How to sew a skirt

A skirt is the best first project: there are no sleeves or collar, and you only need two or three measurements. An elastic-waist skirt can be sewn in an evening; a straight skirt with a zipper—over a weekend. Below: how to choose a style, how much fabric to buy, and what order to sew it in.

Which skirt to sew

Style	Difficulty	Why it's great
Elastic waist	easiest	no zipper or darts, and it works on any figure
Circle skirt and half-circle skirt	easy	two seams and beautiful drape; but it takes a lot of fabric
A-line	intermediate	doesn't cling to the hips and forgives small mistakes
Straight and pencil	intermediate	darts, a zipper, and a waistband—a great learning project
Wrap	intermediate	no zipper, adjustable at the waist
Godet	advanced	many panels, so you need to be precise

For your first skirt, choose an elastic-waist or circle skirt. Make a straight skirt second: it teaches darts, zippers, and waistbands—skills you'll use later in dresses and pants.

Measurements

Measure over your underwear with the tape relaxed, not stretched. For an elastic-waist skirt you only need your hip measurement and length; for a straight skirt you also need your waist measurement and hip depth.

Fabric and how much you need

For your first skirt, choose a fabric that doesn't slip or fray: cotton, a cotton-linen blend, suiting with a little elastane, or medium-weight denim. Save chiffon, satin, and rayon challis for later—they shift around when you cut.

Yardage for size M (US 8–10) with a skirt length of 60 cm23⅝ in:

Skirt	Fabric 140 cm54 in wide	150 cm60 in
Straight	0.70 m⅞ yd	0.70 m⅞ yd
A-line	0.70 m⅞ yd	0.70 m⅞ yd
Elastic waist	1.30 m1½ yd	1.30 m1½ yd
Half circle	1.40 m1⅝ yd	1.40 m1⅝ yd
Circle	2.00 m2¼ yd	1.80 m2 yd

Yardage for all sizes and fabric widths is in our guide How much fabric do I need and on each pattern page. Before cutting, wash or steam the fabric the way you'll wash the skirt—otherwise it may shrink after the first wash.

Pattern

The fastest way is to draft it in our pattern maker: enter your measurements, and it will calculate the darts, side seams, and hem, then give you a full-size PDF to print on US Letter or A4 paper.

A basic elastic-waist skirt and a circle skirt hardly need a paper pattern at all: the first is two rectangles, the second is a circle with a waist opening cut out of it. But it's easy to miscalculate the radius of that circle-skirt opening, so it's easier to grab the ready-made numbers from our pattern maker.

Cutting

1. Fold the fabric in half lengthwise, right sides together, with the selvages even.
2. Lay out the pieces: the grainline arrow parallel to the selvage, and any "on the fold" pieces with their fold line right on the fold.
3. Trace around them with chalk or tailor's chalk, and add seam allowances if your pattern doesn't include them: 1–1.5 cm⅜–⅝ in for seams, 3–4 cm1⅛–1⅝ in for the hem, 2 cm¾ in for the center seam where the zipper goes.
4. Cut out the pieces and snip notches 3–4 mm⅛ in at the markings right away: hip line, center, darts.

Elastic-waist skirt: sewing

1. Sew the side seams, finish the raw edges, and press.
2. Make a casing: fold the top edge to the wrong side by 0.7 cm¼ in, then by the width of the elastic plus 0.5 cm¼ in, and topstitch along the edge, leaving an opening 4–5 cm1⅝–2 in in the seam.
3. Cut the elastic to your waist measurement minus 3–5 cm1⅛–2 in (so it holds snugly without digging in), thread it through the casing with a safety pin, overlap the ends and stitch them together, then close the opening.
4. Hem the bottom: fold it up twice and topstitch.

You'll find detailed instructions with illustrations on the elastic-waist skirt pattern page.

Straight skirt with a zipper: sewing

1. Finish all raw edges except the waist. Right away, sew a stabilizing line of stitching 0.7 cm¼ in from the waist edge so it doesn't stretch out.
2. Sew the darts from the waist toward the point, with the last stitches right up close to the fold. Press them toward the center on both the back and the front.
3. Insert the zipper in the center back seam or the left side seam, then sew the seam below the zipper. Here's how: How to sew a zipper.
4. Sew the side seams and press them open.
5. Attach the waistband right sides together, fold it to the wrong side, and stitch in the ditch from the right side.
6. Put the skirt on, mark the length, and hem the bottom with a blind stitch or a line of machine stitching.

Step-by-step instructions for your pattern are on the straight skirt page.

Circle skirt: sewing

1. Cut the skirt from one or two panels (depending on the length and the fabric width) plus the waistband.
2. Right after cutting, sew a line of stitching along the waist edge — it's almost entirely on the bias and stretches a lot.
3. Sew the seams, insert a zipper, or make an elastic casing.
4. Hang the skirt for a day on a hanger by the waistband. The bias areas will stretch and the hem will end up uneven — that's normal.
5. Put the skirt on and level the hem: mark the same distance from the floor all the way around, then trim off the excess.
6. Hem it with a narrow hem: sew a line of stitching 0.5 cm¼ in from the edge, fold along it, fold again by 0.5 cm¼ in, and topstitch.