Little Fun and Frilly Skirt Jelly Roll Skirt tutorial

1 – Cut out the pieces if you aren’t using a roll

Normally I would have you print up the pattern (you can get assembly instructions here) but this skirt is all long strips).

Basically this skirt is made out of a bunch of fabric strips sewn together so there is not need for a pattern!  For my little girls that is a 5T (but I did also try this on my girl who is in 12 mo, and it worked for pictures) I cut the following:

In the top (more visible fabric) or patterned fabric I cut

5 – five inch wide strips the width of the cloth so (5 inches by 40 inches)

1 –  six and a half wide strip the width of the cloths (6.5 inches by 40 inches) (if using a roll you will want to sew two strips together to make it a little wider.)

Of the under cloth I cut:

4 – five inch wide strips the width of the cloth (five inches by 40 inches)

Note: IF you use a jelly roll the skirt will be shorter – so you will need to add layers.  Basically I make each tier 1/2 bigger, and it will make it very full.  Try increasing it 1/3 for a less full skirt.

2 – Begin to gather and sew

With right sides together, sew 2 strips of fabric “1″ together end to end (so it becomes 80 inches in length). This will be strip C. Sew 3 strips of fabric “1″ together so it becomes 120 inches in length.  This will be strip E. Of fabric 2, cut one strip in half, sew one half to one strip so it becomes 60 inches in length. This will be strip B  Then sew 2 strips of fabric 2 together plus remaining half end to end so it a is a total of 100 inches in length. This will be strip D.  The top strip that is six and a half inches wide is strip A.

Then if you have a serger, finish the ends of the cloth, to prevent unraveling.  You can also zigzag around the edges or cut with pinking shears to prevent the fabric from unraveling ( some jelly roles are already cut with pinking shears).  I chose to do baby hems so the skirt would last a long time.  You will want to finish the ends in some fashion because of all the gathering this skirt entails.

3- begin to build the skirt

Sew  a basting stitch ¼ inch from the top of strips C and E.  Gather strip E to be the length of strip D, with right sides together, sew together using a straight stitch and a ½ seam.

Repeat. gather strip C to length of strip B and sew.

If you desire to add tulle to the skirt (although it’s cute without it too) place strips along the top of strips B and D in a repeating pattern.  The length should be a tad longer than the under cloth (fabric 1)so it will peak out from under the ruffle.  (There are no hard fast rule here just eyeball it).  Sew the tulle to the skirt using a short straight stitch.

4 -Build the Rest of the Skirt

Sew  a basting stitch ¼ inch from the top of strips D and B.  Gather strip D to be the length of strip B, sew strips B and D together using a straight stitch and a ½ seam.

On Strip A fold down top 1 inch and sew casing for elastic – being sure to leave a 1 inch gap to insert elastic.

Then gather strip B to be the length of strip A and sew strip B to strip A – right at the seam where you just sewed the casing.

5 - Final Steps

You now have a long ruffle – it’s time to make it a skirt.

With right sides together sew the ends of strips D and E together (taking care that strip C is out of the way.

Next , with right sides together, sew strip A ( and the casing top of strip A, but not he ruffle) together.  Flip skirt right side out.

Now with right sides together, sew the ends of strip C together.  With right sides together sew the ends of the ruffle section of strip A together.

Run elastic through casing at top of skirt sew, elastic together and sew seam shut.  Now you have a great skirt for photos, play and even Sunday – if you girl likes big skirts!