Elsa Skirt!

Honestly, the skirts were (surprisingly) the easiest part of this project (outside of all the designs on them, but we'll get to that later).  I have never used a pattern before and had NO CLUE how to read one which made starting daunting and difficult.

I first decided to take measurements, as you should obviously always do when creating a costume.  For the skirts I measured:

Waist

Hips

Waist to floor (belly button-ish to floor)

Waist to floor in the back (only because I made the back a little longer so it flowed)

Then I looked up patterns and the ways other people did it!  They were pretty confusing so let's be real....I definitely winged a lot of it.  Thus, the adventure began.

This is a site that I found super helpful though:

http://www.craftsy.com/blog/2013/07/a-line-skirt-sewing-tutorial/

And FINALLY here is how I ended up doing it!

1. I took a long piece of fabric and I lined it up vertically in front of me.

2. I folded it in half "hotdog style" (remember that from elementary school) so that the "ugly" side of the fabric was on the outside.

3. From there I drew on MY pattern using the following measurements:

• a = 1/4 the waist measurement plus an inch. (So if they had a 40in waist you would draw a 11in line) 
• b = the measurement from the waist to the floor plus an inch. (So if they had a measurement of 47in then b would be 48in)
• c = this isn't really a measurement you took.  It is more a decision as to how flared you want your skirt to be.  If you want it to be super flared then c will be bigger.  If you want it to be narrower then make c smaller.  You get the picture. :)  I curve this line so that it bells out a little.

PLEASE MAKE SURE YOU ARE DOING THIS WITH THE FOLDED OVER SIDE OPPOSITE B!!!!

The extra inches are so that you have room to sew them together :)  It is always better to go too big than too small.  Trust me.

4. Do this two times so you have two of them! Once you unfold them they should look like pic 4!

Putting it together!

1. First I put the pieces together with the "ugly" side facing the outside.  Then I pinned along the edges about 1/2 an inch in. Then I took my handy-dandy sewing machine and sewed it on up! Suuuuper easy.

2. I pinned up the hem on the bottom about 1/2 an inch and also sewed it.  If you happen to have a friend handy (or one that you can bribe with cookies) try on the skirt and have them pin it up to the right length! Keep in mind though you still have to sew the top, so don't hem it toooo short!

3. Kind of like you did to the bottom, fold over, pin, and sew the hem at the waist about 1/2 an inch for a nice clean look.  Technically it will be under a corset, but I like pretty things.

4. Turn it inside out and voila! A skirt!!!!

*For a pretty/reinforced hem you can fold it again after the initial fold and sew.  That's called double hemming and it gives it a clean line.  Keep in mind though....this will use more fabric....so watch out that you add more in your initial measurements to make up for it, or else your skirt will be wayyyy too short!

IF you plan on adding a side zipper don't sew all the way up on one side.  You can still do everything else.  You can also add a back zipper instead which can be added after!  More zipper info in a later post.  :)

Well... now I have an Elsa skirt for a doll!   ....Maybe I should make doll outfits... hmmmm...

Next time (which will come sooner than 2 months :p) Anna's skirt!