First, download the pattern file HERE.
Cut from main fabric:
1 circle
2 half circles
1 tab
Cut from lining fabric:
1 circle
2 half circles
Cut from batting (or medium weight interfacing, if you prefer):1 circle
2 half circles
You will also need a 1″ wide nylon 5″ or longer zipper.
Place one lining half circle right side up and place the zipper right side up on top. Align top edges.
Place a main fabric half circle wrong side up (right side together with the zipper). Place batting on top.
Sew with a 1/4″ seam allowance. It’s important to use a 1/4″ SA here because the zipper is 1″ wide, and if we use two 1/4″ seam allowances we are subtracting 1/4″ from each half circle but adding 1/2″ in the middle of the zipper. Perfect!
Fold back and repeat with the other side. Then trim the batting as best you can without cutting into the fabric.
Fold everything back and press well.
Make sure the back side is away from the zip as well.
Topstitch 1/8″ away from the edge with a longer stitch length.
Now make the tab for the side. Fold the tab in fourths – Fold the edges to the center and then fold in half and topstitch.
Now unzip the zipper part way and “tack” the zipper closed at the edge of the circle.
Fold the tab in half and place it with the raw edges towards the outside of the circle, folded edge in, right over the zipper and sew it at the same spot where you tacked the zip.
Now you need to place the circle pieces wrong sides together with the batting in the middle. Place the lining circle wrong side up. (I’m using solids so it doesn’t matter, but if you are using a print, place it right side DOWN, wrong side up.) Place the cotton batting on top. Place the main fabric circle on top of that. Like a quilt sandwich. It’s so small you don’t really need to pin. If you used fusible interfacing in place of batting, just place the two fabrics wrong sides together.
You should now have these two pieces. Make sure the zipper pull is IN THE MIDDLE of the circle. You don’t want to end up cutting it off!
Flip the full circle piece over on top of the piece with the zipper, right sides together. (Now, if I was showing you how to do this the “right” way, I would tell you to baste with a 1/8″ seam allowance around the outsides first. But this is a small pouch, and it will be fine if you don’t baste. Plus, it’s just for fun. Not basting also makes it easier to trim the batting after sewing!)
Time to sew! Start anywhere on the circle and sew all the way around with a 3/8″ seam allowance.
Since we didn’t use interfacing AND we are sewing in a circle, you might get some puckering (fusible interfacing helps keep the fabric stiffer so it doesn’t pucker as much.) It’s OK. Just lift up the presser foot every few stitches, pivot, smooth out the pucker and keep sewing.
Since there won’t be a ton of reinforcement at those zipper edges, I like to stitch across them a couple times. Just hit your backstitch button a couple times, taking a few stitches across them back and forth.
Now cut off the zipper ends. Just don’t use your good fabric scissors! I keep an extra pair of scissors around of opening packages, cutting paper and cutting off ends of zippers.
Now pull back the fabric and try to trim as much batting out as you can without slicing fabric. I use sharp, tiny scissors for this. It’s not imperative but I think it helps reduce bulk.
Decision time! Since it’s difficult to hand stitch a curved opening shut, there will be some raw edges that we need to deal with. You have two options:
1. Trim the seam allowance to 1/4″. Zig zag, overlock and serge the raw edges before turning the pouch right side out. I also clipped the curves every 1/2″, but you probably don’t have to. The raw edges will be tucked way inside the pouch.
2. Trim the seam allowances a bit less than 1/4″. I used pinking shears but it will be fine if you don’t – just clip the curves. Turn the pouch right side out. Topstitch around the outside with a 1/4″ seam allowance to enclose the raw edges. 
When I topstitched, I didn’t stitch over the open end of the zipper so that I could still close it all the way. Backstitch at the beginning and end or pull your threads to the back and tie them off. I always use a longer stitch length when I topstitch. It looks nicer and is less likely to pucker when you have so many layers. Somewhere between 3.5-4mm.
Add a split ring and your earbuds and you are done!
