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“The Bustle Skirt”

by Elizabeth Evans

1. Find the measurements that you need for your skirt. Using a tape measure, measure around your little one's waist. (My waist measurement for a 5 year old was 22 inches). Double this

measurement. (My width is now 44 inches....45 inches is the width of most fabric, so I just used the

45 inches). To find the length you need measure the waist-to-knee measurement. Add 3 inches for 

the skirt's hem and elastic casing. (My measurement was 12+3=15 inches in length).

2. Cut a rectangle to your measurements. (Mine was 45x15 inches).

3. Folding the right-sides of the fabric together, sew the fabric into a tube.

4. Hem the bottom of the skirt. Fold and press ¼ inches, then fold and press another 1/4 inches tomake a neat hem. Sew all the way around the skirt to hem it.

5. Serge or zig-zag the top edge of the skirt. Then, fold and press a casing of 1 ½ inches. Sew around,

leaving a 2 inch hole to thread elastic through later.

6. Trace and cut around 70-90 circles (I used a large--4 ½ diameter-- jar lid for my circles).

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7. Fold the circles into 4ths and pin the bottom row on the hem with the bottom edges of the circles

touching like the picture shown. Sew your first row of “bustles” into place at the points—the top of 

the bustle. (Then they won't show on the finished skirt.) Sew your first one on, backstitch well,then pick up your presser foot (leaving the thread connected) and then move to the next one.

Repeat with all on the bottom row.

8. Pin and sew the next row of “bustles” overlapping the bottom row like the above picture shows.

9. Repeat until you reach the top of the skirt (I used 6 rows). At the top row, pin and sew the “bustle”

 points on upside-down so that your stitching does not show on the finished skirt.

10. Measure a piece of 1-inch elastic 2 inches less than your waist measurement (a size 5 was 20

inches) and thread elastic through the casing. Zig zag the two ends of the elastic together and thenfinish sewing the hole of the casing. Trim threads and you're done! Happy sewing!!