Thank you all for your enthusiasm regarding the Emerson collection!  Emerson had one happy, happy, happy mommy when she came over to get her new things.  And she loved the jacket– she loved it!  So, as you requested, here are some instructions for making your own jean skirt… this is the absolutely cutest way to re-use those jeans that have holes in the knees!

Ruffled Jean Skirt

Step 1::  Find yourself some jeans– clean, of course– and press them if they are wrinkled.  Start cutting straight across the legs, right below the crotch line of the pants.  (We’ll even them up later!)  Make sure not to cut into the front pockets.

Step 2::  Cut through the pants at the crotch line.  With your jeans flat on the counter, use a ruler to measure (starting at the front waistband) down to right above the crotch seam.  On these girl’s 5 Levi’s, the measurement was about 7-1/2".  Using this measurement (working from the front waistband), start cutting across your jeans to that point.  This will create the yoke of your skirt.

Step 3::  Prepare the "ruffled" part of your skirt, but first determine the finished length.  Measure the length of your jean yoke and subtract 5/8" for the seam allowance.  Subtract that from the desired finished length.  Now, cut your ruffle that measurement plus 2-1/2" for your seam allowances and hem.

We like to make our ruffles at least 1.5 times the width of the yoke, if not more.  For this skirt, we slightly A-lined the ruffle… but the quickest and easiest way is to simply cut your fabric, using the measurement we just figured, from fold to selvage two times (one width for the front and one for the back, depending on how full your ruffle needs to be– you may need more widths).  Pin front and back with right sides together.  Stitch and finish seams.

Step 4::  Press the top of your ruffle down 5/8".  Turn raw edge in to meet the crease and stitch.

Step 5::  Run gathering stitch around the entire top of your ruffle, starting at one of the side seams, with your presser foot running along the edge of the hem.  To do this, center your presser foot over a long piece of cotton crochet thread.  Stitch right over the crochet thread, being careful not to catch it in your stitches.  It should look like this when you’re done–

Step 6::  Finish the bottom of jean yoke using a serge or zigzag stitch.  Mark yoke and ruffle in quarters.  With wrong side of ruffle to right side of yoke, pin together at markings (overlap the top of the ruffle and the bottom of the yoke 7/8" to 1"); pull up gathering stitches to fit and pin securely.

Step 7::  Stitch ruffle to yoke from the front side.  Stitch again 1/4" inside first stitching.

So the inside of your jean-skirt should look like this:

Step 8::  Hem the bottom of your skirt the same way we hemmed the top.  If you ended up adding too much in step 3, trim it off before hemming.  Now, you twirl girl!

Oh, yes, embellish it too!

For this easy-peasy but adorable hankie-look, we simply folded a square of coordinating fabric into fourths, serged the two unfinished edges, and tacked it into the jeans pocket.  And anchored it on securely using a sweet vintage button.

Don’t limit yourself to a stand up ruffle either– this skirt would look adorable with tiers (like we did for Emerson) or pleats, too!  Please send us pictures of your creations here. 

jeans:  Levi’s

fabric:  Swell "Picnic" in cherry for Moda (skirt), and Swell vintage floral in blue raspberry (hankie)