How to Make a Tiered Skirt

Okay--

1. Measure the waist of whoever you are making the skirt for. Also measure from the waist down to the length you want the skirt to be.
2. Decide how many tiers you want the skirt to be and take your length plus an inch per tier plus 2 more inches and divide by how many tiers you want to have to see how wide your tiers need to be. For example--If you want a 40 inch skirt and you want 4 tiers then first add 6 to 40. This allows for seam allowances, hem, and elastic. So then we divide 46 by 4 and get approximately an 11 inch tier give or take. You decide. You could go for a 12 inch tier. Remember people--I am a non-perfectionist and I sew by the seat of my pants. So, these measurements are not going to be exact. Your skirt will likely be a little longer or shorter than you originally planned. No big deal. Really.
3. Take the waist size and 1 1/2 it and cut your first tier that long. For example if your waist is 24 then you would cut a strip that is 24 + 12 (1/2 of 24) = 36. So, 36 inches long and however wide you decided. Cut a piece of elastic about a half inch or so shorter than the waist size depending on how snug you want it.
4. Sew a little pocket for the elastic in the first tier and thread the elastic through and sew a short stitch on both ends to tack it down. And you have your first tier


5. Now, for your second tier--you need to double length of the first tier. Again, this is not exact. Depending on our pleats you may end up needing more or less. More on that later. Cut your fabric, twice as long as above and the same width. You will likely have to sew two pieces together to get the right length for this, it won't be noticeable on the skirt. Now we start the pleating. You can gather instead if you would rather but I prefer making pleats. Put your fabric right side up under the presser foot and sew a little, stop, fold a little pleat, sew over it, stop, fold a little pleat, sew over it, stop, fold a little pleat, sew over it, repeat until you reach the end. The more you pleat and the bigger your pleats the more fabric you will use and the fuller the skirt will be.
6. Once you have it pleated you then sew it to the first tier, right sides together making sure that your seam allowance is wide enough to go over the pleating stitch. You are done with your second tier.

7. For the third and subsequent tiers just follow the above steps, doubling the length each row. Now--about needing more or less. If you have too long of a strip of pleated tier then it's easy--you cut off the excess. If you don't have enough, you should notice before you get to the end--take it out of the machine. Cut some more fabric and sew it onto your tier and then pleat it and then continue sewing it on.
8. Once you have finished all your tiers. Hem the bottom and then sew the two sides together. Of course, my sides almost never match up tier for tier and often when I get to the bottom of the skirt it's a little off. What do I do? I fudge it! Fold it up a little so it matches or just let it be off by a little.

Since you've already seen the finished product of Hannah's skirt--here's a picture of the one I made for Grace. I love the fabric and she does too! You can't tell from the picture but the little red dots are ladybugs.