Skirt with Sash

My favorite item of clothing to sew for any girl is a skirt.
There are just so many ways to mix it up!
And with cooler weather coming, this version is a fun (and easy) way to dress-up for a holiday party, a Fall wedding, or just a day out shopping with mom.

It’s a Skirt with a Sash.
….a sash that can be tied in a bow, tied in a knot, tied in the front or in the back.

It gives the skirt that perfect bit of character and charm. And, it will impress your friends as they admire your sewing skills. Because although it might look tricky, it’s actually quite easy to make.

And like most of my favorite skirt projects, it’s a fairly quick-sew for such a fancy looking skirt.  Then pair it with a store-bought shirt and you’re ready for the party.

Here are some versions we’ve tried so far (click a button below for the full tutorial):

Let’s get started!

The Skirt with a Sash takes either the Simple Skirt or a Lined Skirt and adds a sash on each side of the waistband.  Of course this sash can be added to any basic skirt.  So if you’ve sewn a skirt before just keep on reading.  And if you’ve never made a skirt, I recommend reading through the Simple and Lined tutorials first.

In the Satin-Lined Skirt tutorial, we learned how to add a satin lining and separate waistband for your skirt. Which is what we’ll be making here.

Here’s what you need:

Fabric Types:
You can use a variety of fabrics  – cotton, satin, lace, chiffon, knits.
For my particular skirt, I used lace for the outer, satin for the lining, and satin for the waistband and sash.

Elastic Type:
I prefer Braid elastic because it tends to not roll-up inside the waistband the way other elastics might.  You can use 1-inch or 2-inch wide elastic.  For this skirt I used 2-inch wide to give the waistband a chunky look.

The Concept:
We’re going to create two sash pieces, sew them into a separate waistband at the side seams, sew the waistband on to the skirt, and string elastic through the waistband.  So, we need to cut two separate waistband pieces and two sash pieces.

Cutting and Sizing
Refer to the Simple or Lined skirt tutorials for details on measuring and cutting basic skirt pieces, then cut the following….

• Waistband
First you need to decide if you’re using 1-inch or 2-inch wide elastic.

If you’re using 2-inch elastic, the width of your waistband pieces should be cut 5.5 inches wide (2 inches for one side of the elastic + 2 inches for the other side + 3/4 inches of fabric edge to iron under + 3/4 inches at the other edge).

If you’re using 1-inch wide elastic, cut your pieces 3.5 inches wide (1 + 1 + 3/4 + 3/4 inches)

The length of each waistband piece should be the same as your basic skirt pieces.  In a nutshell: measure your waist, multiply it by 2 or 2.5 or 3 (depending on how full you want your skirt to be) then divide that in half.  This is the length for each waistband piece.

So for my daughter, I’m going to make a skirt 2.5 times her waist size.  She has a 20 inch waist so I need to cut TWO waistband pieces that are 5.5 x 25 inches.

• Sash pieces
For 2-inch wide elastic in the waistband, cut the Sash pieces 2 + 2 + 1/2 + 1/2 inches, or 5 inches wide.
For 1-inch wide elastic in the waistband, cut the Sash pieces 1 + 1 + 1/2 + 1/2 inches, or 3 inches wide.

For the length of each sash piece, take 1/4 of your waist measurement and then add approximately 25 inches (there’s some wiggle room with that measurement so you have extra length to tie the bow on the skirt.  We’ll cut off the excess in later steps).

So for my daughter with a 20 inch waist I need to cut TWO sash pieces that are 5 x 30 inches.
Okay, we’re ready to SEW!

Have a wonderful weekend!