Bubble Skirts are very popular with the little ones! They are absolutely adorable and we have a wonderful Bubble Skirt Tutorial by Covered in Mod Podge to make your very own.
Hi there again! It’s Michaela from Covered in Mod Podge. I’m thrilled to be here with you all sharing a tutorial for a cute little bubble skirt.
I think bubble skirts are just adorable on little girls. I finally have myself a walking little miss to start rocking the bubble skirts. I want to make ten of them! I think that Riley Blake’s Chevrons are just wonderful. I knew I had to use them for my first bubble skirt for my little miss.
Want to make a bubble skirt for the little miss in your life?
~ Bubble Skirt Tutorial ~
You’ll need:
Two coordinating fabrics {I used Chevrons Mediumin Navy and Aqua}
Elastic {3/4th inch for newborn to eighteen months, 1 inch for larger sizes}
Matching thread
Sewing machine and basic sewing supplies
I’ll walk you through how to cut pieces based on your little miss’s measurements. First, measure your little miss’s waist. For me, it was 18 inches. Add a 1/2 inch and that’s how much elastic you need to cut. So my elastic was 18 1/2 inches.
All of your fabric is going to be cut selvedge to selvedge. This allows for a nice and fully skirt. Also, it’s one less seam you have to finish!
Now, let’s work on length. Measure from your child’s waist to where you want the skirt to fall. I measured to the bottom of the knee. For me, it was 11 inches. Now, subtract your desired waistband size from your length. I wanted a 2 inch waistband so that left me with 9. Add 1/2 inch for seam allowances and you get the length you need to cut for your outside piece {or 9 1/2 inches for me}.
For the inside piece of your skirt, subtract three inches from your outside piece. This left me with cutting a 6 1/2 inch piece of my coordinating fabric. From your coordinating fabric you’ll also want to cut your waistband. Remember earlier how I subtracted 2 inches from my outside? That’s my waistband width. However, I need to double that to 4 inches for cutting.
Now, let’s get sewing! You’re going to start by pinning your inside and outside skirt pieces right sides together along the width of the fabric.
Sew these pieces together using the width of your presser foot as your seam allowance {my favorite seam allowance!}.
Open up your two skirt pieces and turn them wrong sides together, lining up the raw edges. This is what the inside of your skirt will look like. See the cute little bubble!
Now, take your waistband and fold it in half, hot dog style.
Flip your skirt pieces over so the outside of the skirt is on top. Line up the raw edges of your skirt with the raw edges of your waistband. Pin well!
Sew your waistband to your skirt using a 3/8″ seam allowance.
Now, finish your seam. I used my pinking sheers. You can also zig-zag stitch over the edge to prevent fraying.
It’s time to thread your elastic through your waistband. Using a safety pin, thread the elastic.
Be sure to pin the end of the elastic to the casing doesn’t eat your elastic.
Sew your elastic in place on both sides by going over it with a zig-zag stitch several times.
Now, pin your skirt rights sides together.
When you sew your final seam, you want to make sure you use a seam allowance that will hide your selvedge. For me, this was a 5/8th seam allowance.
Now, find your little miss and give the new bubble skirt a whirl!
Thanks so much Michaela!
I wish I had a little girl for so many things, and now add this post to the list! I absolutely love this bubble skirt and the Chevrons! This tutorial is so great too. You don’t need a ton of sewing experience to make your own adorable bubble skirt.
We have a lot of fun Chevron fabrics to choose from. Come on over and browse your favorites by clicking the link.
Michaela has lots of more tutorials like this one on her blog, Covered in Mod Podge. She has so many cute ideas, make sure to check them out!
As always, if you’re a craft blogger or bow maker who’d like to submit a tutorial of your own, visit our Project Submission Page to see all the details. We definitely make it worth your while. We love our contributors!
Have a great day! ~ Shirley, The Ribbon Retreat Blog Editor
5 Comments
Thanks so much! I was looking for a skirt to make for my daughter’s birthday party next weekend and this is it!
You’re welcome, Sara! I bet she will be so adorable in it! – Shirley 🙂
I am not sure what I am doing incorrectly but my skirt is not coming out fuller at the bottom it is coming out more like a pencil skirt. Is there some kind of allowance in the body of the skirt that is not in the waistband? This is my first sewing project and I feel like I am missing a step. Thank you for any help.
Hi Heather,
From the sound of it, I’m wondering if you are using the full width of the fabric. This means that you are running selvedge to selvedge, or finished end to finish end, or the 44/45in width of the fabric. If you’re making a skirt for a toddler, this should mean you have nearly double the width of fabric that your waistband is. This is how you get the fullness. Does that make sense? Feel free to email me at coveredinmodpodge (at) gmail (dot) com if you have any more questions! I would also love to see your final product! First sewing projects can be so frustrating but also so rewarding!
~Michaela
Thanks Michaela I did finally finish the skirt and can now do it in my sleep I believe. I was not aware that the width was left from selvedge to selvedge and essentially not cut at all for width. Eventually I figured out that the only place the actual waist measurement was applied was to the elastic cut. When I left the skirt the full width I did indeed end up with a nice full skirt (12 month old). There was also a mishap with the casing for the elastic as it is not mentioned for beginners that eventually the casing will be flipped up hiding the raw edges inside the skirt. Anyways I did eventually figure it all out and I find this to be a good go to skirt to make in all different fabrics. Thanks for sharing!