No Gathers Bubble Skirt

Bringing home my guest post at Crafterhours.

I am so excited to be here today! My name is Olga and I blog at Coffee + Thread. I mostly sew for my four children. Today, I will share one of my favorite projects to make - a bubble skirt with no gathers involved. I am not against making gathers per se, but I prefer this method because it takes about 20 minutes to make and it is easy. Also, the child can do cartwheels in it without the fear of breaking gathers. :)

I had a piece of fabric left from the dress I made for my daughter last year. When she saw her new skirt she was horrified, thinking I cut up her dress. :)

You will need:
 - any woven fabric (You will cut a rectangle or two, depending on the size you are making. The shorter side will be the length of the finished skirt plus 3-4 inches; the long side - your child's waist measurement multiplied by two)
 - fabric for lining, the same width as your main fabric but about 4 inches shorter
 - skinny elastic to gather the bottom of  the skirt; about a yard (Use less for smaller sizes.)
- elastic for the waistband (Use your child's measurements to determine how much you need.) 
- usual sewing supplies

Construction:



1. Gather your supplies.

2. Fold short sides of the fabric rectangle right sides together, pin and stich. If you use two panels, pin the two panels right sides together and stich. Repeat with lining.

3. Pin lining and outer skirt right sides together and stich their bottom (hem) edges together.

4. Divide and mark the bottom of the skirt into four equal parts. Stitch the ends of skinny elastic to make a circle. Mark it into quarters. Pin the elastic to the hem aligning the markings.   

5. Stitch elastic to bottom-hem seam allowances only stretching the elastic as you go.

6. Pull the lining inside the skirt.

7. Push the lining out of the way to make the casing for the elastic. Fold the raw edge of the skirt 1/4 of a inch an iron. Make another fold approximately two inches (make sure it is wide enough for your elastic) and iron. 

8. Now pull the lining so it is encased in the fold you just made. Pin in place and sew around the waistband leaving a small opening for inserting elastic.

9. Insert the elastic into casing. Stitch ends of elastic together and sew the opening closed. You are done!