Chiffon Maxi Skirt Tutorial

      I really, really like airy, floaty fabrics. They may be a bit of a pain to sew with, but they are just lovely to wear. I've been wanting do some chiffon skirts to sell for a while now, and finally got down to doing it. I played with prints and a solid, and I liked them all!

      I decided to go with giving them a knit underskirt, and yoga style fold over waist bands. The stretchy knit underskirt helps it to to feel unrestricted and light.

       They were really simple to make, a little tedious maybe, but the concept is simple. The chiffon is a large rectangle...as long as you want and as wide as you want. I made mine 41 inches long and as wide as the fabric would allow. You would think that that much fabric gathered at the waist would be bulky, but it isn't a bit! It hangs really softly.

      One tip when cutting out the chiffon...you don't actually have to cut it. Just cut a small slit where you want the cut to be like so.

     Then rip it! It will make a perfectly straight, on grain cut without you having to do all the work!

     The underskirt and waist band were cut out like this. I made my underskirt 36 inches long. Notice that the waist band curves in at the middle. This it help it sit nice and snugly at the waist.

      Once you have everything cut out, sew the underskirt along the slanted side. Sew down the curved sides of the waist band. Sew the sides of the chiffon skirt. Sew a gathering stitch along the top of the chiffon skirt, and gather it to match the width of your underskirt.

      Slide your underskirt into the chiffon skirt. Line up the seam in the underskirt with the center back of the chiffon skirt.

     Sew the two skirts together. I used my new walking foot, and it was quite helpful in keeping all that fabric moving through evenly.

      Flip the skirts so that the right sides are out, and the underskirt is inside the chiffon. Pin on the waist band, making sure to line up the side seams and centers.

      You should have to stretch out the waist band quite a bit to match up with the skirts, so just go slow and try to keep the stretch even all the way around. I used my serger to sew it all together, and it pretty much hates thick layers of fabric. I had to go really slow, and just let it work its way through. I finished them off by using the serger to do a rolled hem around the bottom. If you don't have a serger, you could do a rolled hem on you regular machine using a rolled hem foot....or just melt the edges with a lighter. ( That way is rather prone to disaster, so I would recommend the machine way!)
      Several sizes of the printed ones are available at AJ's Boutique, and the pink will be available in my shop. I'm hoping to add a few more color options than just pink very soon. Speaking of my shop, I've decided it needs a bit of a clean out. I'll be clearing out some old stuff, and adding lots of new over the next few weeks.
     If you have any questions about the above tutorial, do please let me know, and I'll try to help! Have a great week!

  Philippians 4:8   Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.

P.S. Just looking at the verse above...Did it ever occur to you just how little of what we... do/watch/say/listen to/ go to/think about...fall into these categories? Imagine how much more peaceful and in tune with God we would be if kept everything to these things? Just something to think about today...

Linking to:
Brassy Apple
Homemaker on a Dime
Under the Table and Dreaming
Singing Three Little Birds
Between Naps on the Porch
Home Stories A to Z
chef in Training
Shwin and Shwin
Pincushion creations
My Girlish Whims
Sew Much Ado
Someday Crafts