I know, I know. There are, like, eleventy billion skirt tutorials out there. But, everyone does it just a little differently so I thought I would share my quick, bare bones method. This could be jazzed up in a number of ways, which is why I love it. It’s a very basic technique that you can create dozens of looks from.
Let’s get started.
First, your materials:
- Fabric. Approximately 1/2 yard of each print, maybe less or more depending on what size you make.
- 3/8 inch elastic
- Safety pin
And that’s really it. Of course you need a sewing machine, thread, an iron, yada yada. I’m going on the assumption that we’re all fairly intelligent here. 
Now you’re going to figure out how big you need to cut your fabric. Measure around the child’s waist. Double that number. This will be the length of your waistband piece (the red fabric in my photo). My daughter’s waist was about 18 inches so I cut it 36 inches long. Now, measure from your child’s waist down to where you want the skirt to end. This will be the length of your whole skirt. Divide the number by two. In my case, I wanted a short skirt, 8 inches. Half of that is 4. Add 1 1/2 inches for seam allowances and elastic casing. This is the width of your waistband piece. So my waistband piece was 5 1/2×36. You with me?
Now you’re going to figure out the sizes to cut your twirl piece (yellow fabric). Multiply the width of your waistband fabric by 1.5. In my case this comes out to 54. Divide that number by two. This will be the length – your width is half of your skirt length plus 1/2 inch for seam allowances. So, that comes to 27×4 1/2 for my skirt. You need to cut two of these. This really is not an exact science and you can make these pieces longer or shorter depending on how much ruffling you want.
Cut a piece of elastic about an inch shorter than your waist measurement.
Here are my supplies laid out. Yes, that’s crayon on my cutting mat. Thank you children.
*I use a 1/4 inch seam allowance throughout.
*I also use a serger to finish all my raw edges. If you don’t have a serger, you can just use a tight zig zag stitch.
Now we begin putting together the skirt. First, I like to iron all my hems and the casing for the elastic. I find it easier to do this before I sew the seams. Press one long edge of each twirl piece 1/4 inch, then fold over another 1/4 inch and press again. This is the hem. Then take your waistband piece and press 1/4 inch, then fold over 3/4 inch and press again. This is the elastic casing.
Now take your waistband piece and align the short ends together, right sides facing each other. Sew along the edge and then serge or zig zag the raw edge.
Take your two twirl pieces and lay them on top of each other, right sides facing. Sew along each short edge to join them into a continuous loop and then serge or zig zag the raw edge.
You can now sewing your hem. Fold the fabric down where you pressed it and stitch all the way around, making sure to backstitch to secure the stitches.
Next, sew your elastic casing. Fold down the edge of your waistband piece where you pressed and stitch all the way around, leaving a 1-inch opening to insert the elastic.
Next is my least favorite part. We’re going to gather the twirl portion of the skirt. Set your machine’s stitch length to the longest stitch (mine is 4) and set the thread tension to 0. Sew along the unhemmed edge to create a basting stitch. I like to do this in two sections for easier gathering – between each of the seams. Backstitch at your starting point and leave long threads at the ending point. Then, very carefully grasp the top thread and pull to gather the fabric. Do this on both sides of the skirt until the gathering is even and it is the same diameter as your waistband piece. Tie off the ends when you reach the desired size. This might take some trial and error and you might cuss. I do almost every time I gather fabric. It’s not my favorite. But the results are worth it.
This is what it should look like when you’re finished gathering.
Now, place your gathered twirl piece inside your waistband piece, right sides facing (the waistband will be inside out). Pin in place.
Stitch along the entire edge to join the two pieces. Then serge or zig zag the raw edge. It should look like this:
We’re almost done! Turn the skirt right side out, press the seam towards the waistband fabric and top stitch to give a finished look.
Last step! Inserting the elastic. Attach a safety pin to one end of elastic and feed it into your 10inch opening.
When you have the elastic fed all the way around, stitch the two ends together with several zig zag stitches. Tie the thread ends and trim.
Push the elastic back inside the casing and stitch your opening shut.
TA DA!
Like I said, there are several ways to jazz this up. Patchwork, pockets, buttons, flowers, ruffles. So much fun. Don’t blame me for your new skirt-sewing addiction. Or do. I’ll take credit.
Have fun!
