Maxi Skirt

So I love maxi dresses and skirts. Combine this will my wanting to attempt smocking and a project was born.

Materials:

1 yard of cotton fabric
Elastic thread
Regular thread

Now, this dress is for a person who wears a size small. One yard of fabric works perfectly for the width.

I starred off with 1 yard of fabric that was 42 inches wide. I Cut it down the center so that I had two pieces of fabric that were each 36 inches x 21 inches.

Next you need to measure how long you want the skirt. Measure from your belly button to the top of your foot, and add an extra inch for hemming. Then cut.

Now you are going to hem the bottom of each piece of material and the top of each piece.
(1/2 an inch hem)

Now switch your bobbin thread out and hand thread your elastic thread onto your bobbin. You don't need to thread it super tight, or super loose, just in between (yea I'm sure you love the vagueness of that) It goes in your machine just as your normal thread would and you pull it through just as you would with normal bobbin thread.

Now take one of your pieces of material and sew a straight line at the top of the material, right under the hem. Make sure your material is smooth and straight. Make sure your machine is set to the longest stitch.

When you're done with the first line, sew a second one directly underneath that. Make sure it is straight and make sure as your sewing that the fabric stays staright and doesn't bunch up. Do this until you have five lines on each piece of material. Not much is going to happen after the first line but you'll notice as you continue it will naturally begin to bunch up. Remember-keep the fabric straight and tight as you sew.

Now you're going to need to switch your bobbin thread back to normal thread and sew the two pieces together. (front to front and then flip inside out)Because this material is not knit it won't stretch so you'll need to cut two slits into the sides up to where your knee is and then hem these slits.

I got my fabric on sale for $3.60 so total cost for the skirt was $4! Can't beat that...it fit perfectly and I love the colorful pattern :)

And you're done! Enjoy!