The Bubble Skirt Tutorial!!!

I’m loving the bubble skirt trend right now.  I don’t know what it is about seeing that puffy skirt on a little girl;  it’s so sweet and innocent.  Naturally, I had to make one.  So here’s a little glimpse of the skirt.  My little one would have no part in modeling this skirt, so Ms. C happily obliged for a few photos.  She’s such a cutie!

Intrigued?  Want to make one for your little one?  (Or for yourself, don’t worry, we want one too!)  Well, here’s a step by step guide to making one or four, once you start making them you may want to make a bunch of them!  They are so simple to make!  PLUS they’re reversible!!!

The Bubble Skirt:

Ok, so to begin you’ll want to measure your recipient.  You will need to know the measurement from the waist to the knee (or however long you want it to be.)  Add 1 1/2 inches to this and this will be the amount you need for the interior fabric length.  For the exterior length you will want to add on about 3 1/2 inches and that will be the amount of fabric you need.  You will also want to know the waist measurement for the elastic waistband.   For a small child you can just use the width of the fabric, which is usually about 42-44″, if you are using a quilter weight  cotton.  It’s really just common sense, if your are making one for a larger size, just add additional fabric, you may want to buy a 1 1/2 yards and use the length of the fabric, not the width.  Just remember, the more width the bunchier the skirt will be.

Now once you know these you will be able to figure out how much fabric you need.

What you will need:

• Fabric one for the interior and one for the exterior.  (1/2-1 yard or so of each depending on your measurements.)
• elastic 1 inch (enough for waistband)  and also 30 inches of  1-4 inch.  (add more if you are making it for a child over the age 5.)
• thread, scissors, iron, ruler

To begin:

Cut out your fabric using the measurements that you recorded earlier.  You should have two large rectangles.

With right sides together, line up the short edges of one piece and sew a 1/2 inch seam.  Back stitching at the beginning and end.  Now repeat with the other fabric.

Press seams open.

You should have two tubes.  Good job.  Now insert the larger tube inside the smaller one with right sides facing each other.

Line up the bottom edges and pin all the way round.

Sew your seam close to the edge, about 1/4 inch or so, all the way around.  Now sew another seam about 3/8 to 1/2 inch from the first seam, ( it needs to be big enough to fit your 1/4 elastic through.) leaving an opening to feed the 30″ piece of elastic through.

Now using a safety pin attached to the end, feed your elastic through the casing you just sewed.  Once it’s through, sew the two ends of elastic together.  Tuck it in and sew the opening closed.

Congrats you’re halfway there.  You just finished the bottom bubble part of the skirt!

Next flip your skirt right sides out.  Your main fabric will be longer than the lining fabric.

Take the edge of your main fabric, fold it over about 1/2 inch and press.

Now take that pressed edge and fold it over so that it covers the lining part.

Make sure that your edge covers the edge of the lining fabric.  I made sure that the two raw edges were aligned as I pinned them together.

I stitched as close to the edge as possible all the way around, leaving an opening for the elastic.

Feed your elastic through just as you did on the bottom part.

Once again bring the two ends together.  Sew.  Tuck into the casing.  Sew the opening closed.

You are finished!!!!

If you wanted, you could add a little bow or some type of embellishment to the waistband or anywhere really.

Hope you enjoy your new creation!!!

Don’t forget, we’d love to see what you’ve made…please upload a picture to our Flickr group.