DIY Tulle Skirt
This is just one of those gem of DIY projects that you get an immediate return of every minute of your DIYvestment. Make one for your engagement session, ladies. Rock it on dinner dates with your love and at various brunches with your gals. Also, hello, bridesmaids gifts. Wedding gown designer Sweet Caroline is here to teach us how to make a tulle skirt with rhinestones with the help of Fiskars that would make Sarah Jessica Parker jealous:
Materials:
Fiskars Amplify® RazorEdge™ Fabric Shears (10″)
Fiskars Adjustable Three-Position Rotary Cutter (45 mm)
Tulle (see yardage below)
2 yards of Lining
Full Circle Skirt Pattern
1″ or wider Elastic band
Rhinestones
Liquid Fabric fuse
Kraft of Butcher paper (we love this one from Paper Mart)
Fiskars Adjustable Three-Position Rotary Cutter is a versatile rotary cutter that features a pivoting handle with three different positions. This is a great tool for precision cutting curves and straight lines since the handle locks in each position. It was also designed to help reduce soreness and hand fatigue, so you can use it away and not worry about the craftermath of your hands the next day 🙂
Even if you’re an occasional DIYer and timid sewer, go ahead and give Fiskars Amplify® RazorEdge™ Fabric Shears a try. Cutting multi fabric layers or thick fabrics like denim is like cutting butter!
Cutting your circle skirt pattern:
Creating your pattern will depend on how long you want your skirt to be and the measurement of the fullest part of your hips. If you’re making the skirt for someone else, like a gift, we recommend leaning towards a more generous measurement (crying laugh emoji). This is because the skirt needs to fit over your friends’ hips when they put them on. The elastic band will take care of the extra waist measurement.
So here’s the math (or skip this part and download our Full Circle Skirt Pattern)
1. Your waist size + 2 inches / 6.28 = this will be your small “circle” on the pattern. If you’re downloading our free pattern, just use the template based on your waist size (in cm). The pattern starts at a 25″ waist size.
2. The length of your skirt = this will be your bottom large “circle” on the pattern
With both measurements, fold your fabric lengthwise then width-wise.
Starting at the folded corner, grab a ruler at 45 degree angle and mark the length of your small circle (measurement 1). Draw up an arc the meets on both ends of the fabric, as if you were using a compass pen.
From your small “arc”, measure and mark your desired length skirt. Draw up an arc the meets on both ends of the fabric, as if you were using a compass pen.
This is your pattern for your full circle skirt! You should have literally a full circle when you unfold your pattern. Caroline Styles used 10 yards tulle for a 5 layer skirt. The more layers, the poofier the skirt. I used 2 yards for the lining. The elastic is the measurement of your waist.
Create as many layers as you’d like, and make sure you have layer of lining. We recommend a thicker fabric than muslin because otherwise the skirt will be sheer. Remember that the more layers, the more opaque it will be.
Stack your fabric circles and pin them along the waistband. Sew them together along the edge leaving about 1/2″ of seam allowance.
The top layer is where you can add rhinestones:
Adding your elastic band:
Measure your waist size and cut your elastic to size + a few inches. Sew the ends. If you don’t have a serger, you can reinforce it by stitching the ends, pressing the “flaps” and sewing around the edges again, like a rectangle shape.
Pin your elastic “ring” to the skirt. Place the edge of your skirt, lining at the bottom (touching the base of your machine), elastic at the top touching the needle on your sewing machine.
If you have sewn elastic bands before, you can skip this part 🙂
If this is the first time sewing elastic, the overall idea is this: since the elastic is shorter than the skirt opening, you will need to pull the elastic as you sew. There are great videos here to show how to do it. It’s really easy once you see it in action!
