I am a Project runway junkie.
I love the show and secretly dream of being on it. (never going to happen) I am always so inspired by what the designers come up with and I love to create designs loosely based on their creations. This is all part of a series I like to call:
Inspired by the Runway
Photo credit Barbara Nitke/Lifetime
Today’s Inspired by the runway is inspired by Mondo’s tweed skirt. It was high-waisted, full of bounce and well some serious style. He was in the top 3 but was robbed (in my humble opinion) I still loved loved loved his skirt.
Today’s project is a high waisted tweed ruffle skirt. I made it for my little miss (as I do with most of my projects) but you can easily make this any size you want as I will probably make one for myself as well. Just adjust the measurements as needed.
You will need:
- Tweed fabric
- Fabric for lining and skirt base (lightweight is best)
- Two large buttons (or 4 small ones)
- 1/8 inch wide elastic
Step 1: Cutting out all the pieces. I made my pattern on paper first and then cut it out of fabric but you can do it however you prefer. Here is how you get the pieces you need:
Waist: Measure around the middle of your models waist and around the top of the hip. For my model this was the same measurement since she is a young girl and doesn’t have curve if I was doing this for me there would be a difference in measurement and this will make the waist line piece get larger at the bottom. Divide both measurements in half and that will be the measurement top and bottom of your front waist piece. For me that is 8 inches. How tall you want your waist line piece to be is up to you I made mine 5 inches tall. I suggest measuring from how high you want to wear your skirt to where you want the waist band to end (typically above the hip) So for me my final measurements are 5×8 I am going to divide the length by 2 since I will cut on a fold so I have 5×4 I like a dip in the middle so I cut of the corner on the edge that will be cut on a fold, this will leave me with a “V” in the middle of my skirt. The back of the waist band is made by tracing the front piece and adding 1 1/2 inches for overlap.
**When cutting or making your pattern make sure you add 3/4 inch for seams***
You will then cut 2 front waist pieces on a fold one in the tweed and one in the lining. Then cut 4 back pieces not on a fold two out of the tweed and two out of the lining.
Skirt Base: To get the base of your skirt you are going to measure from where the waist ended (just above the hip) and measure how long you want the final skirt to be. How wide it will be depends on how wide your widest measurement is plus an inch or two for movement you don’t want it to be skin tight. I cut my skirt base at a bit of an angle so it has and A line to it. You will cut two of these.
*** make sure the top of the skirt has the same measurement across as the bottom of the waist band since they will connect***
Ruffles: To make the ruffles measure across the front of the skirt base at the top and multiply it by 4 this is how long your ruffle will be. To get the width measure how long your skirt base is and divide it by 2. Add 2 inches and this is your width. Cut 2 stripes with those measurements out of the tweed. I rounded the edges of both stripes so that when they overlap in the back they have a scalloped look.
whew! If you followed all of that you should have all the pieces pictured above.
Step 2: Using either a serger (mine has a broken needle right now) or your sewing machine set to zigzag and stitch length set to 1/2 sew along the edge of both ruffle pieces. No need to sew along the top edge unless you really want to. You should get a finished edge of thread as pictured above.
Step 3: Sew right sides together at the sides for the waistband do this for both the tweed and the liner pieces.
Step 4: Sew right sides together along the sides and top, sewing together the tweed and lining. Turn it right side out and you are done with the waist.
Step 5: Sew right sides together along the sides of the skirt base.
Step 6: Using the basting stitch and then pulling the tread, gather your ruffle pieces.
Step 7: Pin one ruffle to the skirt base. You are pinning it to the top of the skirt base wrong side of the tweed against the right side of the skirt base. Make sure the curved ends meet with slight overlap in the center of the back. Also pin the ruffle so that it hangs about 1/4 inch or so over the top of the skirt base, as pictured above.
Step 8: Sew the top ruffle in place.
Step 9: This part may seem a little confusing, I will do my best to explain it clearly. Mark with a pin where your top ruffle ends. Then pin the bottom ruffle upside down right sides together about 2 inches above the mark. (so it will look like the picture if that helps)Make sure the curved ends meet with slight overlap right under the top layer of curves. Sew in place and then when you hold the skirt up you should have two ruffles sewn to the skirt base.
Step 10: Pin right sides together the waist piece to the skirt. The waist piece should overlap about 1 inch in back right where the curved edge of the ruffles overlap. Once it is pinned in place sew together. Turn right side out and your skirt should be done.
Step 11: Taking small stripes of the 1/8 elastic fold the pieces in half and sew in the inside of the back flap, so that just the loop hangs off the edge. Then sew the buttons on the other side and you are done with your skirt!
Perfect for picking dandelions
And running around with them
Enjoy your cute creation Inspired by the Runway
Genevieve
this is an adorable skirt! (and i'm totally a project runway junkie too- best part of friday getting to watch it online!!) i love mondo's stuff and now want to run out and buy tweed to make this one for my little miss! thanks for sharing!
saffiertje
oh… sooooo cute! gonna addapt it to the size for my girls!
Belly Designs
Adorable!! Too cute for words.<br />Mxo
Lana
Cute skirt!
Jessica
Your skirt is adorable and your model is adorable! What high fashion!!! :)<br /><br />Jessica<br />http://craftily-ever-after.blogspot.com/
Shwin W
Thanks so much!
casserole
What a fabulous little skirt!! I linked to your tutorial over at Craft Gossip Sewing:<br />http://sewing.craftgossip.com/tutorial-runway-inspired-tiered-tweed-skirt-for-little-girls/2010/10/10/<br /><br />–Anne