25 Days of Christmas: Day 19 - Adjustable Infant Skirt with Free Pattern

Hey there!  Well, I don't have any itty bitty girls in my house anymore, but I have a friend who asked me to make one of these for her sweet baby girl and I thought I'd share it with y'all :)  Please bear with me - it's late and I'm playing catchup with horrible pictures taken after dark ;P

First, print out the pattern and piece it together.  This skirt should fit 3 mos-12 mos.  Obviously, it'll be longer on a 3 month old than a 12 month old, but you can adjust the waist band so it should fit all sizes within that range.

You need to cut 2 of the main skirt piece on the fold.  For the waistband, fold the pattern piece in half and cut down the center.  You need 2 waistband pieces.  Since there is no seam allowance on one side of each half, just make sure to cut a little beyond that to account for that.  

For the ruffles, cut a 2" wide strip that is twice the length of the skirt out of 3 different contrasting fabrics.

Iron your ruffles in half, then flip so you have right sides together.  Pin one end.

Sew that end and trim close to the seam.

Flip right side out and press.  Repeat for all your ruffles.

Take your main fabric pieces and lay them right sides together.  Sew side seams. 

 Trim with pinking shears to prevent fraying and press open.

Iron under the bottom edge, then iron under again.

Take your ruffle trim and pin to the hem before sewing it.  Now sew your hem and ruffle at the same time.

For the waistband, you want to leave a section open for the buttonhole elastic, so pin off the section you want to leave open.  Make sure you leave seam allowance at the bottom.

 The yellow pins are the bottom seam allowance and the centerfold of the waistband.  The blue pins mark where I want to leave it open.

Sew your seams, leaving those sections open.

This is what it will look like when finished:

Baste a double line along the top of the main skirt piece and gather until it fits the waistband.  DO NOT ATTACH yet.

Now that it's gathered, take your ruffle pieces and gather each of them so they fit the length of the skirt.  Once they're gathered, press them flat so they are in a straight line.

Figure out where you want them to be placed, and start from the outside to the center.  End with a piece of your ruffle trim and some glitter trim on the very top to cover your seams.

Now it's time to attach your waistband.  Make sure that the hole for the buttonhole elastic is at the top, so when you fold it over, it will be on the inside.  Let's just say that the first time I tried, I messed this part up :/

Iron under seam allowance at the top and fold to meet the seam line.  Pin.

From the front, sew along the seam line, making sure to catch the inside

Go back and pick out any basting stitches that are still visible.

Sew 2 buttons to the inside of the waistband next to the holes.  Take some buttonhole elastic and using a safety pin, thread it through the waistband.  Fold the ends under facing the skirt and zig zag stitch.  Button the elastic onto the buttons and you're done!

Merry Christmas!!