Sew: One Seam Stretch Skirt

After spending a considerable period of time working on a tailored skirt for Mummy Ask, I fancied a quick fix. I wizzed up the pink and grey striped stretch pencil skirt for myself in 25mins! And that included setting up my fold up cutting table! And of course that sort of instant satisfaction meant making another for me and two for Mummy Ask who was very enamored with my cherry print spandex that came all the way from the US via Girl Charlee fabrics (I love their range of stretch!). The green print also came from them and the others were from eBay.

These skirts are not only cheap and easy but they comfy and chic. Most easy tutorials I’ve found aren’t that easy but this really is a cinch! I use both a sewing machine and an overlocker/serger but you could do it with either. Just a few notes before I get on to it, you will need to use a stretch stitch or your fabric won’t stretch, it’s number 4 or my machine and looks a bit like lightning. You can also use the triple stretch stitch (3 on my machine) or you can use a narrow zig zag. I am no pro at all, so if you want to know more about sewing with knits I highly recommend Sewing with Knits course on Craftsy, with meg McElwee from Sew Liberated, which also gives you patterns for a hoodie, scoop/v-neck tee, shorts/pants and a dress.

Measure around your hip/bum area. Divide that by 2 and add 4cm. That’s your width measurement.

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Measure from where you want the skirt to sit on your waist to where you want it to finish. This is your length. We use a length of 65cm which is below the knee on 164cm (5.4″) tall me and mid calf on 158cm (5.2″) tall Mummy Ask. We both think it’s perfect for us.

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I am an AU size 16-18 and Mummy Ask is an AU 10-12 and we can get a skirt each from 1.5m. So, even a plus size skirt would come in under a metre.

Lay your fabric inside out on the fold, so that the stretch in it goes around your body, not down the length of your skirt!

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Measure out your width measurements from the fold and mark (make sure you test the chalk or marker on a selvedge first to ensure it will come out).

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Now measure and mark your length from the cut end. You should have a big rectangle or square shape, depending on your size.

 

You need to tailor it around your bum and since this only one seam, you need to mark it on the corner that will be the seam. I find that going 6 cm into the width measurement and down the length 23 cm and making a curve (see pic) works well for us. If you don’t have a French curve, use a dinner plate to help you draft a similar curve. You can even use a straight line and just grade it in over the length.

 

Once that’s all marked out, mark out the waistband. I make mine 16cm deep and as wide as the skirt and cut it down later.

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Cut out your skirt – cut up the length line, around the bum curve and across the width. Then cut out the waist band as marked.

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Sew (or serge) the seam with a 1cm seam allowance, right sides together. I sew mine and then serge.

 

You don’t need to serge as knits don’t fray but I like the neat finish and it strengthens the seam. If you are sewing machine only, you can zig zag the seam allowance.

 

Next, fit the waist band by pulling the folded waistband fabric around you. Trust me when I say, the fabric must be stretched a little or it will be too big! Out of my four shown skirts the stripe and green print are jersey and stretch right out with wear. The cherry print is very stretchy but stays with wear and the leopard is a spandex with great recovery, so could be a touch looser. Think about your fabric before cutting the waistband to size.

 

With right sides together, sew the short ends of the waist band together.

 

Fold in half length ways, wrong sides facing, pin the waistband seams together. Fold it in half so you can find the exact opposite spot on the waistband where centre front is and place a pin. Put those pins together so you can find where side seams would be if you had them and mark with a pin.

 

So now you should have your waist band folded so it has right sides out on both sides with four equidistant marking pins.

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Turn your skirt RIGHT side out. Put the pinned waist band on the outside of the skirt, all raw edges together. You know how you pinned the 4 points on the waist band? Well find the same four points on the skirt (making sure seams are matched) and pin waist band to the skirt at those four points.

 

Sew or serge (I really like to use the overlocker here but a machine works fine too) the band to the skirt, stretching the waistband to fit the skirt. Make sure you are sewing through all three layers.

 

If you are serging only you can serge the the hem or just leave it raw. I just fold up about 1-2 cm, pin it and sew a small hem.

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That’s it! Hopefully it took you less than an hour and you are now sporting a spunky skirt! If you are having trouble please email me or comment on this post or ask me on facebook. The only thing I’ve got left to do is show my skirts off….