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Hello! I'm Suzannah, a serious DIYer and mom of two little ones. Follow along with my DIY fixer upper house renovations, sewing and crafty projects, real food recipes, and de-stressing goals.
I believe you can love your home just the way it is, AND have the power to design and make big changes to make it better.
I'm also the author of DIY Wardrobe Makeovers!

Finally made myself an elastic waist skirt

I'm sure you've seen these simple elastic-waist skirts around the blogosphere and at stores (Forever 21 and BP in Nordstrom have tons of them!  And I bet Target and Old Navy, pretty much anywhere cheap and with selection).  But I know I can make one myself, so I just bought some cute Guatemalan-inspired woven stripe with some beautiful colors in a soft cotton, and some wide elastic, and threw this together!

I always like things that I can wear with my jean jacket, since it's sort of hard to pair with things.
I made this skirt significantly longer than the little tiny mini teenybopper ones I've seen at the stores, since, well, important coverage.  But I think it's a little too long, don't you?  With the fullness and all, it just doesn't totally work for me.  I'll probably shorten it a little.

I'm happy to do a tutorial for how I did this, but just a quick search already yeilded these great tutorials for this type of skirt!
Freshly Picked
Crafty Mariko
Ruffles and Stuff
Eternal Magpie
So, if you're interested in making one, check those out!

I don't think I have a favorite, since I did mine slightly different than all of the ones I list, and honestly they are all a little more complicated than what I did on mine!  I will say that I encourage you to sew the elastic on the gathered part off-set, rather than right sides together (like Eternal Magpie and Ruffles and Stuff's tutorials do).

Also, I only needed 3/4 of a yard for this skirt!

23 comments

  1. Love! The colors in that fabric are fantastic! I'm really thinking about making myself one of these simple elastic waist skirts now.

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  2. I HAVE seen these everywhere! I like yours! I might shorten it a tad, but I don't think it needs much alteration. Thank for collecting and posting the tutorial links!

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  3. very cute! I used the Freshly Picked tutorial to make a b+w gingham one awhile back. It was a great way to learn how to use elastic.

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  4. Anonymous6/22/2010

    aren't they amazing?! I've made 4 of them in about a week! yippee! :)

    <3 kp
    http://fashionmommaintraining.blogspot.com

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  5. CUTE! I bought a skirt from Target the other day that was very similar. It was about $15.

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  6. Awesome. I agree, it does need to be shortened just a bit. Bummer too, I have a hard time with skirts that are above the knee even though that's the style right now. Particularly when I'm sitting in church holding my 10-mo-old; my skirt always gets pulled up somehow so if it's too short it gets a little scandalous!

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  7. looks amazing and yes you are right, works so well with the jean jacket which I totally agree, so difficult to match it! I love wearing it with maxi dresses!

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  8. Very cute! I've been meaning to try one of these, I always have too many projects in my head. Can you explain more what you meant by, "sew the elastic on the gathered part off-set, rather than right sides together". I'm a little confused.

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  9. I love it and I do not think it is too long!

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  10. The shortening is definitely necessary, I think. I wonder what a fuller skirt in this style would look like?

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  11. i love the fabric + it turned out great!

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  12. I swear I had a skirt similar to this in High School. OH boy that is dating me. I love how styles go round and round. I love the length, but that is the length I like my short skirts.

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  13. @ Sara- I think it means sew the elastic on top of the gathered fabric instead of facing the right sides together and sewing. Can someone confirm this?

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  14. Thanks, everyone, for your comments, and it's funny that it seems pretty divided on to shorten or not to shorten!
    Sarah, yes, Miss Fitz is right, I mean place the elastic on top of the gathered fabric and sew instead of sewing right sides together.

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  15. Love it! And the jacket goes perfectly with the skirt!

    -
    Island Gal
    www.nycislandgal.com

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  16. Btw I'm your newest follower!! Love your blog!!
    Hope you like mine and follow me too! ;)

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  17. I hope my tutorial was helpful, your skirt fabric is gorgeous!

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  18. That is a very useful skirt and one that really suits your frame, also the whole outfit really works - plugs a hole in a wardrobe, so to speak. I love it even though it is simple.

    Well done - why not do a tutorial anyway? ;)

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  19. I have an elastic waist skirt also on my list and I looked for a colored elastic but I couldn't find one:(. White and black were the only colors...

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  20. Stefi, I've found vintage 80's elastic belts and cut off the gaudy clasps if you want colored elastic! I have blue and pink that came with a changeable buckle, haha!

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  21. I love your skirt! The elastic waist skirt is the first thing I made myself, and I liked it so much I made three! They're really easy and super comfy, although

    Stefi, I have been sewing the elastic inside the waistband to hide it. I found some wide elastic similar to the kind found in Ann Taylor Loft skirts, and it worked well to sew in by folding the fabric over. If you'd like to read about my skirts, I have two blog posts about them:
    http://silverrosesewing.blogspot.com/2010/06/project-2.html
    http://silverrosesewing.blogspot.com/2010/06/its-getting-steamy.html

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  22. Thanks for answering my question!

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  23. i can't get enough of these this summer! and yours is a great length, i agree that a lot of them you see instores are wayyyyyy too short! great job :)

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