What you need (for a little girl’s skirt):
* about 1 yard of fabric
* appx 3/4 yard of 2-inch wide elastic
FABRICS to use:
* Rayon
* Polyester Charmuese
* Simple Cotton
* Thin Corduroy
* Lightweight Wool
Many fabrics will work for this project. Lightweight fabrics will be more bouncy, and synthetic rayons and polyester will slink and spin around beautifully. The gray fabric we’re using today is rayon with a subtle visible weave pattern.
FOR WOMEN: Avoid fabrics that are Medium weight or thicker as they may add extra bulk around your hips. In the polka dot skirt above, I used a silky polyester charmeuse (feels like a silk scarf). It drapes beautifully and keeps the padding down.
ELASTIC:
Wide elastic from fabric stores typically comes 2 inches or 3 inches wide; white or black in color. I recommend 2-inch wide for a girl’s skirt , and 3-inch for an adult.
If you’d like to add a colorful twist to your skirt, check out our easy Tutorial for Dyeing Elastic HERE.
Measure around your waist. You don’t want it to be so tight that she can’t breathe. But if the elastic’s too loose on her waist, it will look funny. So measure as precise as you can and add an extra 1 inch for your seam allowance. For Lucy’s skirt, she measures 19 inches around the waist, plus an extra inch = 20 inches of elastic.
PATTERN:
This requires a bit of geometry but don’t worry, we’ll break it down for you. I’ve tried to keep it as simple as possible with a small diagram and a few definitions:
Circumference = the entire distance around a circle (in this case, your waist length, plus 2 inches)
Radius = the distance from the center of the circle to the outside of the circle
pi (that funny symbol below) = 3.14 (approximately)
You need to figure out the radius so you can easily draw a circle. If you remember from math class: Circumference = 2 x pi x r (radius). I’ve flipped the equation around a bit and came up with this diagram:
Let me break it down a little more:
* Measure your waist
* Add two inches to that number. You need these extra two inches so the fabric has “give” and will actually “stretch” when it’s sewn on to the elastic. It will create a very subtle gather to the skirt but will make it easier to get the skirt on and off. This will make more sense as you sew.
* Take your “waist + 2 inches” measurement and divide it by 6.28, and you have the radius!
* In Lucy’s case….
Her waist is 19 inches, plus 2 inches = 21 inches divided by 6.28 = 3.3 inch radius.
(NOTE: One method for drawing your circle is to tie string or yarn to a pencil, hold the string in the corner of your paper and draw, just like you did in grade school with a compass. For me it was easier to use a ruler, which I’ll show you below. So do what works best for you!)
* You only need to draw 1/4 of a donut circle for your pattern, so….
* Take a piece of paper (or many pieces of paper taped together).
*In the bottom left corner, at the right angle, place the end of a ruler and measure and mark the radius in various places. It might be hard to figure out on a ruler where 3.3 inches is, but do your best. Since the skirt has a small gather to it, you have room for error.
Then connect the dots to draw 1/4 of a circle! Just free hand it. With enough markings, you can draw it pretty well.
* Decide how long your want your skirt to be. Lucy’s gray skirt hits her about an inch or two above the knee, and her skirt length is about 9 1/2 inches.. Add an extra inch for the hem and the top seam (near the elastic). It’s always best to make it slightly longer than you think, so you have room for error. You can always cut length off as you create the hem.
* With your ruler on the edge of the circle just drawn, measure and mark the skirt length in various spots on your pattern, and
draw another 1/4 circle:
Now you have a donut! (or at least 1/4 of it). Cut off the center circle and your pattern is ready.
Let’s cut the fabric….
* Fold your fabric in 4ths, so you have a right-angled corner to work with. Lay your 1/4 donut pattern on top, so that the edges hit the edges of your fabric. Mark it and cut!
