The festive season is coming, and besides keeping yourself warm, I bet you are thinking about making something fun for holidays. I ran across this nice outfit on Pinterest and decided I want a skirt like this! Mix it up with sweater, high boots and a scarf, you are ready to go!
The Monica skirt features a hi-low detail, with front pleats and optional waist tie. It falls just above the knee at the front and mid calf at the back. The flared design goes well with almost any body type, so no worry about not being able to wear it after you make it!
Let’s look at it in different prints and colors:
As usual, my pattern is made in 10 sizes from XXS to 5XL, so you will find yourself a suitable size. You can also lengthen or shorten the hemline to get your desired length – you can even make a maxi skirt from this pattern.
The pattern is made using layered PDF, please check for your desired size before printing so you won’t waste your paper. I have included a first page with many details about sizing and printing, so please first read the first page and make sure you know what size you need! If you still do not know how to print a layered PDF, please check for the printing instruction in this post: PRINTING GUIDE.
You can print this using your home printer and A4/Letter paper. I calculated the printing area so that you will be able to use either type of paper to print the pattern out perfectly. Always print the first page first and check with the test square if you are printing at the right scale before you print out the whole pattern – avoid waste of ink and waste of paper, save the earth!
Some PC may print smaller than actual size even when you choose 100% scale – I don’t know why this problem exist, but my HP laptop cannot print true to size. I have to scale up to 103% to get the right size. You may need to check with your PC to see if it prints true to size, if not, scale up a bit.
SEWING INSTRUCTION
You will need
- Fabric of your choice
- Invisible zipper
- Fusible interfacing (medium weight)
- Scissors, pencil or fabric marker, ruler, pins
- Sewing machine/Serger or needle and thread
- Printed pattern
What fabric can be used for this project? This design is made for woven fabric. You can use almost any kind of woven non stretchy or slightly stretchy fabric.
How much fabric do you need for this piece of garment? To be precise, you may need to check how much fabric you need before buying. It will depend on the selected pattern size, the width, and design of the fabric you plan to use. Just to be sure, print all the paper patterns and lay them out at the width of fabric you plan to use (usually from 90 to 150 centimeters or 35 to 60 inches). Measure how much fabric you will need. Don’t forget to account for pieces that need to be cut multiple times and pieces that are cut on the fold.
For this pattern, you will need to use a sewing machine that has the function to sew stretch fabric (zig zag stitch for example), or use a serger which is designed to sew stretch fabric nicely.
Cutting instruction:
After printing out and taping all the pattern pages together, you will get something similar to this image:
You will see that there are 2 sets of lines on each pattern size. The inner lines are sewing line (and you sew along these lines), and the outer lines are cutting lines (you cut the fabric along these lines, remember the folding lines where you have to fold the fabric before cutting). The distance between sewing line and cutting line is seam allowance, and it varies from point to point. For example, the side seam allowance is about 1/2 inch (1.2cm), and seam allowance at hemline is 1 inch (2.5cm). This is the reason why I do not remove the sewing lines from the pattern. Please use it as a guide to know how much seam allowance you need to give at each seam.
Fabric will be cut into following pieces:
- Front: cut 1 pc on the fold
- Back: cut 2 pcs
- Front Waistband: cut 2 pcs self fabric + 1 pc fusible interfacing (on the fold)
- Back Waistband: cut 4 pcs self fabric + 2 pcs fusible interfacing
- Waist Tie: cut 1 pc on the fold
Make sure to mark all notches and other design features such as darts, pleats etc. from the pattern pieces onto your fabric. When sewing the garment, pay attention to notches, they must match up.
Sewing instruction:
1. Serge/zig zag stitch the raw edge to prevent fabric from unraveling.
2. Apply fusible interfacing on Front Waistband and Back Waistband.
3. Fold and press the front pleat, align two “legs” of the pleat and press the center of the pleat toward the side (two pleats mirror each other). Sew a basting at the upper edge of the Front Skirt piece to secure the pleats in place.
4. Place two Back Skirt pieces right side facing, sew from the lower end toward the notch at the middle of the side seam.
5. Place Front Skirt and Back Skirt right side facing, matching the side. Pin and sew the side seams to get the main garment.
6. Place Front Waistband and Back Waistband right side facing, sew the side seams. You will get 2 pieces of waistband.
7. Place the pair of waistband right side facing, matching the center and side seam, sew the top side of the waistband. Stay stitch the seam allowance toward the flap which will be on the inside of the skirt.
8. Place the outside flap of the waistband and the main garment right side facing, matching the center notches and side seams. Pin and sew to join the waistband to the main garment.
9. Attach invisible zipper to the back of the skirt.
10. Fold the other flap of the waistband inside, hand sew or use stitch-in-the-ditch technique to finish the waistband of the skirt.
11. Hem the skirt.
12. Fold the Waist Tie in half along the longer edge. Sew around and leave an opening of 2 inches then turn it inside out from the opening. Press and hand sew to close the opening to get the tie.
And here is the download link:
MONICA HI LOW SKIRT (SIZE XXS-5XL)
Happy sewing! And don’t forget to share your project on my Facebook page: Tiana’s Closet Sewing Patterns
Tiana
