Cup Day Skirt tutorial
Firstly, a warning! This is going to be a long and photo-heavy post. When I can work out how I will convert the tutorial into a pdf and upload it somewhere, but for now here is the promised tutorial for the Cup Day Skirt.
Please let me know if there are any glaring problems with this tutorial or anything that absolutely doesn’t make sense. It’s the first one I’ve written and I’m not a professional!
There are two versions of this skirt; one has twice the fabric in it as the other (more twirlability). I made these to fit my daughter who is almost 6 years old and rather short. It is simple to adjust for other sizes – just alter the skirt length and the waist elastic accordingly. You can alter the depth of the ruffle to suit the amount of fabric you have available, or can leave it off completely. Happy sewing!
1. Materials and equipment
Green skirt:
Approximately 14” (36cm) of 45” (115cm) wide fabric for the main skirt
Approximately 10” (25 cm) of 45” wide contrast fabric for the waistband and ruffle
Brown skirt (more twirlability):
Approximately 45” (115cm) of 45” (115cm) wide fabric
Both skirts:
Coordinating thread
Approximately 50” (125cm) of ½ inch wide elastic
Safety pins or bodkins for threading elastic
Scissors or rotary cutter, mat and ruler
Pins
Sewing machine (an overlocker is handy too)
Note: I used 5/8 inch seams throughout.
2. Cutting out
Version 1
Main fabric: Cut 1 piece 13-14” deep across the whole width of the fabric
Ruffle: Cut 2 pieces 2-3” deep across the whole width of the fabric.
Waistband: Cut 1 piece 3 ¾ – 4” deep by approx 35” long.
Version 2
Main skirt: Cut 2 pieces 13-14” deep across the whole width of the fabric
Ruffle: Cut 4 pieces 2-3” deep across the whole width of the fabric
Waistband: Cut 1 piece 3 ¾ -4” deep across the whole width of the fabric
3. Waistband.
Fold the waistband in half along it’s length WRONG sides together and press.
Open out and fold the top edge over 5/8”. Press this fold.
Open out again, then place the short ends right sides together.
Sew the waistband seam from the top edge to the 5/8” fold, securing the thread at the end.
Sew again from the centre fold to the bottom edge.
Press the folds back into place.
You now have a waistband with an opening that you will later use to thread elastic through.
The main part of the skirt will be sewn to the unfolded edge (at the bottom of the photo).
Divide the waistband into quarters and mark (I use pins).
4. Main skirt
Sew the side seams of the skirt together.
Version 1 will only have one seam.
Version 2 will have two seams.
Press these seams open. Since the fabric was cut along the entire width, the edges don’t need finishing as they are the selvedges.
Gather the top edge of the skirt, using whichever method you are most comfortable with. I sew two parallel rows of stitching using the longest stitch length my machine has. I sew one row about ½” from the edge of the fabric and the other row about ¾” from the edge of the fabric.
Divide the top edge of the fabric into quarters and mark (I use pins).
5. Ruffle
Sew the ruffle pieces right sides together along the short edges.
Press these seams open. Since the fabric was cut along the entire width, the edges don’t need finishing as they are the selvedges.
Hem one long edge using whichever method you prefer. I have done a narrow machine stitched hem, but you could do a rolled hem or a bias-bound hem.
Gather the top edge of the ruffle in the same manner as you did the skirt, using whichever method you are most comfortable with. I sew two parallel rows of stitching using the longest stitch length my machine has. I sew one row about ½” from the edge of the fabric and the other row about ¾” from the edge of the fabric.
Divide the top edge of the fabric into quarters and mark (I use pins).
6. Attach ruffle to skirt.
Match up the quarter points on the skirt and the ruffle and pin them right sides together.
Pull up the gathering threads until the ruffle fits onto the skirt. Pin in place, adjusting the gathers evenly.
Sew the ruffle to the skirt using your machine or an overlocker. Make sure that you take the pins out before you get to them if you’re using an overlocker!
If you used a machine, finish the raw edges with a zig-zag or other such stitch.
Press the ruffle away from the body of the skirt. You might need to remove some of the gathering threads.
7. Attach waistband to skirt.
In the same way as you attached the ruffle to the skirt, attach the skirt to the waistband.
Match up the quarter points on the waistband and the skirt and pin them raw edges and right sides together.
Pull up the gathering threads until the skirt fits onto the waistband. Pin in place, adjusting the gathers evenly.
Sew the skirt to the waistband using your machine or an overlocker. Make sure that you take the pins out before you get to them if you’re using an overlocker!
If you used a machine, finish the raw edges with a zig-zag or other such stitch. Press the seam allowances towards the waistband. You might need to remove some of the gathering threads.
8. Casings.
Fold the waistband to the inside and press. It should just cover the seamline. Pin into place and stitch close to the bottom fold. This will hopefully be almost along the seamline between the skirt and the waistband.
Sew another line of stitching halfway between the first line and the top of the waistband. This forms the casings for the elastic.
9. Elastic.
Cut two pieces of elastic to fit comfortably around the waist, plus another 2” (I cut them 22” long for a size 5 skirt).
