DIY Etsuary Skirt Sewing Tutorial

Time:

2-3 hours

Difficulty:

Easy

LET'S GET STARTED!

1. Take your hip and waist measurements to determine which size you should cut out. Based on my 29" waist and 35" hips, I decided to cut out a size 6. The great thing about this pattern is that the back of the waistband is elasticized and the skirt is extra full, so there is leeway when determining your size. 
   
   
   
2. Pin your pattern onto your fabric and cut it out, making sure the grainline is even throughout. The skirt pieces are extra wide and the fabric was not wide enough for me to cut them out on the fold, so I cut them out on the single layer. When doing this, make sure to flip your pattern pieces so you have mirrored pieces. Don't forget to mark your pocket placement.
   
   
   
   
3. Apply fusible interfacing to the backsides of your two front waistband pieces and one of your placket pieces. 
   
   
4. Finish the raw edges of your center back and side seam pieces by either serging or zig zagging them. The pattern instructions also give you the option of omitting finishing these edges and piecing your skirt together by using either flat felled or French seams instead. The two center front seams do not need to be finished off. 
   
   
5. Take two mirrored pocket pieces and apply a strip of fusible interfacing that measures 1/2" wide by 8 1/2" long. This strip will be applied 1/2" down from the top edge of these two pocket pieces and will act as the lining for your pockets. 
   
   
6. Trim these pocket pieces 1/8" along the bottom edge and the longer side edge so that they becomes slightly smaller than your main pocket pieces.
   
   
7. Sew your pocket pieces right sides together, leaving about a 2" gap along the bottom edge. 
   
   
8. Grade your seams from Step 7 and clip the corners. Then turn your pockets right side out and press.
   
   
9. Place pockets onto your skirt front pieces using the markings. Top stitch down, creating little triangles at the corners for reinforcement. 
   
   
10. Sew your front waistband pieces to your back waistband piece at the short ends with right sides together. The pattern instructions say to press your seams towards the front but I pressed mine open. 
    
    
11. Fold your waistband in half length-wise with wrong sides together and press. 
12. Press one long edge of your waistband under by 3/8".
    
    
13. Take one long edge of your interfaced placket piece and sew it along the long straight edge of your left front skirt piece with the right side of your placket piece facing the wrong side of your skirt front piece.
    
    
14. Press your seam allowance towards the placket piece.
    
    
15. Fold over 1/4" of the long, unsewn raw edge of your placket piece and press. 
    
    
16. Fold your placket piece in half around to the right side of your skirt front piece and press. Pin in place and top stitch down. 
17. Repeat steps 13-16 for your right skirt front piece and the un-interfaced placket piece.
18. Sew your skirt pieces together at the center back and side seams. Always start from the top down as evening out your skirt along the bottom edge is easier than having to even it out at the waist if your pieces are uneven.
    
    
19. Sew two rows of gathering stitches along the top edge of your two front skirt pieces. I used a contrasting color thread in my bobbin so that I could remove these threads more easily later on if they were still visible. I sewed the first row of gathering stitches 1/4" away from the top edge and the second row of gathering stitches was done another 1/4" down from there.
     
20. Gather your front skirt pieces to your front waistband pieces and pin, leaving an extra 5/8" of your waistband hanging off over either end at the center front. Pin your skirt back to the back waistband. (This will be done flat.) The right side of your unfolded waistband edge should be facing the wrong side of your skirt. If you haven't done so already, make sure to set your stitch length back to normal on your sewing machine and stitch your waistband to your skirt. 
    
    
21. With right sides together, stitch the short ends of your waistband that you left hanging off over the edge of your skirt at center front. Clip corners and turn right side out. 
    
    
22. Pin the folded edge of your back waistband piece to the top of your skirt and stitch. This will create a casing.
    
    
23. The pattern instructions say to insert a 1 1/2" wide piece of elastic through the casing you created in Step 23. I found this rather difficult to do without the elastic folding over so I decided to sew my casing straight down the center to create two casings and instead inserted two separate pieces of 3/4" wide elastic. According to the size chart, I needed a 14" long piece of elastic for a size 6. 
    
    
24. Stitch the ends of your elastic down at the side seams, stitching in the ditch. 
    
    
25. Top stitch the front waist band pieces down to your skirt. 
    
    
26. Mark your buttonhole placement and sew your buttonholes. Practicing on a scrap piece of fabric beforehand is always helpful.
27. Mark where your buttons should be placed according to where your buttonholes are and sew them on.
    
    
28. Make sure your skirt is even along the bottom edge. Fold under 1/4" and press. Fold over another 1/4" and press again. Pin and stitch.
29. Your skirt is ready to wear!

Your all set. Enjoy!