Tutorial: Easy Maternity Skirt

Let me just start by saying that we've had a cool spring here in Utah. It basically rained all day every day during the month of May. Lately the sun's been shining and the temperatures are rising, though it's still cool enough that I don't need to pump my AC all day long. But, I know those 90+ degree days are just around the corner, and I've decided the only way to keep from overheating is by wearing loose, lightweight skirts.

 This one started with a dress I picked up for free at our neighborhood Big Giveaway. It was a cute dress, but the length was too short.

 So I used a skirt I already had to determine what length I wanted this one to be. Then I cut off the top part of the dress so I could use the hemline that was already there.

 Next I found an old knit T shirt. (If I had it to do all over again, I would use one that was a little bit of a tighter knit, but this one worked just fine.) I decided I wanted the rollover waistband to be about 4 inches, so I cut a piece off the shirt to equal 8 inches, because it folds in on itself.

 I measured around my waist where I wanted the skirt to sit (right beneath the giant tummy). And then subtracted 5 inches. This became the new width for the waistband. The reason you subtract like that is to make sure the waistband will be tight enough to stay in place on your body. Believe me, this is essential. Otherwise, your skirt will fall to the floor and you'll die of embarrassment while walking down the aisle at Macey's.

 

 Connect the two edges of your waistband with a single seam, forming a big loop of fabric.

 Fold that in half and pin it. Then sew the bottom side shut to keep things nice and together when you add the main skirt piece.

Do a quick gather stitch on your main skirt piece, then attach the gathered skirt to the waistband. Think this step through. You want your seams to be on the inside of the skirt, so make sure that you pin and sew it that way.

All finished! You don't even need to create a hem because the old dress had one! So simple! I seriously made this during naptime while my older girls had someone over to play with them. Which means that I did it in less than two hours with interruptions for making snacks, turning on the Tangled soundtrack, and watching them outside selling lemonade. (A lot of pinning was done outside on my porch. Love it.)
I used Ashley's tutorial from Make It and Love It to get me going on this project.