Learn How To Draft Your Own Simple Skirt Pattern Then Sew Along With Me
I’ve always loved a skirt that twirls, and so does my daughter, so when I fancied whipping up something quick as a little treat for her, this little project was just the ticket. It’s a simple gathered skirt that I made from scratch—pattern and all—and it’s so satisfying to see it come together. Once the pattern is drawn, all you need is a spare afternoon, and it’ll be all ready to wear.
Let me show you how I did it. Whether you’re after a long swishy number or something shorter, a skirt for an adult or a matching one for a child, this pattern is simple to tweak so you can easily adjust it to suit you. If you have a go at making one, I’d love to see what you come up with!
You Will Need:
- Measuring tape
- Paper, pencil, and ruler for the pattern
- Scissors
- Fabric (I used Tula Pink cotton —the amount you’ll need will depend on the size and length you make)
- 2.5 cm (1 inch) wide elastic
- Sewing machine with thread (I picked a cotton thread in a colour to blend with my fabric)
- Pins or clips
- Overcast foot (optional—I used one, but a normal foot or an overlocker (aka serger) works too)
- Half-inch hem foot (optional—handy if you’ve got it)
- Safety pin and a chunky clip (for threading elastic)
- Iron (for pressing—makes all the difference!)
You can either watch the video and sew along with me, or scroll on past and follow the step by step photo instructions instead.
How To Draft The Skirt Pattern In Any Size
I kicked things off with just two measurements—around the waist and how long I wanted the skirt to be. For this one, long and swishy was the plan, so I measured from my daughter’s waist to just above my ankle.
To make the pattern, I took the waist measurement and added about 10 cm (4 inches) for ease —That’s plenty of room to wiggle in and out of, whether it’s for kids or adults. Although if I’d been making a plus-size fit or I just more gathers, I’d have popped on an extra 5 cm or so. If you’ve got a curvey waist to hip ratio, you might want to use your hip measurement plus an inch instead, then you can be sure there’s enough fabric to get over your hips to get it on easily.
Then I divided that total by 6 (because this is a 6-panel skirt!) to get my top measurement.
I sketched that line out across the centre at the top of the paper, and added a 1 cm seam allowance on each end—though you can go with whatever seam allowance you’re happiest stitching with.
From there, I drew lines straight down 7 cm (about 2 ¾ inches) at each end to make a rectangle for the elastic casing.
Then, from the bottom of that, I measured down the centre to mark the skirt length I wanted.
For the bottom width, I took that top measurement (before the seam allowance), multiplied it by 2 ½, added the seam allowance back on, and marked it centrally at the bottom. I joined those bottom points diagonally up to the top rectangle to shape the skirt sides.
Then, I drew downwards by a couple of cm (or an inch) straight from the dots that marked the bottom width. By leaving a straight section at the bottom, I made myself a hem that’s a doddle to sew later.
With the pattern sorted, I cut it out 6 times in cotton—3 in one print, 3 in another, just to mix up the colours for fun. I’m loving these Tula Pink patterns, and cotton’s so easy to handle, but if you’re after extra twirl, a lighter fabric like rayon might be worth a try.
How To Sew A 6 Panel Skirt
Now for my favourite bit—sewing it all together! I paired each blue panels with a pink one. With right sides together, I made sure that they were the same way round for each pair so that the colours would alternate nicely. I joined the panels down the long sides, from top to bottom, with a quick backstitch at each end to keep it secure.
Once the 3 pairs were all stitched, I took one pair to put in the centre and clipped a pair to each side, sewing the long sides in exactly the same way. That gave me all 6 panels joined in a long line.
Then I brought the two ends together to make the skirt shape, stitching that final side seam to close it up, just like I stitched all the other skirt panels together.
Cotton can fray a bit, so I tidied the edges up and made them less able to fray with an overcast foot, zigzagging right over the seam edge. The overcast foot has a special little bar in the centre that helps the stitches to form neatly over the fabric edge, but if I’d had a serger, I’d have whipped those seams out with that instead. If you have neither of these, then no worries, a zigzag with a normal foot works just as well at stopping the fraying. A quick press to one side after makes it all sit flatter and look sharper and will help it lay where you want it to when it comes to finishing the hem and waistband.
