A fun and Easy Costume Idea EASY TUTORIAL

I know halloween is not for a little while, but my daughter needed a costume for a parade she was in last week. Theme??? Little House on the Prairie. YIKES!!!!! But I had an idea for a long full skirt and a button up shirt which we already had (store bought, I am no good with sleeves lol) Anyways I found some great looking fabric, old style plad, on sale. YAY!!! So how did I do it?

Materials Needed:

 2 meters of fabric washed and dried. (2 meters is right around the same as 2 yards) and 1 package of 3/4 " to 1" wide elastic. Make sure you have matching thread, 1 spool is plenty for this project. I am offering an optinal belt tut at the bottom so have some extra pieces of the same or coordinating fabric on hand.

1) I measured  my daughter length wise and around. Then I took the full meter and folded in half, RIGHT sides together. To get the full, billowy affect we need to make it really wide, & I mean really wide!!!!

2) I used the whole length of the fabric becuase my daughter is tall, not that tall but I like to have extra length that I can just cut down later. Better too much than not enough. The width of the skirt should be around double the size of the waist if not a little more.  So on the fold I drew a line about 24" long my daughter is 22" around. (up to you how wide you want it, and how much fabric you have, the wider it is the fuller your skirt) starting at the fold and going across the top. Then going as long as you want (I used the whole length) make a diagonal line down, (think half of  a triangle).

3) Cut on the lines you just made, You should have a very wide kind of triangle shape. Don'z let the width scare you, it will be easily taken care of.

4) Do the exact same thing with your other piece of fabric so you have 2 matching pieces.

5) Now you will hem the bottom of both pieces by folding about half an inch up toward the inside of your fabric twice ironing each time, and stitch.

6) You are now ready to sew your pieces together, you're almost finished!! Put your pieces RIGHT sides together, and sew along each side, I usually go over each side at least twice, but up to you.

7) Now you are ready to make your casing for the elastic waist. Do it the same way you made your hem only bigger, size it according to your elastic size. Now fold down outside with skirt inside out and iron the raw edges, and repeat making about an inch to inch and a half fold, and iron again.  You may want to pin your casing in place to make it easier to sew.

9) Sew all the way around the fold leaving about 2 inches open at the end  so you can put your elastic in.

10) Take 2 big safety pins and attach one to each side of your elastic. Your elastic should be about an inch bigger than your measurement.  Now feed the safety pin through your casing. I usually pin the end safety pin the hole where I started so I don't lose it in the casing, otherwise you will have to start the process all over.

11) Take both ends of the elastic and sew them together being careful not to twist them. Go over the ends a few times so they don't come apart. Now sew your entry hole shut, and VOILA!!! your skirt is finished. You should now have a full billowy skirt ready for halloween or dress up.

You can also make a shorter version of this skirt for a beautiful twirly skirt perfect for any girly girl.

OPTIONAL BELT TUTORIAL WAY EASY!!!!
To make my skirt look more authentic by covering up the elatic waistband, I made a super simple belt. All you need is 2 rectangular pieces of the same or coordinating fabric, and matching velcro.
1) Make 2 pieces as wide and as long as you need, put RIGHT sides together and sew leaving about a 2" opening.
2) push the fabric through the hole, to get the fabric right side out. Stitch the opening shut.

3) sew a piece of velcro on each side, and VOILA your belt is finished!!

I hope you enjoyed the tutorial and it was easy to follow. I am a self taught sewer and hate tutorials. I never understand them, so hopefully this was understanble for you. As always if you've made something with anyone of my tuts feel free to email me a picture, I would love to post it here. My email address is bellesmademoiselles@yahoo.com