DIY 10 Minute Maxi

If you’re a beginner sewer, then this skirt is for you. You only need to be able to sew a straight line, hem and create an elastic casing – easy! And the best part, once you’ve made a couple and are familiar with how to do it, it shouldn’t take you more than 10 minutes to put one together.  (That’s less than it takes me to choose clothes to wear some days.)

I purchased my fabric from Quicksales, an online auction and sales site for Australians.  There are lots of options (especially if you use quilting fabric) and it is a lot more affordable way to sew than sourcing from your big fabric stores.

You could actually buy everything you need for this project on the site (and if it means not having to go to lots of different stores with a toddler in tow, it is a win for me!) I found vintage sewing machines starting at $65 to newer models like mine for around $300.  You can buy bundles of patterns for less than $10 and you could even buy your sewing table as well.

My fabric arrived in less than a week and the whole process of signing up was really easy.  Winning.

Now onto this skirt…

You’ll need:
1 piece of non-stretch fabric
1 piece of elastic the length of your waist (or hips)

1. Cut your fabric as per the diagram above. If you would like a less full skirt you could make it only 1.5 waist lengths.  Also if you’d prefer the skirt to sit on your hips, simply adjust your measurements to fit.

2. Fold the skirt in half with right sides together the over lock and sew.

3.  Create a casing for the elastic by folding down 1cm then approximately 2cm (or as much as you need to fit your elastic). Sew along the bottom edge leaving a small gap to thread through the elastic.

4. Thread through your elastic using a safety pin to guide it.  Sew the ends of the elastic together and sew the casing closed.  (I used very thin elastic as this was all I had, next time I would use something wider to give a firmer hold.  Both will work though. )

5.  Try on your skirt and check the length. Cut off any excess fabric then fold over the bottom 1cm twice before sewing the hem.

6. To finish of the waist neatly I also sewed a line of stitching along the elastic and close to the very top of the skirt.  This is optional though as the skirt will work just as well without it.

*This tutorial was in collaboration with Quicksales.