Trousers and skirts

Easy pleated skirt

Hello everyone and Happy Friday! Tonight is my work Christmas party so I’m all giddy and ready to celebrate the year!

almond rock pleated skirt elephant in my handbag alice wonderland teapots

Today I have a tutorial to share for a quick pleated skirt. All it takes is a bit of maths and some basic sewing skills to get a lovely printed skirt.

I partnered with Elephant In My Handbag for this tutorial. They let me pick this awesome Alice in Wonderland inspired teapot print cotton by Blend Fabrics.its great quality and the colours are fantastic! Did you spot the little mouse?

Materials:

Fusible interfacing
12” invisible Zipper

Size Finished Waist Measurement Front width, cut on fold Back width, cut two Waistband width Waistband back width
10 29” 51cm 52.5cm 20cm 21.5cm
12 31” 52cm 53.5cm 21cm 22.5cm
14 33” 53cm 54.5cm 22cm 23.5cm
16 35” 54cm 55.5cm 23cm 24.5cm
18 37” 55cm 56.5cm 24cm 25.5cm


Cutting:

Use the above chart and your desired skirt length to work out your fabric requirements. You’ll need 2 x  the length plus another 50cm for the waistbands.

Cut 1 front skirt on the fold that is your chosen length x the width measurement in the chart above.

Cut 2 back skirts that are your chosen length x the width measurement in the chart above.

Cut two waistband fronts on the fold, which are 6cm in length x the width measurement in the chart above.

Cut 2 waistband backs which are 6cm in length x the width measurement in the chart above.

How to make:

1. Find the centre front of your fabric for the skirt front. Then measure 6cm in and make a mark at the upper edge for size 10. (Increase this by 1cm for each higher size e.g. 12cm for size 18).

2. Next mark 15cm away from the mark you just made, along the upper edge.

3. Next mark 6cm away from that mark for size 10. (Increase this by 1cm for each higher size e.g. 12cm for size 18).

4. And finally mark 15cm away from the mark you just made.

5. Repeat for the skirt backs (find the centre back of your fabric by folding under the 1.5cm seam allowance.

6. Fold the pleats together following the marks that you have made. (See the diagram for help). An easy way create neat pleats is to bring two notches together and pin, crease the fold, then open out the pleat so the crease of the fold sits on top of the pin. Sew across the top of your pleats 1cm in from the raw edge (within the seam allowance) to keep them in place and press a short way down the length of the pleat. Repeat for the back skirt pieces.

7. Join the skirt front and back at the side seams with a 5/8” (1.5cm) seam allowance and overlock or finish the raw edges.

8. Interface one waistband front and a pair of waistband backs. Join at the side seams with a 5/8” (1.5cm) seam allowance, then repeat for the second set of waistbands.

9. With right sides together, align the non-interfaced waistband to the upper edge of the skirt, matching the side seams. Sew in place with a 5/8” (1.5cm) seam allowance.

10. Next sew the two waistbands together at the raw upper edge with a 5/8” (1.5cm) seam allowance then press the seam open. Press up the lower edge of the interfaced waistband by 1.3cm.

11. Open the zipper and with right sides together align the top stopper just below the top of the waistband seam line on one side. Using your zipper foot (or my recommendation, an invisible zipper foot) sew in place. Close the zip and mark on the tape the seamline for the bottom of the waistband. Use this marking to line up the second half of the zipper tape and sew in place.

12. Fold the waistband over right sides together, sandwiching the zip in between. Using your zipper foot, sew alongside the zip through the three layers, ensuring the catch the folded up lower edge of the waistband.

13. Press up a 5cm hem at the bottom of your skirt. Sew in place and press to finish.

Here’s a shot of the pleats close up. I love how neat the waistband is at this size and balances well with my almost midi length skirt. I made the 10 and used a long length on purpose.

So many delicious looking cakes on this fabric too!

almond rock pleated skirt elephant in my handbag alice wonderland teapots

Here’s the back, you can see how the centre back falls evenly between the pleats. I used a white zip but if you’re scared you might not achieve a fully invisible installation, choose a zip that coordinates well with your fabric and will “sink in”.

almond rock pleated skirt elephant in my handbag alice wonderland teapots

Expect to see me in plenty more pleated skirts this winter!

(5) Comments

  1. Rebecca says:

    I love this.

    Love the fabric.
    Love the pleating.
    Love how you’ve paired such a fun but beautiful skirt with basic black. It makes the skirt sing.

    Needless to say you look lovely!

    Hope you had a great Christmas party.
    x

  2. Carol Thomas says:

    Very bright and cheerful. Love it!

  3. Lovely skirt. Thanks for the tutorial. I am going to share it with my GCSE textiles class if that’s OK? They will love making this 🙂 xx

    1. almondrock says:

      Sure thing!

  4. […] followed Almond Rock’s guide on how to make a pleated skirt but I’m not that great at maths and it came out too large. Both of these skirts therefore […]

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.