Double Ruffle Skirt Tutorial - in DL

This is a tutorial for the double ruffle skirt I SNSed here. The tutorial will cover attached shorts but you will need a shorts pattern (read through to the end - you may want to base the skirt width on the shorts).

First measure the largest part of the waist/belly/hips area and decide how much ease you want. My petite 6 yo kiddo's hips are 26" wide and I added 3" ease for a finished width of 29". Seam allowance of .5" doubled is another 1" so 30" cut width.
hip measurement 26" + 3" ease + (.5" SA x 2) = 30"

http://i287.photobucket.com/albums/l...ctions0003.jpg

Then figure out how long you want the skirt. I decided on 13". Looking at a ruler, I choose to make my ruffles at 5" long (with a 1" overlap) and the upper underskirt 4" long. I wanted the shorts to be 2" shorter than the skirt so it wouldn't show.

There are 4 pieces to the skirt.
Upper Underskirt
Lower Underskirt
Ruffle x 2

For the upper underskirt, I added 1.25" for the elastic casing up top and .5" seam allowance on the bottom. The ruffles do make this heavier than normal so I would NOT recommend a FOE waist.
4" upper underskirt + 1.25" casing + .5" SA = 5.75"
The width was decided earlier at 30" cut. So my upper underskirt is cut at 5.75" x 30".

The finished length of the lower underskirt is 1" less than the length of the ruffle because of the 1" overlap, so that would be 4". So 4" + (.5" SA x 2) = 5". My lower underskirt is cut at 5" x 30".

I decided to fold the two ruffle pieces up so it would be self lined, instead of hemming. Of course you could do a normal hem or a rolled hem, binding, etc. The finished length of the ruffle is 5", so I doubled that and added SA. (5" x 2) + (.5" x 2) = 11" cut. The width should be between 1.5 and 2 times the width of the underskirt. The poofyness will vary depending on type of material and how full you cut the ruffle. The width of my jersey (excluding selvage) was around 51", so I just decided to go with that. (If you need to join two pieces, make them equal width and use the seams as the side seams with the fold at CF and CB.) So my ruffle was cut at 11" x 51" (times two). If you are not self lining the ruffle then cut accordingly - do not forget to add hem allowance, if needed.


Right sides together, sew each skirt and ruffle section together at the short end, this will be the center back. Lay the pieces down so the center back is folded and mark the center front fold at the other end - at both top and bottom of the piece. Match CF and CB and mark the halfway points between them, at both top and bottom. You will end up with tubes that are evenly divided into 4.

Fold up the ruffle pieces and match at markings (or do hems at this point).
http://i287.photobucket.com/albums/l...t/GEDC1447.jpg

Baste along the top of the ruffles and gather.
http://i287.photobucket.com/albums/l...t/GEDC1449.jpg

Match CB and markings of one ruffle to the right side of the LOWER underskirt, stitch/serge together.
http://i287.photobucket.com/albums/l...t/GEDC1452.jpg

Press seam up towards the underskirt and topstitch.
http://i287.photobucket.com/albums/l...t/GEDC1455.jpg

Taking the other gathered ruffle, match CB and markings to the right side of the lower underskirt (raw edge).
http://i287.photobucket.com/albums/l...t/GEDC1461.jpg

Match CB and markings of the right side of the UPPER underskirt to the rest of the skirt, making a sandwich of upper underskirt, upper ruffle and lower underskirt.
http://i287.photobucket.com/albums/l...t/GEDC1467.jpg

Stitch/serge together, press open and topstitch. If you are not adding shorts, then at this point you can finish the raw edge up top, add a tag and finish the elastic casing (fold down 1.25" or whatever your casing allowance is, stitch along seam line leaving a small opening to thread your elastic, stitch elastic together and stitch opening closed).
http://i287.photobucket.com/albums/l...t/GEDC1469.jpg


For the shorts, use a shorts pattern that you already know fits. I eliminated the side seam by overlapping the seam allowances and matching the front and back pattern pieces at the stitch line. HOWEVER, it is critical that the waist match the skirt exactly. So for my pattern, I had to overlap even more to get the finished waist at 29" (make sure you account for the seam allowances on the pattern pieces). You could start with the shorts pattern and base the finished width of the skirt on that instead of hip measurement.

Make the elastic casing allowance the same as the skirt, in my case 1.25". Shorten the shorts pattern so the finished length is 2" shorter than the skirt (you may need to vary this number for a smaller or larger child).
http://i287.photobucket.com/albums/l...t/GEDC1437.jpg

Right sides together, stitch together the inseams and finish hems.
http://i287.photobucket.com/albums/l...t/GEDC1473.jpg

Flip one of the legs so the right side is out. Nest that piece inside the other leg, match notches and stitch/serge together.
http://i287.photobucket.com/albums/l...t/GEDC1475.jpg

Place right side of shorts out. Match CF and CB at waist, mark the folded half way points. Nest the shorts inside the skirt, matching all four marks to the skirt waist and stitch or serge together. Add a tag and fold down to casing allowance.
http://i287.photobucket.com/albums/l...t/GEDC1477.jpg

Stitch to make the casing, leaving a small opening. Insert elastic and stitch elastic together, and finish casing by stitching opening closed. All done!
http://i287.photobucket.com/albums/l...S/GEDC1480.jpg

great tutorial-thank you!

Thank you!

Is the fabric woven or stretch please?

great tutorial, cant wait to try it out!

This is fantastic.