Saltwater Skirt Tutorial with Riley Blake Fabrics

A few months ago I was contacted by Riley Blake about using some of their fabrics to sew up a project to share.  I have always loved Riley Blake fabrics, so I jumped at the chance!  I got to look through all of their new and releasing soon fabrics and choose my favorite and they sent me a beautiful package of fabric in the mail!  Today I am sharing my project with you!

All the Riley Blake stuff is so cute, but choosing a fabric was really easy for me.  I am a huge mermaid fan, you may remember this mermaid doll or this adorable mermaid baby!  So when I saw this adorable Saltwater fabric I just had to have some!  I decided it would make the perfect summer skirt for my daughter. 

This skirt is a really simple sew with a fun patchwork design.  It has an elastic waist and hits right at the knee.  You can add some fun trim, I used some of this ric rac, this lace would be really cute too!  And the skirt has big, deep pockets on the sides, perfect for collecting seashells in the sand!

Want to make a Saltwater skirt?  Check out my tutorial below!

For this skirt, you will need...

• 5 Saltwater fabrics, you will need 1/4 yard of one print and 1/2 yard (or fat quarters) of of the other 4 prints.
• 2 yards of trim (optional)
• 1 yard of 1" elastic
• 1/2 yard of 1/4" elastic
• Basic sewing supplies

Cut your fabric according to the chart below.  Please note, this skirt was designed and sewn in the size 2, I have not tested it in other sizes, but I crunched some numbers so you can make bigger sizes.  I would recommend finding the finished length you want and sewing up the skirt in that size, the elastic waist can be adjusted to fit your child, just cut the elastic .5 inch smaller than their waist measurement.

All measurements in the chart and tutorial are in inches.  In the chart, W stands for Width and H for height.  All seam allowances are 1/2" and are included in the measurements.

Start with one of your pocket pieces.  Fold the top edge 1/4" towards the wrong side of your fabric, then another 1/2" towards the wrong side.  Press and sew along the folded edge to create a casing.

Using a safety pin, feed one of you pocket elastic pieces through the casing.  When the elastic just slips inside the casing, baste it to keep it in place.  Continue pulling the elastic all the way through the casing and baste it on the other side.

Line up the bottom and side edges of your pocket with the coordinating skirt panel and baste the pocket in place along the bottom and sides.  Repeat with your other pocket piece.

 

Place your pocket panel and another skirt panel right sides together and sew along one side with a 1/2" seam allowance.  Finish the seam with a serger, zigzag stitch or pinking sheers.  Press the seam away from the pocket and topstitch 1/8" from the seam.

 

Add the next skirt panel the same way (this one will be your middle panel, I chose the mermaids to go front and canter!).  Finish the seam, press the seam away from the pocket and topstitch.

Then add the fourth skirt panel, finish the seam, press the seam away from the pocket and topstitch.

Repeat those steps to sew the other panels together, you should now have a skirt front and back that are identical.

Place the skirt front and back right sides together, sew along one side with a 1/2" seam allowance.  Finish the seam, press the seam away from the pocket and topstitch.

Fold the skirt so it is right sides together again, line up the other side of the skirt and sew with a 1/2" seam allowance.  Finish the seam, press away from the pocket and topstitch.  I find it easiest to topstitch this seam with the skirt inside out, with my sewing machine foot inside the skirt as pictured below.

You should now have a completed skirt piece that looks like the one below.

Place your hem band pieces right sides together and sew them together on one of the short sides with a 1/2" seam allowance. Press the seam open.

If you are adding trim, baste it to the top of the hem band now.  You will have a 1/2" seam allowance at the top of the band so make sure to account for that when placing your trim.

Refold the hem band right sides together and sew the other side.  Press the seam open.

Fold the hem band in half, wrong sides together.  Line up the raw edge of the hem band with the bottom of the skirt, right sides together.  Sew the hem band to the bottom of the skirt with a 1/2" seam allowance, finish the seam.  Press the seam up towards the skirt and topstitch.

Finally, you will create a casing for the waist elastic.  Fold the top of the skirt down 1/4" towards the wrong side and press.  Then fold another 1.25" and press.  Sew along the folded edge to create your casing, leaving a 2"-3" opening at the back of the skirt. Using a safety pin, feed your waist elastic into the casing through the opening.

