Skirt Tutorial - No Pattern Needed

A straightforward skirt simple for beginners or make it more complex by adding pockets and trims.

Materials Needed:

Sewing machine (although it could be done by hand)

Fabric - cotton or linen for example

Matching thread, reel and bobbin

Elastic - 3/4" or 1" wide enough to go round the waist

Iron

I choose a perfect Autumnal fabric because it's Autumn (and nearly Halloween!!)

This is a 100% cotton fabric from The Sewing Studio

First you need to measure the waist and length from waist to desired hem length, just on the knee works well.

I decided to pop a hem in a complementary fabric on the bottom so added enough for the seam allowance when joining the 2 fabrics together.

Use the whole width of your fabric then cut your desired length PLUS 1/2 inch (allowance for bottom hem) PLUS 1 1/2" (allowance for elastic channel for the waistband).

Example - if your skirt length needed was 10.5" the total depth needed would be 12.5"

Give the fabric a quick press with an iron to get any creases out before you cut.

Quick note on sewing - at the beginning and the end of stitching reverse for a couple of stitches then come forwards by a couple so the stitches don't unravel. When you snip the threads off leave them long enough to tie a couple of knots in them to secure them further.

This is an extra step as I joined 2 pieces together, if you chose to just use one piece skip this step.

I use an overlocker to join the two pieces together then topstitched the seam down. You don't need an overlocker you can just use a straight stitch.

Joining main fabric and bottom piece together, right sides together

Pressing seam down

Top stitching that seam

Top stitching finished

Next Step is to finish the edges of the two short edges that you need to stitch up to form the centre back seam. I used an overlocker but you can use a zig zag stitch or cut with pinking shears.

Finishing the raw edge of the short sides

Place the two short sides together matching tops and bottoms, use the foot on your machine as a guide for where to sew, put the edge of the fabric in line with the edge of the foot and use a straight stitch to join them together.

After finishing the short sides raw edge use a straight stitch to join them together

Once the seam is done press the seam open with a hot iron, you will now have a circle of fabric.

Centre seam pressed open wrong side up

Leave that iron on for the next couple of steps.

At the top press down 1/4" all the way round then press down approx another inch (slightly over if you are using 1" elastic, 1" if using 3/4" elastic).

Elastic casing, 1/4 inch pressed then one inch

After pressing the top or the bottom it's a good idea to double check your length is OK

At the bottom press up 1/4" all the way round then turn up another 1/4 of an inch and press again.

Reverse side of the skirt with the hem and elastic casing pressed into place

Once pressed you may not need to pin but if you aren't confident about sewing the hem or elastic casing with no pins stick a few in.

Stitch hem all the way round.

Sewing the hem - note the raw edge is tucked inside on the first fold

Next is sewing the elastic casing, once pressed down as described above, using a straight stitch again.

Elastic casing pressed down

start approx 1/2 an inch away from the centre back seam, sew round and finish about 1/2" before you get to the centre seam, this gives you a gap to get the elastic in.

Pins added to elastic casing before stitching

Sewing the elastic casing

Gap for elastic left after sewing

You should now have a tube of fabric with a hem at the bottom and an elastic casing with a gap at the top.

Take your elastic and if the waist is 21" for example cut it at 20" long, fasten a large safety pin onto one end, push that end into the gap in the waist elastic casing and push it all the way round.

Elastic with pin

Elastic in place

The fabric will be all bunched up as there is way more fabric than elastic, this is OK, it is what gathers the skirt. Pull the two ends out and check to see that the elastic didn't get twisted on the way round, overlap the ends and secure then with a box of stitches and go across the box a couple of times. Use a zig zag or any other stretch stitch to do this.

Elastic ends stitched together

Almost done!

Now you can pop the elastic back into the casing, stitch up the gap and tie off your ends.

This is where I add my label, if you are doing it for yourself you could add a little handmade label maybe? For this demo I've added both so you can see what they are like. The 'handmade' ribbon and variations of it are widely available at fabric/haberdashery shops or online.