be 4 inches.

Cut 8 pieces of 16"x4" and 2 pieces of 16"x2" this is your top band where the elastic is.

Your ruffled pieces will be 26 inches by 5.5 inches.

Cut 10 pieces of 26"x5.5"

With a little measuring you will have ruffle skirts for every size. Feel free to use this pattern for all your uses, home or to sell.

"If you give even a cup of cold water to one of the least of my followers, you will surely be rewarded." Matthew 10:42