Overlap the ends of the elastic by 1" and sew them together, making sure the elastic is not twisted inside the casing.  Stretch the waistband so the elastic slips inside the casing and sew the opening closed.

Your skirt is done!

Thanks for stopping by and reading! And a huge thanks to Riley Blake for sponsoring this post!

St. Paddy's Day Skirt

Happy St Patrick's Day!  Do you celebrate St. Paddy's? Any fun St. Pat's traditions in your house?  I told you last year about how much I love St Paddy's day when I made Em this skirt.  It was always a fun little celebration in my house when I was growing up, and I am excited to share that fun with my kids now.

Well, I realized this weekend that Em had nothing green to wear.  So, I did what any mom who sews would do late at night on March 16th....I whipped up a quick green skirt for her to wear today!

The skirt was a quick sew.  All the fabric is from the newer Waverly fabrics that Walmart carries, so at under $4 a yard the skirt was cheap too!

I added some little pleated pockets with green buttons because this girl loves pockets!

And she added her gold shoes...perfect choice!

She needed a white shirt to wear with it too. She has grown out of all her white tees and tanks from last summer, so I took one of her long sleeved white shirts and cut the sleeves off.

And there you have it! An outfit for St. Paddy's day...and now there is no chance she will get pinched!

Potato Chip Skirt

They are doing a new Bundle UP promotion over at Pattern Revolution.  This time it is 11 girls patterns you can get for a really great deal for one week only starting this Friday.   This is the new Potato Chip skirt by Tie Die Diva and it will be part of the bundle.

The potato chip skirt got it's name because "you can't make just one".  And it is true, this simple A line skirt with optional pockets sews up so fast!  I already have a second one on my cutting table.  

I got this corduroy on sale at Hobby Lobby and the size 3 I made Em only calls of 1/2 yard of fabric, so this skirt was cheap too!

You can check out my full review of the skirt pattern and see all the other patterns coming in the bundle over at Pattern Revolution.

Maisie and Double Dutch

The Cottage Mama is releasing two new patterns, the Double Dutch Cardigan and the Maisie Skirt and leggings and I had the opportunity to test both patterns.  I have tested for Lindsay before, over a year ago when I tested the Maitilda dress and Daphne wrap dress (for a tiny little Em!), Lindsay was actually the first designer I ever tested for! I also tested her free Party Dress pattern earlier this year.  This will be the last Cottage Mama pattern I test, but probably not the last I sew.

The two new patterns include the Double Dutch Cardigan, a sweet little cardigan with elbow patches and an optional ruffle around the neckline and at both sleeves.

And the Maisie, which includes a skirt and ruffled leggings.

I sewed up this set of leggings and a cardigan in view B as well.

In my late night sewing frenzy, I left the ruffle Off this pair of leggings.  I really am a much better sewist in the early morning hours than I am late at night! But I love the pants without the ruffle too.

In addition to the two new patterns, she is also releasing a set of appliques.  I sewed one of them, a little deer, on a tank to match her set.

The three pieces are fun together, but I had a lot of fun mixing and matching them for the photos too.

And those big pockets on the skirt were perfect for stashing candy so Em would stand still for the photos ;)

You can find these two new patterns along with all the other Cottage Mama patterns in her shop.

My Little Plumcake Skirt

If you have been around my blog much, you may have noticed I sew with a lot of seersucker.  I have used it for this romper, these shorts, last years Easter dress, and this sunglasses case.  Most recently I used it for a pttern test of a sweet skirt by My Little Plumcake.

The skirt is a high waisted pleated skirt with optional straps and will be part of their spring line coming in March.  I made the size 18 months for Em and love this look on her, doesn't she look like a little southern belle in pleated seersucker?

Em is a shorty so the skirt is a bit long on her, but I like that she has some growing room.  It closes on the side with a hook and eye.  I found some hook and eyes in my stash that I had inherited from my grandmother.  They had a price tag on them for $0.19!

I am loving this skirt!  Thanks My Little Plumcake for the chance to test!  I am looking forward to testing more of their spring line soon and will be sharing more sneak peaks with you!