Tulle and Eyelet Poof Skirt

My baby was blessed today. Doesn't she look so sweet? It was kind of last minute. My little brother plays college basketball and it's been difficult finding a weekend that he could get away from his hectic game schedule. So, last night I hurried and whipped this dress together. It took about two hours from beginning to end, but I was definitely taking my time to get it just right. Although my version was for a baby blessing, this could easily be moderated into a print or something not so formal. I definitely intend to make oodles of these for the summer time.

1. CUT OUT YOUR PIECES

Cut out the skirt. Measure the waist as well as the distance between the belly button to the bottom of the shin. Add about 3/4 of the width of the skirt to the initial measurement. For example, if the waist measured 19 inches, like my daughter's, you'll want to make it 33 inches. Cut out a rectangle of fabric fitting your measurement. Mine, was 33"x 9."

Cut your tulle. Cut out a rectangle that is twice as long as your measurement. For example, my skirt is 9" long, so I'm going to cut the tulle to be 33"x18."

Cut your elastic. If your waist measured 19", you want to cut your elastic to be one to two inches shorter than the initial waist measurement. This is so the elastic will hold tight and be kept from falling down when it's worn. I cut my elastic to be 18".

Cut the waistband casing. My daughter's waist measure 19 inches, so I cut the waist band 20 inches. The elastic I'm using is 1.5" so I cut the casing to 4.5", allowing enough room for your seam allowance and for attaching the casing to your skirt.

2. Construct the casing. Fold the casing piece in half, right side together, and iron a crease at the fold.

Leaving a 1/4" seam allowance, sew together the rough edges. Turn the casing right-side out and iron flat.

3. Sew the hem. Lay out your largest rectangle, fold the bottom edge over twice and iron flat. Sew along the inside edge of the fold, making the hem extra sturdy.

4. Attach the tulle. Fold the tulle in half and pin the folded end to the top of your largest piece of fabric.

Sew along the top, attaching the tulle to the "fluttery" part of your skirt.

5. Attach skirt to the casing. Put the skirt portion and the casing right sides together, and start pinning them together. This is also the step where you establish the pleating.

I find it easiest to pin each end of the skirt to the ends of the casing. Then, pin the center of the skirt to the center of the casing. This way, the pleats are evenly disbursed. To form the pleats, pinch the skirt and tulle and pin that bunched fabric to the casing.

Continue pinching, bunching, and pinning, until the entire skirt is pinned evenly to the casing. Sew the skirt and tulle to the casing.

6. Insert elastic into the casing. Attach a large safety pin to the end of your elastic and feed the elastic into your casing. Once the safety pin has been strung all the way through the casing, pin each end of the elastic to the casing to hold it in place during the next step.

7. Finish your goodie! Pin the rough edges of the skirt, right sides together. Stitch it up, again using a 1/4" seam allowance. Turn the baby right side out and ta-da! You are DONE! Cute and poofy and I LOVE IT! I'll post the construction of the top for my next tutorial.