Tea Party Ruffle Skirt

Before I talk about the skirt, I want to shout out to all of the moms of little boys! I have something in the works I'm excited to share with you hopefully later this week. And moms of girls, I hope you'll like it too.

Now, back to the skirt.

I love this skirt! It is so adorable on a little girl and would be cute on a tween girl as well. With leggings underneath it is really cute in a shorter length (I don't usually do short skirts but with pants underneath this skirt is the exception). At first glance you may think it looks a lot like the Sugar and Spice skirt. It does have layers, but it is really quite different. This skirt is very full and twirly where the Sugar n Spice has only a slight fullness and no twirl.  Here, I've made it in denim which really makes it a staple, and able to coordinate with anything. Adorable, casual skirt or could easily be dressy with the right top.

It's really a shame that I wasn't able to get any good shots of my little model in it, but she was in a mood today. Before having little girls I would have never expected what a 4 yr old in a mood could be like. Yikes!

I did sneak a picture of her this evening though as she was thinking about sneaking a cupcake.

She also happens to be carrying her Easy Zippered Purse. She has carried that purse everyday since I posted about it!

Keep reading and I'll give you the step by step instructions!

What you will need:

- A yrd of 60 inch wide denim (you could use wovens too)

A benefit of using 60 inch wide fabric is that you will most likely get by only cutting one strip for each layer if making this for a younger child. If using wovens you may have to cut more than one strip and piece together.

- Scrap of woven fabric

- 1 inch elastic

- Sewing machine and all of that stuff.

Use 1/4 inch seam allowance unless otherwise noted.

Ok, here are our pieces. Once cut you should have a waistband piece, 2 skirt layers, and a connecting strip (woven fabric).

Waistband Piece:

The width of your waistband piece will be 4.5 inches. 

This will give a nice drop waist for a child aprox 3-6. If you have a younger child you may want to make the width slightly smaller and an older child slightly larger.  

Measure around your child's hips and multiply that measurement by 1.25 and add 1 inch.

My child's hip measurement was 23 inches X 1.25 + 1 = 29.75 inches

My waistband piece is then going to be 29.75 inches by 4.5 inches

Layer Pieces:

Measure your child from just below their belly button to knee length or where you want the skirt to fall. Subtract 3 inches (3 inches will be the finished length of your waistband piece one you make your elastic casing, seam allowances etc.).

Now, add 2.5 inches and divide by 2.

For example my measurement from belly to knee is 13 inches - 3 inches + 2.5 inches divide by 2 = 6.25 inches

Now take the length of your waistband piece and multiply by 2.

For example my waistband length was 29.75 X 2 = 59.5 inches

I am going to cut TWO pieces 6.25 inches by 59.5 inches

Connecting Strip:

This piece of fabric will connect your layers together. Having it there will create more movement in your skirt and more fullness as your layers will not be gathered together.

Take your waistband length and add 3 inches

You want your connecting strip to be only slightly larger than your waistband. 3 inches is a good number if making for a small girl. Add another inch or two if making for an older girl.

My waistband length was 29.75 inches + 3 inches = 32.75 inches.

Take your layer width and subtract 1.5 inches

My layer wisth was 6.25 inches - 1.5 inches = 4.75 inches

I am going to cut a piece that is 32.75 inches by 4.75 inches

Let's get started!

I always like to get as much pressing out of the way as possible in the beginning. Take your waistband piece and press in 1/4 inch and then in again 1.25 inches.

Press one edge of your layer pieces in 1/4 inch and then in again 1/4 inch.

Unfold your pressing- the creases will remain and be easy to fold up again when you need to. Fold in half right sides together and sew down short edge. Make sure to finish your edge with a zig zag stitch.

Opposite the seam you just made sew 1/4 inch in from the fold. I like side seams on skirts. If it doesn't bother you that your skirt will have one seam you can skip this step.

You've just made a tube!

Now do the previous two steps with both of your layer pieces as well as your connecting strip.

Let's find our waistband piece again. Refold where you pressed. Sewing close to the edge of your fold sew around the top of your waistband to create the casing for your elastic. Make sure to leave 2 inch or so opening so that you will later be able to insert your elastic.

Now take your layer pieces and refold where you pressed. Sewing close to the folded edge sew around creating a hem on each layer piece.

Along the bottom of your waistband piece make quarter marks on each side. So including your side seams you should have 8 marks. This will help you to make sure that when you gather your skirt, your gathering is even. Make quarter marks on each side of your layer pieces as well along the raw edges. Also make quarter marks on your connecting strip, but do it on both raw edges.

Sew two rows of gathering stitches along the raw edge of one of your layer pieces. Use a long stitch length and do not backstitch at the beginning or end of your sewing.

Pulling gently on your threads gather to fit your waistband. Pin matching your quarter marks. I used a lightweight denim. If you are having trouble gathering denim with this method, see the method used in the Sugar and Spice skirt.

Sew gathering stitches along one edge of your connecting strip and fit over your first ruffle matching quarter marks.

Now sew all three together along raw edge (waistband, 1st layer and conecting strip). Pull out gathering stitches and zig zag to finish seam.

Press seam up towards waistband and topstitch approx 1/8 inch in.

This is what you will have at this point. Don't pay any attention to the fact that my connecting strip is longer in this photo than yours will be. I miscut mine and had to trim some off at this point when I realized I made an error in my cutting.

Using the same method gather your 2nd layer and pin it to the raw edge of your connecting strip right sides together. Sew to attach, pull out gathering stitches and zig zag seam.

Press seam up towards connecting strip and topstitch. Cut a length of elastic to fit your child's waist. Inset into casing, stitch together and you,re done!

When I was talking about a mood this photo portrays a little bit about what I was talking about. Pictures were just not in the cards today!

I hope you enjoyed this tute!

Don't forget to upload your photos to our Flickr group, I would love to see them!