For the bottom hem, I popped on a half-inch hem foot. This foot is a great little time saver when you have a long hem to sew. To start it off, I folded the bottom fabric edge twice to about the same width as the guide on this foot. That tucks the raw fabric edge nicely into the middle. Finger-pressing it helps to hold the position then with the foot on top, I sewed a couple of stitches. This anchors everything in place, then I could keep the needle down but lift up the foot to hook the fabric into the presser foot guide. Then it’s ready to stitch all the way round. No need for measuring, pinning, or pressing. Just feed the fabric through the guide and the foot will push out any excess width to help you keep a perfectly uniform size. I started away from a seam—those can be more fiddly, so best to get going away from them to begin with I think. These seams are nice and light, but if I was using this foot to make a heavier skirt, I’d trim the seam allowance so there was less bulk to pull through the guide, or pop the fabric out of the guide to stitch over, then slide it back in.
No hemming foot? No problem. I’d have just folded, pressed, and clipped it all in place before stitching instead.
After a final press with the iron, the bottom was looking fab.
Onto the waistband – I used 2.5 cm (1 inch) elastic. My elastic was quite stiff and I wanted growing space so I cut to about the waist measurement. Usually though, I’ll cut it a bit shorter than that. The best way I find is just to test it around the waist before cutting. Keep in mind it needs to hug the waist firmly enough to hold the skirt’s weight, so the lighter the skirt fabric is, the more gentle the hold can be.
I folded the fabric down 3.5 cm (about 1 â…“ inches) twice. That tucks the raw edge into the centre of a tunnel. See how I made it a smidge wider than the elastic? That’s so there’s plenty of space to thread that elastic through the centre of the tunnel between the stitching I’m about to do.
A hot press with an iron before stitching kept it all lined up perfectly. With a backstitch to start, I sewed along the bottom edge of the waistband, leaving a gap big enough to thread the elastic through.
Then I moved my presser foot over to the top of the waistband and added a topstitch all the way around the top edge too. This helps to stop the elastic from rolling around inside when it’s worn.
To get the elastic in, I pinned a safety pin to one end and added a chunky clip to the other end (this helps stop the elastic from being pulled too much and vanishing up inside!). I passed the elastic around the casing, trying to keep it flat as I went. Then I redistributed the fabric a bit to even it out, and a gentle pull helps to check for twists.
Then I joined the elastic ends. I stitched across the elastic then flattened the edges down on each side and stitched them in place. This helps to stop the ends bunching up together into an uncomfy lump.
One more wiggle of the fabric afterwards pulled the elastic right inside the casing, then I just stitched that gap shut.
Lastly, I added a few sneaky stitches over the elastic at the side seams. That helps stop the elastic twisting inside—hidden but effective!
And there it was—all done! Ready to wear and twirl about in.
I had such a blast making this, and if you fancy giving it a whirl, I hope you’ll love the result as much as we did!
Thank you so much for this wonderful tutorial! I just wanted to say that I had to make an adjustment to the tutorial because I realized the skirt wasn’t going to fit over my hips. I think adding 4 in of ease could work if your waist and hip measurements are similar, but if your waist is more than 4in smaller than your hip measurement you probably want to start with your hip measurement instead. Or at least that’s how it seemed for me. I ended up having to make it into an 8-panel skirt (could have gotten away with 7 but I wanted in-seam pockets). Either way, I love the skirt I ended up with using your pattern, thank you!
Thank you so much for sharing that tip! I’m so happy you managed to find a workaround that still left you with a beautiful skirt. – I’ve added your tip into the tutorial instructions on this page too, so hopefully more people will see it and can easily adapt it to use the hip measurement if they need to too.
Linda x
Just wanted to say that this is the most helpful tutorial I’ve ever seen for a 6 panel skirt. You put a lot of effort into this post with the instructions, diagrams, and the video as well. Im off to the fabric store to pick up some cotten then I’ll be well on my way to make this skirt!
Thank you very much and I hope you have a lovely day!
Thank you so much. I hope you’ll have fun sewing it. I’d love to hear how it comes out