Measurement A-the width of persons waist minus 2 inches
Measurement B-how long you want it to be(I did mine knee length) (plus 1" for seam allowance)
*When using knit fabric you want to make sure you are always using the side that stretches as your width, so it can stretch up over your hips(if you have wide hips like me).
I don't have any pictures of the process on this one, I apologize, I will look for a tutorial elsewhere to see if I can link it up so if you have questions you can refer to something(I know I'm a visual learner and have to see it in order to do it) http://sewmamasew.com/blog2/2010/06/yoga-skirt-tutorial-tips-on-using-knits/ She explains it really well here and has lots of pictures!
First, we are going to cut out the waistband, so the stretchy side of the fabric needs to equal your measurement A with 1/2" seam allowance. The length of the fabric will be 7 inches, giving you ample room to fold over the top yoga style. I cut mine in one big strip so that I would only have to sew up one side(it's faster that way) Now you are going to sew it up so that it makes a waistband! So sew the short sides together using 1/2" seam allowance. On knit fabric make sure your tension is a bit looser than normal. I had mine on 2, and with most cotton I use 1!
Now you are going to fold it in half yoga style, so it should be about 3.5" tall, fold it so that your side seam is now on the inside.
Onto the main part of the skirt. Cut this the full width of the fabric(stretchy side), this will let it be gathered and give it some fullness so it doesn't stick to you. Of course you don't have to cut it that big if you are making it for a baby, just measure their hips and add like 5" so you can gather it some to make it flow nice! Then you are going to use your measurement B to cut in the length that you want it(not on the stretchy side).
Sew the side seams together using 1/2" seams. Next you are going to hem up the bottom of the skirt. I used about 1/2" seam allowance. You can either sew this using a serger if you have one. I currently don't so I used a zig zag stitch with my tension at a 2 to sew this up. I actually love the way it came out. It isn't too noticeable, but it adds kind of a fun homemade flair!
Now if you want to gather the top so that is is kind of flowy(is that a word?), you can go across the top of the skirt and gather it by pinning it to the waste band and gathering it a bit as you go, or you can use a gather stitch, click here for link on how to do this. Once your fabric is gather(I used the sewing method, I never can manually gather very evenly), pin the waistband to the top of the fabric. This gets tricky to explain-pin it so that the bottom of the waistband is at the top of the skirt, but in order to do this so no seams show, you have to slide the whole waistband over the skirt with that bottom part facing up.(I hope that makes sense, if it doesn't you can always message me and I will try and explain it better). Make sure your fabric is gathered so that it will fit around your hips, then as you sew stretch the waistband so that it will go over your hips. If you make the skirt to match the waistband and you have wide hips the stitches will most likely rip:( Sew this up using a loose stitch(2 still for me). Now turn it all right side out and you have a skirt. The last thing I did was I took out the gather stitches, a bit time consuming, but well worth it because then the skirt will stretch better when you go to put it on.(I would recommend spending the time on this one). Then when you put it on you can fold the top part down. This is such a wonderful skirt. I made one for myself and one for my new little girl and we wore them in May to the wedding(I know took me long enough to post huh??)
At the Rehearsal dinner in her new skirt!
At the wedding in my skirt!
I wore this skirt after my C-Section because it felt so comfy and didn't rub on my scar! Also would make a good maternity skirt as it can stretch with you, or just a skirt for comforts sake(always a must for me)
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