FUNKY POLKADOT GIRAFFE

Thursday, December 29, 2011

Tutorial Thursday: {The Isabella} Pleated Flounce Skirt



I'm slightly obsessed with making skirts for Isabella.
She loves them.
She likes dresses, but she {LOVES} skirts!

It all started with this skirt.


At Halloween, it was the tutu skirt
for her Little Red Riding Hood Costume.


Then I repurposed a pillowcase
dress
I made for Isabella for her first trip
to Disneyland into this skirt
to match her the Minnie Cupcake shirt I made.


For Thanksgiving I made a skirt to match
her turkey face shirt.


And most recently I made a fabulous
little skirt for a cookie decorating party the
kids were invited to.


I just adore the pleats at the bottom,
so I decided to share with you how I made it,
in case you adore pleats like I do.



You'll need at least a 1/3 of a yard of your main fabric,
at least 15" of your contrasting fabric for the pleats,
and elastic to fit your little lady's waist.

Here is how I worked my math :) -
get ready for a wild ride into madness. LOL

I measured my little Isabella and I wanted my skirt to be 10" long.
However, I wanted my pleats to be about 2.5" long
and I need 1.75" for my waistband and work in .5" for
seam allowances.

10 - 2.5 = 7.5 + 1.75 = 9.25 + .5 = 9.75

I determined I that my main fabric piece
needed to be 9.75 inches long.

My waistband measurement comes from the fact
that my elastic is 1" wide, I roll it under .5"
first, and then 1.25" the second time to create
the casing. I roll it 1.25" the second time
so that I can topstitch the top seam too -
to keep the elastic from rolling.

First, cut your main fabric.
Using my measurements above, I cut 9.75"


When you open it up, you should have a long
piece that is 9.75" wide from selvage to selvage.


Next, you'll need to cut three 5" strips of your
contrasting fabric. Again, when you open them up
the will be 5" wide and run selvage to selvage.


Iron all of your pieces.
Then sew your pieces for pleating together
at the selvage ends, so you have one long strip that is 5" wide.
(Do not join the ends - you want a strip, not a tube.)


Now, go back to your iron and iron your pleat piece
in half - wrong sides together - so that it is now 2.5" wide.


Now it's time to make the marks for the pleat folds.
I decided I wanted my pleats 1.5", so every 1.5" inches
I made a mark with a Sharpie.
Continue marking the entire length of the fabric.


Starting at the right end of your strip, match
two marks together for each pleat. Pin pleat in place.


Continue pleating and pinning down the entire length of the fabric.



Run a basting stitch along the top edge of your pleats.


Pin the pleats to the right side bottom edge of your main fabric.


Sew the two together with with a seam allowance that is
just wider than where your basting stitch falls.

If you are fancy and have a serger, I recommend serging
the edge of this seam.
If you are not fancy like me and don't have a serger,
sew over the edge with a zigzag stitch to prevent fraying.

Flip your piece over and iron the seam.
Then topstitch.


Now it's time to join the selvage edges of your fabric,
creating a big fancy tube of fabric.


To create the casing for your waistband, fold and press the top
edge to the wrong side twice - first .5" and then just slightly larger
then the elastic you are using. I used 1" elastic
so I folded and pressed it about 1.25" the second time.
Now, topstitch both the bottom and top of the casing.
Leave about 2" open at the bottom of the casing to feed your elastic into.


I figure what length of elastic I need by just measuring
Isabella's waist. I don't add or subtract.
I know there are different methods for this.
I've been most successful by making the elastic the exact
same as her waist and then when I secure it
in the waist band, overlapping it about 1".

Feed your elastic through the casing by attaching a safety pin
to one end of the elastic and feeding it through the opening, all
the way around, and back out the opening.

Then, overlap the elastic about 1" and sew a rectangle on
the overlapping edges.
Push the remainder of the elastic back up in the
opening of the casing and finish the topstitching
to close off the casing.

