The maxi skirt is one of the must haves this summer. They are absolutely everywhere just now. I’m loving all the patterns available. They are pretty versatile and you can style them up or down easily.

The only problem I have is with 34inch legs, I know I shouldn’t complain, it can be hard sometimes to find one long enough. I figured I could make my own and therefore have the perfect length.

I had some plain white jersey left over from when I made this dress, which is perfect for a maxi skirt. I’m not one for using patterns, I find them time consuming and fidgety, so I used a maxi I already had a a template.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I then sewed up the sides creating my skirt. I think it’s best to use a zigzag stitch so you still get the stretch in the length, but make sure you pull the material tight through the machine or it can become loose.

To create the waists band I pinned a length of elastic to the top of this skirt, folded the material over and sewed it down. You need a zigzag stitch for this or you’ll lose the stretch in the elastic, does not make for ease getting the skirt on and off. I would have preferred to use a thicker elastic but this was all I had and I was to impatient to wait till I bought some more.

You’ll see in this pic my waist band is a separate piece of material sewed onto the skirt. The length of jersey I had left wasn’t long enough to cut one piece so I had to add it from scraps. You can just add and extra few inches to the top of the skirt for the waist band before cutting it out.

And that’s it all done, well if you want a white skirt.

I wanted something a bit more colourful, so I whipped out the dye. I thought a dip dye effect would suit the style of the skirt. I filled sink with the directed amount of water and salt and added the dye. I emersed the entire skirt in the water for around a minute. I then lifted out about a third of the skirt, leaving the rest in the water. I held that for another minute or two then raised the skirt a few more inches out of the water. I continued this so that the bottom of the skirt ended up in the dye for around 10-15mins. Small warning, your arms do start to ache a little bit as you stand there holding the skirt up! Then I just followed the directions on the pack, rinsing and washing the skirt then hanging up to dry.

This is my finished skirt. I love it and can see me wearing it everywhere for the next few months.

All I Really Want – Alanis Morissette