A Wide Waistband Pleated Skirt Tutorial

On Sunday I shared a wide waistband pleated skirt that I made for the #sewyourstyle campaign sponsored by Pellon and JoAnn…..and I promised that today I would share the tutorial for how I made it…so let’s get to it!

Here is how I made my pleated skirt.

LET”S START WITH MATERIALS:

*2 Yards fabric of your choice.  (I actually used quilting cotton.)

*A 7 inch zipper

*1/2 yard of Pellon (or other light weight interfacing)

*Your sewing machine

*Thread

*Scissors or Rotary Cutter

*Pins

*Measuring Tape

*Quilting Ruler or Yard Stick

*Cutting Mat

 

NEXT COMES MEASURING:

#1.  Using your flexible measuring tape measure the circumference of your waist.  Write it down.

#2.  Using your flexible measuring tape measure from your waist down to where you would like your skirt to end.  (I made my hit just below my knee.)

 

NOW WE CUT:

Your are going to cut 4 pieces of fabric and 2 pieces of Pellon.

Let’s start with the two pieces for the waistband:

Take your waist measurement and divide it in half.  My waist is 29.5 inches so when I divide it in half I get 14.75 inches.  Then add 1 inch to that number.  (Which makes my number 15.75 inches.)

Ok now that we’ve done our math for the day let’s cut those waist band pieces!  Cut two pieces that are as wide as the number you just calculated (mine being the 15.75 inches) and then 8 inches tall.

Sweet!  Now that we have our two waistband pieces let’s cut the interfacing for them while we still have waistbands on our mind.

Cut your interfacing 3.75 inches tall and then the width of that number you calculated earlier.  (Mine being 15.75.)

Alright our waistband pieces are officially ready to be put together so lets cut the skirt portion…but get ready….we have to do a little more math before we start the cutting.

First, take your waist to length measurement and minus 3 inches.  (So my waist to length was 26 inches.  So if I take 3 inches away from the 26 inches I am left with 23 inches.)

Alright math done.  (I was just being dramatic about doing more math…I’m like that…)

Ok so now you are going to cut two skirt pieces that are as wide as your entire waist measurement  (mine being 29.5 inches) and as long as your waist to length measurement minus those 3 inches (mine being 23 inches).

Perfect.  We have a skirt front and a skirt back.  We also have a waistband front and a waistband back.  And we have the interfacing that will fill the inside of the waistband.  Now it’s time to start putting all of this together!

CONSTRUCTING THE SKIRT:

#1.  Fold each waist band piece in half with wrong sides together.  (By in half, what I meant is vertically in half…so now each waistband piece is only 4 inches tall and still as wide as the number you calculated.)  Once you have it folded then press it.

#2.  Open your folded waistband back up and iron your interfacing into the waistband along the wrong side of your fabric.  (Do this to both pieces of your waistband.)

#3.  Now its time to pin our pleats.  There are many, many, MANY ways to do pleats and I am only going to show you the way I made the pleats on this particular skirt.

My pleats are 3 inches apart.  And where each pleat is I folded the fabric back under itself one inch in one direction and one in the other direction.  But because pictures are more helpful than my words are you can see one of my pleats in the picture below from all three angles…from the front, the top, and in the back.

I pin each pleat in 4 places and once I have pleated across the entire width of both the skirt front fabric and the skirt back fabric I sew a basting stitch about a quarter inch down from the top.

This basting stitch will hold your pleats in place without the pins…and yes, it’s worth doing.

Now….your skirt front (and back) fabric will still be wider than your waistband even with the pleats.  So center your skirt front fabric nicely on your waistband front fabric and pin with right sides together.  Then cut off the excess skirt fabric that is hanging over on each side of your waistband.  (A straight 90 degree angle cut.)

Repeat this process with the back skirt fabric and back waistband fabric.

Once they are pinned into place stitch the waistbands to the skirts.

Now lay your skirt front on top of your skirt back with right sides together and sew up one side seam of your skirt.  (I used a 1/2 inch seam allowance.)

Next get out your zipper and lay it along the other side of your skirt.  Mark where your zipper will end.

Sew up that marked side seam, starting at the bottom of the skirt and ending where your zipper will end.

Insert your zipper.

Hem your skirt.

ENJOY!

Or…stand around on the side of the road scowling while your husband takes your picture…’cause you know, that’s fun to…for your husband…who likes to torture you…but then will stop you off at the gas station to get a soda because you need one after getting your picture taken….

Have a great Thursday you all!

-liZ

*NOTE:  I did a lot of the construction using a serger but you don’t have to!  You can totally use your sewing machine.