Seamingly Smitten: TUTORIAL: How to sew a SKIRT with a Reverse Applique Initial

There are so many ways to sew a skirt for your little girl (or yourself) and I'm always looking for a way to make it more interesting looking. Of course fabric is one way to make a skirt standout, but today I'm going to show you how to change your basic skirt waistline into a ruffled waistline. And to add some pizazz to the skirt I'm going to show you a tutorial on sewing a reverse applique. It's a quick method to give some personalization to your child's skirt.

TUTORIAL:

Ruffled Waist Skirt with a Reverse Applique Initial

*These are directions for making a size 18months/small 2T (my little girls is petite)

Finished length of skirt: 9 inches long

Waist size: 20 inches

1. Gather materials: 3/8 yard of your skirt fabric, scrap of a coordinating fabric

2. Cut a piece from your skirt fabric 15 inches long x 44 inches wide

3. Cut a 5x5 inch piece from coordinating fabric for applique

4. Lay your piece of skirt fabric right side down. Iron up the bottom 1 inch then another 1 inch. Pin.

5. Hem the top down 1 inch then another 3 inches. Pin. We will make the top have a ruffled look.

6. Sew along the bottom hem using a 5/8 inch seam allowance.

7. Sew along the top hem using a 2 and 3/4 inch seam allowance ( you are trying to sew about ¼ of an inch away from the folded edge)

8. . Sew another line 1 inch above the line you just sewed (closer to the top). This will give you a casing for your elastic and it will give you an almost 2 inch ruffled waistline above the elastic (once elastic is inserted).

9. Insert elastic (your child’s waist measurement minus 2 inches…mine is 20-2=18 inches), pin to hold in place at either end and sew the elastic down on either end.

10. Lay your skirt right sides together, pin down the raw edge and sew using a 5/8 inch seam allowance. Serge or zig-zag the raw edge.

YOUR SKIRT is DONE!

If you want a reverse applique keep reading!

11. On the front of the 5x5 inch piece draw your letter. (I used a Sharpie so I could see it from the back of it when I turned it over.)

12. Find the front bottom of your skirt where you want the reverse appliquéd letter. Pin this 5x5 inch piece of fabric underneath the front of the skirt, lining up the bottom of the 5x5 inch fabric with the bottom hem of the skirt. Put the right side (pretty side of the 5x5 inch fabric) touching the underneath / wrong side of your skirt.

13. Sew along the outline of the appliquéd letter that you drew using a zig-zag stitch. Make it a wide zig-zag with a close stitch length so the zig-zag makes a nice tight border/outline of the letter. Trim threads.

14. From the front of your skirt use small scissors to cut through the main fabric piece. Be careful not to cut through the 5x5 inch piece of fabric underneath. Cut around the inside of your sewn appliquéd letter. You will remove the top layer of fabric and you will be able to see the fabric from underneath.