How to make a skirt from one metre of fabric

I love sewing but I don’t always have loads of time to do it. Also patterns scare me a bit, they look so complicated! This skirt pattern is super simple to follow though because all you need to do is be able to cut in a straight like and use your sewing machine – there really is no pattern to follow! You can make it without using a tape measure and best of all you really can make it from only one metre of fabric.

How to make a skirt from one metre of fabric

You will need:

One metre of fabric

Scissors

Pins

Two Safety pins

A piece of elastic about one inch thick and the same length as your waist

*Note: As this skirt is gathered a metre of fabric will fit a lot of sizes, however if you’re at all worried or just fancy a bit extra gathering just use a slightly longer length.

 

How to make your skirt

Iron your material. This is boring but will save you a lot of hassle later as you’ll want to put it on straight away!

Fold the material in half length ways and iron along the crease. Cut the material in half along the crease so that you now have two long pieces of fabric.

Pin together two of the short ends, making sure that if your material has a pattern that both pieces have the pattern facing in the same direction. Sew the two pieces together so that you now have one long piece of fabric. Make sure that you backstitch at both ends every time you sew and I would also recommend ironing in your seems each time.

Do a zig-zag stitch across the top piece of material. This is the end that will get the most wear as it’s next to your body so it’s a good way to help stop it from fraying.

At the bottom of your fabric, turn up the material and create a hem of about a couple of centimetres. Pin in place to secure it and sew.

Pin together the remaining two short sides and sew together so that you now have one large loop of material.

Put your elastic at the top of your skirt and fold the material over it so that you create a casing that is big enough to hold the elastic while it’s flat. Pin the material down in place and continue around the top of the skirt, you will need to move the elastic while you do this as it is shorter than the width of your skirt. Remove the elastic and sew the material into place, creating a waist band. As you do this, make sure that you leave a gap at the end of about 10 centimetres.

Attach a safety pin to one end of your elastic and pin the other end to where the gap is in the waistband of your skirt. Carefully pass the elastic through the gap in the waistband using the safety pin in the end to help move it along. You will need to gather the material along the elastic while you do this.

Once you have both ends of the elastic back together again, sew them together and then sew the gap in the waistband of the skirt closed. Even out the gathering around the elastic and your skirt is finished!

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