How to Sew a Tiered Ruffle Skirt

With the rotary cutter, Cut 4 connector pieces 36” long, and 5” wide.  For the ruffles cut 4 pieces 56” long, and 5” wide.

The connector piece is the strip of fabric that’s stitched underneath the ruffles, connecting them together.

Take the connector pieces with the right sides facing each other and sew the open ends together using a ½” seam allowance.

For solid color jersey fabric there is no difference as to determine the right side.  For any stretch fabric, make sure you’re stitching with ballpoint needles.

Do this for all four connector pieces and set aside.

Before you stitch, make sure that the stitch length on your machine is set at the longest stitch possible, which usually 5 or 6 depending on your machine.

Starting a ¼” in from the top, stitch a straight line across.  Leave 4-5 inches of thread before cutting it.  ¼” down from there, stitch a second line.  Stitch a third line ¼” down from the second line.

Gently pull and tug on the thread to gather the fabric together. Line the fabric up to the connector piece to make sure they’re both the same length.

For a zigzag stitch, make sure the length is 2.5 mm and the width is 3 mm.  By setting it at this length and width, it helps the stitch stretch with the fabric.

Starting from the bottom, pin and zigzag stitch the right side of the connector piece to the right side of the ruffle using a 1” seam allowance.

Fold the connector piece up.  Pin and stitch the wrong side of the second ruffle along the top.  Pin and stitch the right side of the second connector piece to top of the second ruffle and fold up.

Continue this step for the next two ruffles.

First trim the inside seams down ½”. The last connector piece will be the waistband.  Since we’re using 1 inch elastic, trim the waistband down 1/2 inch on each side.

Pin the right side 1/2“ down from the top and stitch with a ½” seam allowance.

Fold the waistband over and pin on the inside.  Zigzag stitch along the inside seam leaving 2″ open at the end.

To insert the elastic, attach safety pins to both ends.  Attach 1 end to the opening of the fabric. Insert the other end through the waistband and use the safety pin to pull the elastic through.

Once it’s through, remove the safety pins, overlap the ends ½”, and zigzag stitch.

Snip off any extra fabric at the seam.  Stitch the opening over the remaining elastic, and your tiered ruffle skirt is now complete.