Sewing: Week Twelve High-Waisted Mini-Skirt

High-waisted mini-skirt – a bit of an accident in the making, yet it’s one of my favourite pieces. I started this weeks sewing project with the goal of making a tank top using one of McCall’s simple patterns. No such luck.

You can see below that my goal was simple and seemed easy – well, that’s until I made a critical error in twisting the strap. No way I was going to undo all the stitches and try again. I’d rather start over; and I will one day. Yet, in the mean time, I wanted to turn this bright green fabric into something. As such, the high-waisted mini-skirt was born.

If you’re going to skip all the tank-top making steps and move directly to this high-waisted mini-skirt, then you’re on the right track. Let’s get started.

What You Need

3 inch elastic – enough to go around your waist and feel comfortable (28.5 inches for me)
about 1 yard of knit fabric – stretch, yet not see through
matching thread
serger
pins
scissors
measuring tape

Okay – time to get ready.

Cut Pattern

Measure your waist (me 28 inches) and then add 1/2 and inch or so for the elastic, try it around your waist to ensure it’s comfort.

Cut two pieces of fabric that are 7 inches high by your waist measurement/2 plus 1. So, for me, 28/2 = 14 + 1 = 15; two pieces cut that are 7 inches high and 15 inches long.

Cut two pieces of fabric that are 15 inches high and the length of the waist measurement above plus 1/2. So for me, two pieces cut that are 15 inches high and 15.5 inches long.

Stitch

Serge the elastic together.

With right sides of the waistband together, serge each side.

Now, enclose the elastic inside of the waist band, right sides out, and serge closed.

Serge the body of the skirt along each side – right sides together.

Then, turn the body of the skirt right side out. Pin the serged edge of the waistband to the top of the skirt bottom. Pin and serge.

Almost done – just need to finish the hem.

The Hem

I didn’t want to use my machine at all – keep this skirt nice and clean with no topstitching. So, I’ve done this folded hem – the same thing I did on the tunic. See that tutorial for full details on this hem. Here I made it small, 1/2 an inch – yet next time, I’d go for for at least 1 inch.

That’s it! Done.

I put this skirt on my mannequin and it looked silly – because it doesn’t have thighs and it just looked odd. So, you’ll have to put up with my messy hair and my ‘I’m not going out of the house’ t-shirt. You get the idea.