Today we venture into the realm of women's clothing with a simple elastic waistband dress. There is no shortage of tutorials out there and I had the help of two to complete this skirt. My skirt was not exactly the same as these as I decided to add a fabric to line the skirt. This doubled the amount of fabric I used but I think really increased the comfort and wear-ability of the skirt. It also allows you to buy a fabric that you don't necessarily want right against your skin all the time and add a comfortable fabric liner to have the best of both worlds. The lining also allows you to by a sheer or partially see through outer fabric without being too revealing! Finally, the elastic waistband adds an easy method to adding gathering to the skirt and obviously is very comfortable once you get the size right!
First I want to acknowledge the two fabulous tutorials that helped me make this skirt. The primary inspiration came from The Thinking Closet http://www.thinkingcloset.com/2014/05/14/elastic-waist-tank-dress-tutorial/ Thanks Lauren!
And for pinning the elastic to you dress, Lauren recommended Dana at MADE http://www.danamadeit.com/2008/07/tutorial-the-circle-skirt.html
So thank you to both Lauren and Dana for your helpful tutorials!
What you will need:
- 3in elastic band (length depends on the waist size you want)
- 2 yards of fabric (See calculations in Step 2, to see if this is an appropriate length of fabric)
- Matching amount of soft lining fabric (If you want to line it)
- Sewing machine, thread, pins, iron and ironing board
Steps:
1) The first step is to measure and cut your waistband. Decide where you want it to sit on your body then add an extra 1in to the length. Fold the waistband in half and sew the two ends laying flat against each other together. Then fold the edges back and iron flat. Then sew them flat to create a nice flat seam. Lauren at The Thinking Closet has a nice picture of this, and apparently I forgot to take a picture...
2) Now that we have the waistband set, we just need to work on the skirt. You first need to decide how long you want the skirt, this has a lot to do with personal preference, body proportions, and where you decided you are having your waistband fall on your body. Let's call this number "A". Next we need to calculate the circumference of the skirt for the fabric. A quick rule of thumb is to multiply the length of your waistband by 1.5. Lets call this number "B". What you now need to make is a rectangle that has the dimensions "A" x "B" where A is the short side and B is the long side. We will be eventually connecting both A sides to each other to make a tube with circumference B. I hope these drawing help.
3) There are many ways to make this A x B rectangle of fabric. How you to this really depends on what kind of fabric you chose (sheer or not) and whether or not you are lining in. I used two solid fabrics, a navy blue fabric for the outside and a soft black fabric for the lining. To make my skirt I first began by pinning the two A x B dimension fabrics together with the "good" sides facing each other. Then I sewed a straight stitch along both B sides and one A side. I then flipped my giant pocket shape inside out and then sewed the two A sides together. This allowed me to have the unfinished edges on the inside of the skirt where they are *hopefully* less likely to fray and fall apart. Just like the waistband, once I sewed the two A sides together, I folded the A edges over and sewed them flat again.
4) Now the fun part. We have to pin one of the to B sides to the elastic waistband and sew it together. A good way to do this is to start by pinning the seam of your two A sides with the seam of your elastic waistband. Now go 180 degrees around the waistband and pin the exact front of the band to the exact front of the skirt. Then pin the two sides by approximating equal distance from the front and the back. Then work your way around by pinning equal distance between your four pins. You should now have 8 pins total.
I numbered the positions by which order I pinned them. (ie pin #1 first)
5) This is when the magic happens, are you ready? Start with your pin #1 in the back, stitch a few back a forths to really attach your skirt to the back of the waistband. Make sure to have your sewing machine end the stitch with your needle down in the fabric. Now comes the tricky part. You are going to grab point #1 and grab the next closest pin and stretch the elastic until the skirt fabric lays flat. You should have one hand behind your needle and the other hand on the fabric that will be feeding into your needle. Be careful NOT to put too much stress or bend your needle here. Once you have the distance form pin #1 to the next pin stretched and the skirt fabric is laying flat, sew a straight stitch until you reach the next closest pin. Now you can release the tension from the waistband and it should gather your fabric beautifully! Next you do the same thing, stretch the elastic between the two pins and sew a segment. Work your way around the waistband. That's it!
Hopefully you now have lovely gathers that give your skirt some nice body. Stop reading and try it on! I'm sure you already have. Adjust the length of the skirt if you would like, but the waistband should be perfect since we already tried it on before we sewed together. If you didn't you will have to rip out all your fresh stitches :( I may have done this...
Look at you, you made a piece of clothing, how exciting! Enjoy your new skirt!
~Andrew
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