So… its been awhile. Much longer than I’d like to go between posts, but life happened. We got super busy and took 3 trips in the last month. One of those trips being to the beautiful St. John of the US Virgin Islands. I wanted some new tropical outfits to wear on the islands but with all the money we spent on our recent traveling, I didn’t want to break the bank. I have some experience sewing but I wouldn’t call myself an “experienced sewer.” Could I possibly make my own maxi skirts? Sure I sewed our drop cloth curtains… but sew something that I could actually wear (that looks halfway decent)? I was a little intimidated at first but I had the ideas stuck in my head and decided to give it a shot. I’m glad I did!

Supplies Needed For 1 DIY Maxi Skirt

• 1 1/2 yards of “flowy” fabric
• 1 spindle of all purpose thread
• 1 yard of 1 1/2 in elastic
• Ball head pins
• Pinking shears
• Iron
• Ironing board
• Heavy starch
• Sewing machine (I have a Brother XL-3750)

I went to Hobby Lobby to check out their fabric and found 3 prints that I loved. Two of the fabrics were priced at $6.99/yd and the other was $10.99/yd. Hobby Lobby always has a coupon for 40% off 1 regular priced item, so I used this for the more expensive fabric and got it for $6.60/yd – CHACHING! Gotta love saving moolah! I held the fabric up to my waist in store and came to the conclusion that 1 1/2 yards would be enough fabric for an elastic waistband and a hemmed bottom. It cost around $13 total to make 1 maxi skirt.

I didn’t have a pattern to follow so I just winged it. Fabric comes folded in half on its long end (depending on how much you buy). Unfolded, there was more than enough fabric to fit around my waist on the short side. My plan was to hem the bottom, sew in some elastic around the waist, and sew the fabric together on its long side. Here’s a graphic showing my DIY Maxi Skirt plan:

On the first maxi skirt I sewed, I saved the bottom hem for last. But with the skirt already sewn together, and the elastic sewn in place, it was hard to make the bottom straight. I decided I would start with the hem on the next skirt I made… and it worked out great!

How To Make Your Own DIY Maxi Skirt

1. Sew the bottom hem

Fold the bottom of the fabric (short side) to make a straight edge with the raw edge folded under. Spray with heavy starch, iron and pin in place. Sew along the fold staying 1/2 away from the edge.

2. Sew the elastic waist

After the hem is done, hold the fabric up to your waist and fold the fabric where you want the top of the elastic to fall on your waist. Make sure you fold towards the wrong side of the fabric. I made mine sit high on my waist when it’s worn with flats so I have the option to wear it lower with wedges. Once you have the top fold marked, measure the same length from the bottom of the hem across. Pin in place and iron across.

Wrap the elastic around your waist and cut to size with an extra inch. When the skirt is sewn together lengthwise, 1/2 of the elastic (on each end) will be sewn inside of the skirt. Place the elastic in between the fold that you just ironed. Align the middle of the elastic piece to the middle of the folded fabric. Place the top of the elastic under the bottom of the fold and fold the remaining fabric under the bottom of the elastic. Place 1 pin in place.

Stretch each end of the elastic to the end of the fabric and repeat the previous step along the entire piece of elastic.

Sew along the bottom edge of the elastic while stretching it out. This is a little tricky but once you get the hang of it, it’s not bad at all.