VOILA!
You're done!







24 comments:

Anonymous said...

The skirt is adorable but I seriously love the Riley Blake fabric. One of my faves ;)

Little Sprinkles Of Fun said...

I love little girl skirts! Paired with little leggings..it is just way too cute!
Thanks for sharing your tutorial! LOVE IT!

Unknown said...

Kyla, this skirt is to die for cute! I love that it matches your blog! Thanks for the great tutorial. My nieces may be reaping the benefits soon, if I try my hand at making a few of these. Hope you had a great Christmas!

Katie@a mom, a wife, and a me said...

My daughter has been beging me for a Harry Potter skirt... and im totally going to pleat it this way! Thanks for the tutorial.. the really easy tutorial!!

Anonymous said...

I can't wait to try this and some of the other skirts.
I am relatively new to sewing and have a little girl who loves skirts, too!
Happy New Year!
{visiting from the tatertots and jello linky}

stephany @ home is...what you make it
http://homeiswhatyoumakeit.com

Megan @ These Are Some Good Times said...

This skirt is adorable ! I am pinning it to make for my little bug :)

I hope that you will share your skirt at my new link party, Some Good Stuff:http://some-good-times.blogspot.com/2012/01/some-good-stuff-1.html

Megan

Kim @ Too Much Time said...

This skirt Rocks (with a capital R)
I featured you today!
http://kim-toomuchtimeonmyhands.blogspot.com/2012/01/good-morning-sunshine.html

Tracy @ Mama-press said...

Great skirts and very thorough tutorial! I'm a new fan.

Jenilyn said...

This is adorable! I love making skirts for my little girl, and the pleats are darling.
http://www.gritsandgiggles.blogspot.com

Unknown said...

Really cute!! Pinned it to make for my daughter when she's a little older!

Krista-Artista said...

I don't know much about sewing other than just straight seams. This tutorial is great! I feel like I could actually do this. I really like the pleat technique, not just for clothes, but I think this would be cute on pillows or even drapes for my daughter's room. Thanks! The pictures helped a lot.
Krista
krista-artista.com

Tlc Creations said...

Thank you for the tutorial...it is adorable.
Paulette

marissa | Rae Gun Ramblings said...

the skirts are all so cute. the pleats are the perfect touch

Big D and Me said...

I think I will make it my Feb goal to try and make one of these skirts for my daughter - working on January ones now - thanks for the tutorial!

Laurel @ Ducks in a Row said...

The pleats on the bottom of this skirt totally make it! Well, that and the terrific fabric choices! I love this!

Lindsay said...

Hey, just wanted to let you know that I featured you today on my blog. Thanks for linking up @ Show & Share!

http://southernlovely.blogspot.com/2012/01/show-share-21-features.html

Heather Rae said...

What adorable little skirts! I would love for you to link up with my party at: http://anoriginalbelle.blogspot.com/2012/01/make-it-yourself-monday-10-link-up.html

Thanks! Happy Monday!

Sara said...

LOVE this!! Hope you can link it up at my turquoise lovin' party going on right now! http://www.sweetlittlegals.com/2012/01/turquoise-lovin-20.html#comment-form

Melissa said...

Great tutorial, thankyou! Love the skirt :)

Lindsi B said...

Absolutely GORGEOUS!!! What a great post! Would you please share this with our readers for fun stuff fridays? http://www.toysinthedryer.com/2012/01/fun-stuff-fridays-6.html

Megan @ These Are Some Good Times said...

Just stopping by to let you know that this awesome post was Featured at my Some Good Stuff Party last week :) I hope you will come by and get a Featured Button !

Megan
some-good-stuff.blogspot.com

Tasha said...

Love love LOVE this skirt. I want to make some for my nieces!

Unknown said...

Great idea for pillows too!!

Social Media Expert said...

Thanks For Share Awesome And Great Tutorial
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