Never knew that skirts with those gathered ribbon pull-ups at the bottom – you know, the ones that result in such a lovely romantic skirt edging – were actually simple to make. Really. I had no idea. I had been under the impression that this kind of skirt would be too advance for my simple sewing mind.
That was, till I discovered this free sewing tutorial by Lisa at Mabey She Made it. In fact, it turns out that it is so simple that one could even make a skirt like this by hand, upcycling an existing wide-ish skirt.
Having seen the secret in this free skirt sewing tutorial, I can do it. And if I can do it, sure you can do it also. With a sewing machine this skirt could probably be sewn together in under an hour, start to finish. The pickups are made with ribbons threaded through casings at the hem, ruche-ing the skirt up and creating a slight scallop to the hem.
I love the playful silhouette that the gathering creates. I actually own two of these kind of bottom-edge gathered skirts. Unlike gathered skirts with the gathering at the top waist – which make you look fat(ter) – the lovely bottom-edge gathering has a slimming effect as the fabric on your tummy is flat and is contrasted with the razzematazz at the bottom hem. The more the ribbons are pulled, the more gathering and the more pronounced the scallop-shapes in the hem line. (That’s a lot of skirt sewing tech-talk, for something so whimsical. Sorry.)
Ribbon Pulled-up Scallop Edge Skirt – The Free Sewing Pattern
The secret of the gathered pickups lies in the strips of fabric sewn in on the inside of the skirt. These strips are forming casing through which you insert your ribbon.
OK. Now I’m going to say not a single thing more about this scalloped skirt or I will give it all away. Let’s just say that I wish I knew this SECRET earlier. And if you want to learn the details of how to make a cute scallop edge skirt like this, for your toddler or yourself, go get the pattern/sewing instructions at Mabey She Made it. Link below.
image credit & tutorial source: https://www.mabeyshemadeit.com/ribbon-gathered-skirt-tutorial/
Be sure to check out our other free sewing patterns on FineCraftGuild.
