How to Sew a Ruffled Swirl Skirt – Pattern

Have you ever wondered how to sew a ruffled swirl skirt? I’ll teach you some tips on how to easily sew an elastic waist ruffled skirt swirl by swirl!

My daughter really likes to eat the red and white swirl peppermint candies, especially during the Christmas season. She, not only likes how they taste but also how they look. So, I wanted to surprise her and made a pattern to sew a ruffled swirl skirt for her. Also, I made the same swirl skirt for her 18” doll and myself. My daughter already told me that I need to sew a red and white swirl skirt as the candies for Christmas.

 

Let’s get ready for sewing a ruffle swirl skirt for adult, child, and a doll!

 

So, you can use most of the apparel fabric to make this skirt. I used 100% cotton fabric to sew all three of the skirts and they turned out great. You may want to use a cotton blend fabric that is less stiff then 100% cotton. This post contains some affiliate links for your convenience (which means if you make a purchase after clicking a link I will earn a small commission but it won’t cost you a penny more)!

I really recommend buying fabrics at Joann.com since where I find most of the nice fabrics for my projects.

You need to remember while cutting all the pieces that the swirl must go in one direction. Either to the right or to the left. So, you can’t cut them out of fabric that is folded. If you do so, you will get mirrored pieces.

Now, I will share with you, how to cut all the swirl pieces faster and that they will be cut properly.

Let’s start with cutting the pieces for an adult swirl skirt, since they are the biggest. And that way it will give you an idea on how to cut the fabric for a child and doll size skirt.

Always remember to wash and dry your fabric ahead of time to pre-shrink it. It also makes the fabric more manageable and it’s easier to cut.

 

For an adult size 4 skirt, you need 18 swirl pieces, and that’s a lot to cut one by one. So, you need to cut your fabric into six – 42-43” x 20” rectangles. As you probably know most of the fabrics are 42-43” wide and that makes it easy to cut your pieces. Just fold your fabric in half lengthwise and put on the cutting mat. Then using a rotary cutter and a ruler cut the fabric into 20” long pieces.

Open and lay all the cut-out rectangles flat. Then, stock three one on the other and that makes two piles of fabric. But, make sure to align all the edges nicely.

You can print out three of the swirl templates and pin them to the fabric piles as shown in the picture below. And then cut them out.

 

So, as you see you’ll be cutting the fabric swirls for the skirt faster and also you are efficient on the fabric. If you need a bigger size skirt, then cut more of the swirl pieces.

Now, you must be thinking about how to sew two opposite curves together. Well, the trick is, that you need to make cuts on the inside curve of each swirl. While sewing you can match the edges of the curves together and easily stitch.

Since you will have the cut swirls still one on the other you can make the snips of the inner curves then. Make the snips half of an inch apart and no longer than 1/4”. It is because the seam allowance on the swirl skirt pattern is ¼”. Also, you can use a quarter inch foot for your machine to stitch the skirt pieces together.

You can follow these same cutting tips for cutting the fabric for a child-size swirl skirt. Since the swirls are shorter you can cut the fabric into 42-43” x 16” rectangles.

What you need to sew a ruffled swirl skirts

 

And, the ruffled swirl skirt pattern for adult and child size is available to buy at my store. It also includes:

• swirl templates for child and adult size skirts

• step by step tutorial with pictures

• list of material to buy

• tips and hints for sewing ruffled swirl skirts

Now, I’ll teach you step by step how to sew elastic waist ruffle swirl skirt!

Step 1. So, you have all the swirl pieces cut out following the tips above. Usually, you would use a zig-zag stitch to finish the edges, preventing it from fraying. Since you have so many pieces, you’ll do it later. And, I’ll exactly tell you when.

For the adult size 4 skirt, you need 18 swirl pieces, for a child-size (5 yo) you need 12 and for the doll 9. And, as you see in the pictures, you can use just one fabric pattern or three. If you like, you may use just two. Check out my post on how to match fabric colors and prints and learn four basic tips for matching fabric.

Step 2. Pin two swirl pieces right side together and slowly stitch the curved edges. You have the piece with the inner curve to stitch on the top and that’s the edge with the snips.

 

Pull the top edge gently and match the bottom piece outer curve. Doing so will make it easier to stitch the two opposite curves together.

 

Follow step 2 by stitching the rest of the swirl pieces together until you stitch the last with the first piece.

Step 3. Now, you can use a zig-zag stitch to finish the seam allowance edges. But stitch the edges two together, that way it’ll save you time and thread.

Also, finish the waist and bottom edge using a zig-zag stitch. And then, iron flat the seam allowances to one side. You’ll see that the seam allowance naturally leans toward the inner edges and it makes ironing it flat easier.

Step 4. Finally, pin the waist edge 1.25” (3/4” for the doll skirt) toward the inside and stitch quarter of an inch from the zig-zagged edged. Make sure to leave 1.5” opening. And that way you made a casing for the elastic.

Now, using a safety pin push the elastic through the casing and stitch the end together. You can use a zig-zag stitch to do so, as it shows in the picture.

And the rule is, that you cut the elastic six inches shorter than the actual waistline.

Also, you can stitch the opening close, but if you leave it as is, that is fine too.

 

Free Ruffled Swirl Skirt for 18″ Doll Printable Template

Get the password for the library with the free pattern here by filling out this form:

And that’s it! You made it through learning how to sew elastic waist ruffled swirl skirt and I hope you liked it.

You may also, like to sew a skirt out of tie-shaped pieces. It is another fun tutorial on how to sew a skirt for summer.

If you wish, you can follow me on Pinterest and/or Facebook, where you can share a picture of your skirt project. I always like to see what fabric patterns my crafting friends are using.

Happy Sewing!

Love,

Agnes

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