The other week we were heading off to the zoo for a girl scouts trip on a crazy hot and humid day, so naturally that morning I whipped up a little lion skirt to keep me cool for the occasion.
It took me less than an hour to make, only used a yard of fabric and is my favorite skirt to wear so far this summer!
It's my favorite partly because...hey, it's made with Cotton and Steel August Lions, who says kids get to have all of the fun fabrics?
Also, it's cool and comfy to wear!
Plus, it was super simple...So, I thought I'd share how I made it...
Supplies: 1 yard of fabric, 1" elastic, 1/2" double fold bias tape (optional), sewing notions
To make: Fold yard of fabric in half with selvedges lined up, cut fabric in half, now you have two 1/2 yard pieces. With right sides together line up the selvedges, pin and sew together with 1/2" seam allowance (or a large enough SA to hide the selvedges).
Zig zag along the top raw edge of skirt. Sew a basting stitch 1/4" from the top edge of the skirt, set aside.
Cut a piece of elastic that is long enough to fit around your waist. Fold elastic with right sides together and sew with about a 1" seam allowance. Open elastic SA and stitch the SA down making a rectangle of stitches. Next, fold waist band in half with the seam at one side, mark the opposite side (front) then fold in half again matching the front and back up with each other, mark opposite folded edges (to align with skirt side seams), repeat this with the skirt as well with the seams being the sides and the opposite sides the front and back. Now both the skirt and waistband have been marked at four equal places.
Next, gently pull your basting stitches to gather your skirt to the same width of your elastic waistband keeping the gathers even. Line up the front and back and side seams of both waist band and skirt, pin skirt and waistband together with right sides together, stitch with 3/8" seam allowance.
For the hem: You can simply hem the skirt by folding over 1/2" toward the wrong side and then again and stitch. Or, if you are using a yard of fabric you may not have much length to play around with before the skirt gets too short so you may want to finish the hem by simply encasing it in bias tape, which is what I did, it's a great way to add a little pop of color! (ps, Dana has a great post with loads of bias tape tips!)
Also, if you aren't quite as short as I (5' 2"!) you might need to add some additional length to your skirt...Do this simply by adding a contrasting strip of fabric to the bottom of your 1/2 yard fabric cut before you sew up the selvedge sides. I'm thinking I might need to try that anyway, making a color block version! But for now I'm loving my lion skirt...
It's perrrfectly playful...
And, it twirls and swirls with the best of them!
And, of course, seeing that this is my new favorite summer skirt...I had to make another...
This one was made with a meter of fabric as opposed to a yard...which gave me about 4 extra inches, so I hemmed this one instead of trimming it with bias tape. I have been holding onto this fabric for a while now, it was a gift from my husband brought home from a London business trip...I think this skirt is the perfect use for it!
I'm seriously searching through my stash for more one yard cuts and ready to make more of these simple swirl skirts...but for now these two have me ready to jump into some summer fun!
Enjoy!
