HOW TO SEW A WRAP SKIRT | SEWING TUTORIAL
Todays tutorial shows you how to sew a beautiful wrap skirt which has gathers and a tie at the waist. You can also make this skirt any length which suits you. I decided on a midi-length which I have been enjoying lately especially as a great trans-seasonal piece. I hope you enjoy making and wearing a wrap skirt of your own!
You will need: Fabric of your choice - about twice of your desired finished length plus 20cm. -I have made my skirt from a lovely mid-weight linen but this skirt could be made from any woven fabric - though I would suggest fabrics with a bit more body.
Thread to match fabric 2x hook & bars
20cm of iron-on interfacing - if you don't have any on hand that's ok. It's only optional.
Tools:
Sewing kit - including tape measure, fabric chalk, scissors, pins, sewing needle
A safety pin or loop turner
Sewing machine
What to do:
1. Take your measurements.
You will need your waist measurement - measure around where you want the waistline of the skirt to sit.
You will also need your desired length - the distance from the waistline to where you want the skirt to finish.
2. Use your measurements and some math to work out the width & length of all the rectangular pattern pieces you will need to cut. All together there will be 1x back piece, 2x front pieces, 1x waistband and 2x waist ties.
3. Time to cut your your fabric. Using a tape measure and your fabric chalk, rule and mark out all of the pattern pieces onto your fabric and cut them out. For the waist ties - at one end of each tie cut out a triangle by folding the tie in half like a hotdog and measuring 5cm from the short edge and mark with chalk. Then rule a diagonal line from the corner to the chalk mark. Finally cut along your ruled line & you should have cut a triangle out. For those who do have interfacing - you will also need to cut the waistband & 2x waist ties from the interfacing and then iron the interfacing to the wrong side of your fabric pieces.
4. Firstly we shall sew the waist ties by folding the ties in half like a hot dog with right sides facing together. For the first waist tie you will need to pin & sew along the slanted edge and the long edge, leaving the short straight edge unsewn. On the second waist tie, before you reach the end of the long edge, leave about 5cm unsewn so this will make it easier to sew to the waistband later.
5. When you've sewn the ties, make a small nick in the corner and then use a safety pin or loop turn to turn the ties out the right way. Give them a good iron and place to the side until we come back to them. 6. Sew the rectangle pieces of your skirt together at the side seams. You can sew these with a French Seam, which is done by firstly sewing the wrong sides together, with about a 1cm seam allowance. Then with scissors, trim the seam down to about 0.5cm. Turn the fabric out and sew another seam but this time with the right sides facing each other and sew the seam so it covers and encloses the raw edge of your first seam. Once done, give the seams a neat press.
7. Sew a 'roll & roll' hem along the sides and the bottom hemline of the skirt. 'Roll & roll' hems are sewn by firstly folding up 0.5cm as you feed the fabric through your sewing machine and sewing along the edge of the fold. When you've completed the whole distance of the hem then restart - again folding up 0.5cm as you feed the sewing machine but this time stitching over your original stitches. Once you've finished your hem, give it an iron.
8. Ready to gather! Gather the top edge of the skirt. To gather - sew 2 rows of stitching on your longest stitch length. The first row will be about a foot width or 0.5cm from the top and the second row will be 1cm from the top edge. Remember when you gather to never reverse stitch at the start or end and to leave long threads attached so you can hold onto these as you gently pull the threads.
9. Speaking of which - pull the 2 top threads to gather the fabric. You will need to gather the fabric until is fits the length of your waistband. As it is only 1.5 times your waist, it will only be a slight gather. 10. Pin & sew the waistband to the skirt. Lay the waistband on top of the skirt with right sides together. At one end of the waistband, fold over 1.5cm of the short straight edge and pin that fold down so you can stitch it to folded the skirt. Sew the waistband with a 1.5cm seam allowance and remember to return your stitch length to its regular length.
11. Attach the "second" waist tie (with the 5cm unsewn on the long edge) to the unfolded edge of the waistband. Pin & sew with right sides together and then press the seam flat.
12. Fold the waistband in half over the top seam and then fold under 1.5cm to hide the raw edge. Pin and sew along on the top of the outside seam, in as close to the fold as you can. This is called "stitch in the ditch" and it makes your top stitch on the machine nice and hidden on the outside of the skirt.
13. Now you will need to try the skirt on by wrapping around your body to see where it sits. Then with pins or chalk, mark on the waistband where the under piece meets with the over piece at the front and where will need to add your hook and bar closures.
Also pin where the other waist tie will need to be sewn to the side of the waistband.
14. Thread your sewing needle with a double thread and hand sew the bars to the underneath piece at your markings. Then sew the hooks to the top piece at your markings.
15. Lastly, sew the waist tie on the side by folding in the raw edges and then with the tip facing towards the back, sew a rectangular shape to attach it to the waistband. Then fold the tie back over the stitching and iron it in place so it neatly covers the stitching and then can be tied with the other waist tie.
16. Have fun wearing your new skirt!
