How To Make a Knit Elastic Waistband Skirt (A Simple Tutorial)

Today I get to show you how my 5 year old and I make her favorite skirts.  They are simple, don’t require a lot of fabric, only have one seam, and take less than 30 minutes to make.  For real.

And like I said they are a staple in my 5 year old’s wardrobe…partially because she loves skirts and partially because I let her pick the fabric and help sew the seam so she feels like she “designed” her own clothes.  It makes her happy and it makes me happy so it’s a win win.

Now let’s get to how we make these skirts.

First you are going to need to measure from your childs waist to where you would like the skirt to end.  (I usually do just above the knee.)

Once you have that measurement add 1.5 inches to you number.  (So if your child’s measurement was 15 inches add 1.5 inches to it to make it 16.5 inches.)  Easy right?

Now you can cut your knit fabric.  Cut it as long as your measurement plus the 1.5 inches and as wide as your knit is from selvedge edge to selvedge edge.  That is the only cut you have to make….again…EASY!

In the photo above I have just cut my fabric and then I used my serger to finish off the the long edges.  Now…you don’t need a serger to finish off the edges because one of the beautiful things about knit is that it doesn’t fray!

After your fabric is cut, fold it in half with right sides together and sew up the selvedge edges like in the photo below.

(Again in the photo above I used my serger…but you can just as easily use your sewing machine.)

Once the side is sewn up it’s time to make the casing for the elastic waistband.

To do this fold over the top of your skirt 1 inch to the inside of your skirt and press.  Then sew around the entire circumference of the skirt leaving only about a 2 inch gap between where you begin sewing and where you stop sewing for an opening to insert your elastic into.

Now before you can insert your elastic you need to know how long it should be cut.  To figure this out simply meausre your child’s waist and then take that measurement and subtract 1.5 inches.  (So if your childs waist measures 21 inches then cut her elastic to 19.5 inches.)

Also…the elastic that we like to use for this skirt is 3/4 inches wide….which will fit nicely into that casing you just made!

Once the elastic is cut use a safety pin attached to one end to help guide it through the casing.  When it is threaded through the casing sew the ends of your elastic together.

Then push that little piece of elastic back into the casing and stitch the opening closed.

All you have left to do is hem the bottom of your skirt.  To do this you can turn the bottom under 1/4 to 1/2 inch and stitch or if you are like me just serge the bottom and call it good.

They are so easy to make and so comfy to wear.  Especially with favorite T-shirts and flip flops.

And when you consider they use less than half a yard of fabric and that one package of elastic makes numerous skirts (and costs less than $3) this makes these skirts an affordable project!

And a project that small ones can help create and feel proud of!