There’s nothing like waking up very early on a Monday and getting work out of the way before lunchtime. It’s the best feeling in the world, especially if you also happen to be running on strong coffee.

Now that I’ve gotten work out of the way, let’s get some sewing done! I give you here a tutorial for my birthday skirt. This DIY skirt, as I said, is inspired by a Burberry Prorsum piece. Hope you like it!

SKIRT PATTERN

A – Half of the desired width. Mine was 50″ in total. I like full skirts. I stand at 5 feet and has a 34-inch hip.
B – Desired length. Measure from the true waist or where you want your waistline to lie. Measure from the true waist if you want a high-waist tabbed skirt.
A1 = A / B1 = B
C – Hip measurement + 4 inches.
D – Waistline width x 2. Mine was 4 inches in total.
E = D

Your tab can be longer or shorter. The length is up to you. Or your waist measurement.

Note: Do not forget allowances for all pieces. 

You will also need elastic (must fit your desired waistline width), two buttons, & matching thread.

SEWING:

1. Sew along the stitch line of the top part of your front skirt panel. Pull the bottom thread to give it a shirred effect. The resulting shirred side should correspond to 1/2 of your waist measurement. Leave the back panel un-shirred.

2. Take the two panels and sew the sides, right sides together.

3. Take your waistline piece, sew D to E, right sides together.

4. Fold the waistline “circle” in the middle, cross-wise. The resulting waistline “circle” should be 2″ + allowance.

5. Mark the front middle point (I used the stitched ends as the middle of the back part and reference).

6. From the front middle point, measure half of your waistline to the side. Mark the point. Do the same to the other side of the middle point.

7. Fold the waistline allowance inwards. Pin. Do not sew. Make sure that you still know where the points you marked in the previous step.

8. Take your skirt bottom and pin the front part into the front waistline.

9. The sides of your shirred front panel should correspond to the points you marked in step 6. This should not be a problem since the front skirt panel is shirred to match 1/2 of your waist measurement.

10. Insert the skirt bottom to the waistline, all the way to the back part.

11. You may need to manually shirr the back panel of your skirt as you insert it to the back waistline. This doesn’t have to be “clean.”

12. Sew the skirt bottom to the waistline. Leave an allowance along the back waistline for inserting your elastic. You will need two un-sewn allowances for this; one near the sides of your skirt.

13. Insert your elastic. Flatten in a way that one end of your elastic is perpendicular to the waistline. Sew this end to your skirt waistline. This stitch line should be along the side of your skirt.

14. Insert elastic and then sew the other end to the other side of your waistline. The allowance near here is for helping you maneuver the elastic flat. At this point, fit your skirt to know that the elastic isn’t too loose.

15. Sew the elastic allowances shut.

16. Sew along the top part of the front waistline to keep it flat.

17. Take your tab pieces. Sew along the sides, right sides together. Leave allowance for turning inside out.

18. Turn inside out.

19. Flatten and top stitch all around to make your tab look pretty.

20. Position on the middle of your front waistline. Attach by sewing your chosen buttons.

21. Hem.

22. Congratulate yourself because you just made a high-waist tabbed skirt!

PS – This is what the side of your skirt should look like. The back waistline is garterized while the front is flat to accommodate the tab.

Notes 2.0:

1. Thicker fabrics may be hard to shirr. You can manually shirr the skirt front part as you insert it to the front waistline. This is easier than it sounds, don’t worry.

2. Wear high on the waist with dolman-like tops.