The Tiered Skirt
Sewing Instructions
- To make the skirt a little easier to handle, we'll make it in two halves and then join them together later.
- I add the coloured trim after the basic skirt is made, before the elastic casing is done.
- I sew the elastic casing last, and make any final length adjustments to the top tier. A lot easier than adjusting the whole bottom tier.
- In the instructions, a "panel" is one full width piece of fabric.
- Please note that 1/4" (6mm) seam allowances are used to join the panels together.
- A wider seam allowance, 5/8" (1.5cm) is used to join the tier levels together, so that you have plenty of room to work the gathers.
- When I make my skirts, I use both a regular sewing machine and an overlocker (serger). In these instructions I will refer to both machines, but you can of course just use a regular sewing machine.
1. Prepare panels. We need to mark our fabric pieces to make it easier to spread the gathers out evenly. Mark with either pins, tailor's chalk or coloured stitches.
- On TWO of the panels (the top tier pieces), mark the middle of the fabric on the bottom edge. Then mark the 1/4 and 3/4 positions, then the 1/8, 3/8, 5/8 and 7/8 positions.
- On FOUR of the panels (the middle tier pieces), mark the bottom edges the same as before. Now, on the top edges only, mark just the 1/4, 1/2, and 3/4 positions.
- On EIGHT of the panels (the bottom tier pieces), mark the 1/4, 1/2, and 3/4 positions on the top edges only.
2. Join panels of middle tier. Sew TWO panels together, matching selvedges, with a narrow seam. Press seam open.
3. Gather the top edge of this tier, using a long machine stitch and sew along the top edge, 0.6cm (1/4") from the edge. Leave a long thread tail at both ends. Now sew another line of gathering stitches 1.2cm (1/2") from the top edge.
4. Carefully pull up the gathering threads (from both ends) so that your tier is about half it's original size.
5. Join the top and middle tiers.
- Take one top tier panel.
- Pin the ends of the middle tier to the ends of the top tier panel.
- Match the centre mark on your top tier with the middle seam on the middle tier. Pin.
- Match the ¼ marks of the top tier with the ½ marks on the middle tier.
- Match the 1/8 marks of the top tier with the ¼ marks on each piece of the middle tier.
- Adjust the gathers evenly across the full width.
- Sew with a 1.5cm (5.8") seam.
- Overlock (serge) seam or edge finish.
6. Join panels of bottom tier Sew FOUR panels together, matching selvedges, with a narrow seam. Press seams open.
7. Gather the top edge of this tier, as before, using a long machine stitch and sew along the marked top edge, 0.6cm (1/4") from the edge. Leave a long thread tail at both ends. Now sew another line of gathering stitches 1.2cm (1.2") from the top edge.
8. Carefully pull up the gathering threads (from both ends) so that your tier is about half it's original size.
9. Join middle and bottom tiers.
- Take the joined top and middle tier piece.
- Pin the ends of the bottom tier to the ends of the middle tier.
- Match the centre seam of the middle tier with the center seam on the bottom tier. Pin.
- Match the 1/2 marks of the middle tier with the other seams of the bottom tier.
- Match the 1/4 marks of the middle tier with the 1/2 marks on each piece of the middle tier.
- Match the 1/8 marks of the middle tier with the 1/4 marks on each piece of the bottom tier.
- Adjust the gathers evenly across the full width.
- Sew with a 1.5cm (5.8") seam.
- Overlock (serge) seam or edge finish.
10. Make the other half of the skirt exactly the same as the first half.
11. Sew the first half of the skirt to second half down both sides, matching edges and seams.
12. Sew the hem. If you are not adding the coloured trim, then make the hem now. Turn under 0.6cm (1/4") and press. Turn under another 0.9cm (3/8"), press, and then stitch. Proceed to the Elastic casing section.
13. Coloured trim
- Matching selvedges, join all the fabric widths, end on end to form one long piece. Do not join to make a circle.
- Press seams open.
- Fold in half lengthways, WRONG sides together. Press.
- Baste top edges together.
- Pin trim to skirt edge, right sides together. There is no need to try to match the joins in the trim with the joins in the skirt.
- Now, begin to sew the trim to the skirt, leaving the first 2.5cm (1") of trim unstitched at this stage.
- Continue to sew the trim to the skirt all the way around to the beginning, stopping just before you get to the unstitched 2.5cm (1") of trim. Do not fasten off the seam yet.
- I allowed an extra length of trim (just in case you need a little extra) and also because we need to overlap the fabric here. Overlap the end of the trim 2.5cm (1") over the trim from the beginning. Cut the excess fabric away, making sure that you have left 2.5cm (1") from the end overlapping the 2.5cm (1") from the beginning.
- Unpick the basting stitches on that last 2.5cm (1") of trim.
- Fold 1.25cm (1/2") inside. Pin the fold.
- Now, slip the 2.5cm (1") from the beginning inside the end piece to make a smooth and neat closure.
- Continue to stitch the trim onto the skirt, across the overlapped, tucked inside each other end pieces, until you reach the beginning of your stitching again. Fasten off.
- Now, by hand, slip stitch the overlapped ends closed.
14. Elastic casing
- On the top edge of your skirt, press under 0.6cm (1/4")
- Fold over a further 2.5cm (1") Press.
- Stitching close to the edge, baste all around the top of the skirt, leaving a 2.5cm (1") gap.
- Insert the elastic, and safety pin it together. Do not cut. Do not sew.
- Try on your skirt.
- Adjust the elastic to fit. Do not cut. Do not sew.
15. Check the length of your skirt with your pantaloons on. If you measured carefully you should not need to change the length.
16. If it is too long, then undo the casing basting, trim the excess fabric, baste the casing and check again.
17. If it is too short, then undo the casing basting. Make a narrower casing and use narrower elastic, baste the casing and check again. If it is still too short (and this should not happen if you measured carefully) then attach some bias tape or spare fabric to the top of the skirt to form the casing for the elastic.
18. When you are finally satisfied with the length, sew the elastic together firmly, and then stitch the casing seam.
And now ... it's FINISHED!!!
I hope it was not too hard to understand my instructions. Some things are easy to do, but really difficult to describe.
Happy dancing!
Annabella
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