Tutorial - Simple Elastic Waistband Skirt (Lined)

 

Despite the length of title, this skirt really is very simple to make and the best part is it looks like it took a lot more time and effort than it did! Please do not be put off by the amount of steps and photos - I wanted to make the tutorial as clear and detailed as possible, but this really is a quite straightforward project that you can make in less than an hour :)

 

You can make so many variations of this skirt too as it can be made in just about any length, in almost any material. Depending on the width of material chosen, you can make it with more or less gathered (the greater the width, the more pleaty the skirt will be) - its all up to you!

 

Materials:

• Material for top (patterned) layer - cotton or jersey/knit work best
• Material for bottom (lining) layer - try to use the same type of fabric as the top layer
• Thick elastic for the waistband
• Fabric scissors
• Flexible measuring tape
• Sewing thread
• Pins
• Safety Pin
To cut your materials, you'll need to take a few measurements.

• The width of your materials should be at least big enough to slip over your hips + 3cm/1.2in for seam allowances and the longer the width, the more gathered the skirt will be. I just cut my material from selvage to selvage so for me it was already 120cm/47in wide
• The length of your lining material should be the desired length of your skirt  +  3cm/1.2in for seam allowances and the length of your patterned material will be the same plus the width of your elastic - so I cut my lining 54cm/21in  long (51cm+3cm) and my floral material 57cm/22.5in long (51cm+3cm+3cm) 
• Measure around your waist - your length of elastic needs to be at least as long as this

Once you've chosen and cut the two fabrics, we're ready to go! The basic steps are: hem the bottom of both materials, fold materials right sides together and sew a side seam. Place lining inside patterned material and sew together around raw top edge. Pull patterned material right way around and push lining inside and down so bottom hems meet. Sew a seam 3cm (or the width of your elastic) down from the top of your skirt through both materials - should be along the line where the two materials met on the inside - forming a waistband channel the size of your elastic. Seam rip a small gap in this, thread elastic through and sew together ends of elastic at the right length for your waist. Sew up the ripped seam and anchor the elastic in 3 other places.... finished!
 
However, I much prefer detailed instructions with photographs, so here they are:





No. 1



1. Fold the bottom of your lining material up about 1cm and then fold up again to create a hem. Iron, pin in place and then stitch along the top of this seam (shown by dotted line on photo 1)
2. Fold the piece of material in half widthways, right sides together (the folded seam should be on the outside) pin together and stitch down the open length.

   

    No. 2

3. Repeat steps 1&2 with your patterned material. You should now have two 'tubes' , with one end raw and one end hemmed.
4. As my patterned material already had the bottom and side seams stitched, I didn't have to do them (yay!) but it meant that it was about 3cm wider than my lining material (not so yay). To fix this, I simply sewed a diagonal line from 3cm in to meet the seam and cut off the excess, as shown in diagram 4. This can be used if you accidentally sew one material wider than the other - just lay them flat on top of each other with the side seams together to check if they match up. If you sewed your hems perfectly, ignore this step!

   

    No. 4

   
5. Now, keeping both materials inside out with the seams at the bottom, put the lining

   

   No.5

    material inside the patterned material - both should be right side facing inwards. Line up the side seams, pin the two together all around the top and sew this raw edge.

 
 
6. Next, peel the top (patterned) layer back the and it should form a long tube with the outer material the correct way around but the seam of the lining layer on the outside. This is probably the point where you'll panic as it will look rather strange but honestly, this is just right so 


No.6a.... It looks strange but this will work, I promise!

don't be disheartened! Just push this lining down and inside the skirt until the two bottom hems reach (the patterned material will form the hem around the top) and you should be left with something like photo 6b. Lift up the top layer and you'll see that the lining is now the correct way around... See, I told you it would work!


No.6b

 
 
 
 
 

 

 


No. 7

 7. Now, the reason you cut your patterned material longer in length (an extra 3cm in my case, as this was the width of my elastic - photo 7) should make sense now. The seam you have just sewn around the top of your skirt will be on the inside of the skirt to form a tunnel for your elastic - as you pulled the shorter lining down to meet the hem of the outer material (photo 6b) you will have pulled this hem over on to the 'inside' of your skirt and this section, which will form the waistband, will be just slightly longer than the width of your elastic....



No. 8

8. It's easiest if you turn the entire skirt inside out again at this point - take care to ensure the bottom hems stay level. Pin all around this line where the two materials meet on what will be the inside of the skirt (dotted line on photo 8) making sure you go through both layers of material without pinning up the waist-hole (if that's a word....)! Hold your elastic up against this waistband i.e. this patterned strip above the line to double check it will fit through once you've sewn along the line - the waistband strip will probably be a few mm larger than the elastic, which is good. Sew all along the pinned/dotted line between the two fabrics







No.9a

9. Nearly finished! Now you should have what will look like the finished shirt, inside out and minus the gather in the waistband. To inset your elastic, seam rip though a small section of the waistband seam and thread your elastic through by attaching a safety pin to one end......



No.9b



 

....try on your skirt and pull the elastic to the correct length. Pin the two ends together at this length and take the skirt off, double checking it will stretch over your hips





No.10

10. Sew the two ends of elastic together next to the pin and cut off the ends. Hold up your skirt and stretch the waistband to ensure a nice even gather. Sew directly down through the waistband to re-secure the opening where we threaded the elastic through, and in 3 other places around the skirt (I did mine every 1/4 of the way around) to secure the elastic and an even gather. Pull the outer thread through to the inside, knot and snip the threads......






Elastic Waistband - easy to make, easy to wear



...and done!

 

Ta-dah!








I hope this tutorial was helpful and easy to understand. Feel free to leave any comments or feedback :)
Thanks for reading!

Ella Elizabeth x