When you’re done, it should look like this (the skirt is folded in half):
First, finish off the top of the skirt. Serge around the waist. If you don’t have a serger, you can zigzag the edge, leave it raw, or iron the waist down 1/4 of an inch and iron it down another 1/4 of an inch. It just depends on your preference. Personally I don’t like any raw edges in my garment since it starts to fray as you wash.
When you’re done it should look like this:
Let’s sew the elastic waistband.
With the elastic folded in half, sew it together, using a 1/2 inch seam allowance:
Next, if you prefer, serge each seam edge separately to seal off the raw edges. Do not serge the seam together since you’re going to be fanning it out.
Fan the seam out and sew down each side. This will help the waistband lay flatter on your skirt.
I use the inside of my presser foot to guide me down, so I’m sewing evenly on each side.
When you’re done, it should look like this on the right side:
Add a label if you’d like and you’re ready to attach the waistband to your skirt. It’s always best to try the elastic band on your child before sewing on the skirt. I made this mistake and when I tried the finished skirt on Lucy, the elastic ended up being one inch too big and I had to take the whole thing apart.
As you can see, the elastic is slightly smaller than the fabric waist. This is good! If they were exactly the same size and you sewed the fabric onto the elastic, you would never be able to stretch the elastic at all (unless you had used stretchy fabric). It would snap the thread as you tried to stretch the skirt on and off. Thus, the extra fabric length will give a slight gather to the skirt and create some “give”.
Start pinning the elastic band to the skirt. Find the middle of the back of the skirt and pin that first. Pin the elastic so that it hangs about 1/4 of an inch on top of the skirt.
Like this:
Then flip the skirt over and pin it in the middle of the front of the skirt:
Then pin the elastic down on both sides of the skirt.
It should look something like this:
Then continue cutting the gaps in half by pinning the elastic down. You can pin as much or as little as you like.
I usually pin down about 8 spots:
Now let’s sew it on. The important part here is that you need to stretch the elastic as you go, so that it’s taut with the fabric. Use both hands as you go, pulling it straight in the front and the back and sew from pin to pin, stretching it bits at a time.
Here’s a side view. This is how it looks relaxed:
And here’s how it should look when pulled taut:
You’ll need your hand in the back to help guide everything through.
You can use a zigzag or a straight stitch. I’ve tried both and prefer a straight-stitch because it looks a bit cleaner. When you’re done it should look like this on the outside:
and this on the inside:
We’re almost done! We just need to hem the skirt. Trim any uneven spots around the bottom of the skirt or if you want it to be shorter, cut off the extra length.
Serge around the bottom of the skirt. If you don’t have a serger, iron the edge over 1/4 of an inch and continue to the next step.
Iron the edge of the skirt under. I prefer a very small hem on this skirt so that it bounces and twirls better.
Then sew the hem down, about 1/8 inch from the fabric edge.
And you’re done!
Try it on,
Give it a whirl!
And enjoy a little treat.
Happy spinning!
Tips for making an Adult version:
* I followed the same instructions outlined in this tutorial.
* I recommend sticking to very lightweight fabrics. This skirt was made with a slinky polyester charmeuse (feels similar to a silky scarf) and it drapes beautifully. I made another version, which I’ll share later, with a thicker wool tweed and it adds a bit more bulk to the hip area. With Lucy, that’s not a problem. With me, I’d like to minimize the padding.
* 60-inch wide fabric works best. Depending on your waist size and the length of your skirt you can cut an entire circle using 60-inch wide fabric. My circle pattern just barely made it and took about 1 1/2 yards of fabric (I purchased 2 yards just to be safe).
* If you have 45-inch wide fabric, or if your circle is bigger than the fabric, you can cut two semi-circles and have two seams down the sides. You’ll have to do a little math to figure how many yards of fabric you need. Make your pattern first and then work out the math. I would recommend using fabrics with a pattern to disguise the seams.
* The dimensions of my skirt are:
Elastic waistband – 29 inches
Radius – 4.75 inches (appx)
Length – 22 inches (long enough to hit my knees).
I typically wear a size 4 or 6 in skirts.
Happy Sewing!