Using elastic bodkins or safety pins, thread the elastic through the casings.
Adjust to fit, and sew the ends of the elastic together.
Distribute the gathers nicely, and sew the waistband casing opening closed.
Try on and twirl!
Thanks Lara, the tutorial looks fantastic and I can’t wait to have a go.
I love the twirly shots with your model at the end!
Its a fantastic tutorial. Just in time for Christmas sewing!
Gorgeous skirts! I love the fabrics you’ve chosen.
thank you! thank you!! thank you!!! can think of three little twirly girls that would love one of these for christmas. fab tute. on the pdf front, do you have a pdf writing program?? there are a few freeware versions out there where you can turn a word file into a pdf file with a click of a button. love mine.
Great tutorial 🙂 Thanks for sharing 🙂
I can see some twirling happening at our house sometime soon thanks to this great tutorial. Thanks Lara, and lovely modelling Clare!
Yay! You did it!!! Well done! LOVE that floral fabric – and for once I DON’T have it in a different colourway!!!
Great to see you and your gorgeous girls today. I hope they weren’t as sugar-fuelled as mine was by the end of the day!!!
Thank you for putting the time into this. I am very sure I’ll make this! I really love that brown fabric.
These skirts are really cute! If I may ask a question, Why do you use two pieces of elastic versus just using one. I am new to sewing and make quite a few skirts for the girls. If there is good reason to do it with two different strips of elastic… well you understand. I am always looking for a better way to get something done. Thanks.
great tute thanks Lara, i know some girls who will love these:) congrats on Whip Up:))))
thankyou so much!! my girls will just LOVEthis… and my boy will ask for something too…
Those are adorable!! Very cute. My little one just outgrew her old twirly skirt, so I’ll have to try your version. Thanks!
ADORABLE! I love it, thanks so much for sharing! I’ll be linking.
saw this on whipup. thank you for sharing–the “photo-heavy” post was great and helpful.
oh thanks for this tutorial. I can’t wait to get started on a skirt for my daughter!
I will be trying this soon for a 7 year old
Hi Lara! Thanks for encouraging me with the B.O. – I wrote the post and promptly joined up for next year! Dash it, I told myself, stop crying in your soup and get out there! Looking through the B.O. website, I understand that there will be no set projects for the meetings; is that your understanding too?
Bye the way, love a good twirl!
Great tutorial – very clear and she looks gorgeous in her skirts!
Ey dear 🙂 I thought maybe you’d like to enter to our tutorial contest http://www.giselejaquenod.com.ar/blog/2008/11/03/birdie-know-it-all-contest/ there’s lots of awesome prizes from several artists 😀 and the guidelines are super easy 😀 xD love your little model btw!!!
Hey, i tried your skirt out (more or less, adjusted a bit) and i really enjoyed the tutorial! I linked to it from my blog (a few times) and from Wardrobe Refashion as well. Thanks for a great (and fun!) tutorial!
Hi Lara
are you here in Australia. I bought the same pink fabric here in australia, and made a cover for my sewing machine out of it… i love it
love your tut and your model, saving this for the spring to make for my granddaughter she was just 1 and know by spring she will love this to twirl in. Thanks.
After Christmas I am going to make my grandaughter one of these cute little skirts. Thanks for sharing.
If you can figure out how to make the PDF, you can use scridb.com to upload and share. I just tried it (on advice from another blogger) and have used it 3 times in December. It’s great!
This skirt looks great.
What an awesome skirt! The trim at the bottom is lovely, and I definitely LOVE photo-heavy posts. 🙂 I need all the photo help I can get. Will definitely make one (or two or three…) of these.
Wow. Thank you so much for doing this. I just made this skirt for my daughter and LOVE how it turned out. Great instructions and pictures.
These skirts are adorable–especially on your little girl! Your tutorial is very well done, and I love all the pictures. I’ll bookmark this to make for my girls!
Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! I have spent WAY too much time trying to figure out a way of making a twirly skirt without the excessive bulk at the waist. Your BRILLIANT tutorial solved my dilemma. Now I can make a skirt with rectangular pieces instead of having to draft a circle (i didn’t like the fabric waste and having to deal with hemming and sewing bias edges). This is exactly what I have been searching for.
I like your fabric choices, and the model of course is lovely. Good wishes to you and your family.
Just the cutest thing, Makes me wish i had little girls to make for…
What gorgeous skirts and your little girl looks adorable too! She’s lucky to have such a talented Mom!
Thanks for the tutorial, I really like the top too
thanks for a great tutorial! i used version 2 …made it a little longer for my daughter’s birthday skirt. it turned out perfect! you can see it here http://clothesline-chronicles.blogspot.com/2010/01/well-hello-kitty.html
Thank you so much for a lovely tutorial….i love both the versions but i made the second version first for my 4 yr old daughter, she loves it very much. Thank you again….
Thank you so much for the tutorial! I especially love the version with twice as much fabric, it’s so twirly! I love the floral fabric you chose, it’s so perfect for the skirt. What fabric is that?
ooh I can’t wait to try this. I love your Little Miss Model..adorable. Thanks for the tutorial, I’m a beginner and this looks doable to me:)