And what is behind the 22nd door of the blog advent calendar 2022 today? Sewing instructions for a colorful Christmas skirt that not only has the potential to be a last-minute outfit, but is also ideal as a last-minute gift for daughters, sisters, mums, nieces, etc. It doesn’t always have to be a funny “Ugly Xmas sweater”. I will provide you with the pattern for the skirt as a free PDF download.
Of course, such an outfit for Christmas apart from elegant glitter is something completely different. I associate it with wonderful childhood memories, because at Christmas everything was always colorful here.
The decoration of our Christmas tree included the most diverse colors and shapes. That was simply because we hung up all the Christmas tree decorations associated with fond memories. Be it a lovely present from the neighbour, a souvenir from the Advent market or something you have made yourself. And even if none of the colors were coordinated, as a child I always admired the colorful diversity. Nothing has actually changed in that regard to this day.
But now let’s start with our sewing instructions for a colorful Christmas skirt, which you can either sew with an elastic stitch on your sewing machine or with an overlock. But before you start sewing, read the instructions carefully.
material and accessories
- 1 – 1.5 m summer sweat “Ugly Christmas”
- 50-60 cm stretch lining fabric
- approx. 20 cm matching cuff
- 1.5 m cord (e.g. flat cord)
- approx. 50 cm matching piping tape
- leather eyelets
- double-sided tape (e.g. Stylefix)
- Cloth scissors or rotary cutter with cutting mat
- pins and/or fabric clips
- Tailor’s chalk or something similar
- small hand sewing needle
- matching sewing thread
Free pattern for the Christmas skirt
You can download the pattern for the Christmas skirt as a PDF free of charge:
Download pattern My Skirt A4
Make sure you set the size to 100% when you print. With the A4 file, the pages are glued together end to end. This is super quick as no cutting is required. However, there are hardly any printers that can print completely borderless. The lines are therefore missing between the individual pages, but they continue to flow mentally. Here you can see how the A4 pages are glued together:
You don’t have to print out all the bag parts, just the side with your size. The pattern covers sizes XS, S, M and L, which corresponds to sizes/double sizes 32, 34/36, 38/40, 42/44. The skirt has a slight A-line and sits on the hips.
The pattern is designed for a standard size of 168 cm. If you are unsure which size you need, then compare your hip circumference and your length with the measurements of the skirt part.
cutting
All pattern pieces do not include any seam or hem allowances. So you have to add these to the pattern pieces. Basically, the front and back sections of the skirt section are cut twice in the fold. If you also want to sew the skirt with pockets, then you cut out a skirt part for the back part. Then you cut off the part for the pocket opening including the seam allowance in the pattern. Then you cut the front skirt part.
Proceed in the same way with the bag parts. First cut out the back parts of the bag. Then cut off the part for the pocket opening including the seam allowance again. Then you cut out the front part of the bag.
When using Norwegian patterns or something similar, make sure that the patterns match not only on the skirt parts, but also on the back pocket parts.
Then the skirt parts are cut out of the stretchable lining material, whereby you can cut the lining skirt about 4 cm shorter than the main skirt.
I will explain how to cut the cuff in the course of the instructions.
sew bags
Take the front part of the skirt and cut the piping tape in the length of the pocket opening with an allowance of approx. 2-3 cm per side. Tuck it into the front pocket opening.
Sew the piping tape to the pocket opening with the straight stitch on your sewing machine as close as possible to the seam of the piping tape. I do this best with Zipper foot #4
Then, as shown in the picture, pin the front pocket pouch to the pocket opening, right sides together. The piping tape is right in between.
Now turn your skirt part so that you can clearly see the previously sewn seam of the piping band.
Now you sew the front part of the pocket to the left of the first seam with a distance of approx. 1-2 mm to the pocket opening. This means that this seam is now much closer to the piping cord.
Then iron the seam allowance in the direction of the pocket bag. Then stitch the seam allowance tightly onto the pocket bag. I prefer to use the Edgeband foot #10D for close-edged topstitching.
Pin the rear pocket bag right sides together onto the front pocket bag. Now sew the back pocket bag to the front one. Repeat all work steps for the other pocket opening.
Fold the pocket bags back and iron them properly. Using a larger straight stitch (stitch length approx. 3.5-4) on your sewing machine, attach the pocket pouches at the top and sides (see yellow marking) to your skirt part within the seam allowance.
Sew skirt part and lining for Christmas skirt
Now, right sides together, pin the back piece to your previously sewn front piece.
If you are sewing your skirt from border or striped fabric, make sure that the stripes of the two skirt parts meet as precisely as possible when pinning. The easiest way to do this is to use pins, which you can use to pin the strips or borders in question together before sewing. Now sew the front and back pieces together at the side seams.
Turn your skirt.
Place the two parts of the lining skirt right sides together and close the side seams here as well.
The lining skirt is then connected to the main skirt at the top edge. To do this, you put the lining skirt into the main skirt in such a way that the side seams meet. Pay attention to the front and back pieces.
So that no seam gets in the way when wearing the skirt, the seam allowances should face each other. In addition, they are laid in different directions.
Now sew the lining skirt to the upper edge of the main skirt inside the seam allowance with a large straight stitch (approx. 3.5-4) with your sewing machine.
Sew cuffs for Christmas skirt
First measure the circumference of your Christmas skirt at the top edge and multiply this value by 0.8.
Example: Circumference 80 cm x 0.8 = 64 cm
Now cut your cuff with a width of 9 cm and the length determined above plus seam allowance. Match the width with your leather eyelets before cutting.
Then, as shown in this picture, mark the center front horizontally and vertically with tailor’s chalk. The distance for the center of the eyelet holes is 3 cm from the vertical line. This results in a total distance of 6 cm.
You have to compare the height with your leather eyelets. These should also be centered minus the bottom seam allowance. Put your leather eyelets on the cuff as a test. It should now look something like this picture.
Then glue the leather eyelets to your cuffs with Stylefix.
Now the leather eyelets are sewn on within the pre-stamped markings. I used the narrow edge foot again for this. Since the left side of the foot is sometimes a bit wider than the leather eyelet, I put a strap close to the leather eyelet to adjust the height. Accordingly, I gave the needle position far to the left. So that stitch by stitch is really successful here, you should only sew the leather eyelets with the handwheel if possible. Locks the beginning and end with only one forward and backstitch.
After sewing, use a thin hand sewing needle to pull the upper threads to the left side of your cuff. Then knot them with the lower threads and cut them off above the knot.
Press the leather eyelet slightly into the fabric from the right side. This allows you to see the ring of the eyelet very well. Then use scissors to cut out the area for the eyelets outside of the ring.
The cut-out eyelet area should now look like this.
Then remove the remains of the chalk markings with a simple wipe.
Close your cuffs into a ring. Turn your skirt inside out. Mark the center front and back as well as the side seams on the upper edge of the skirt and on the lower edge of the cuff with the leather eyelets. Then pin this edge of the cuff right sides together to the top edge of the skirt. The center front of the cuff meets the center of the top edge of the skirt. Now sew this side of the cuff to the top edge of your skirt. Stretch the quarters of the cuff to the length of the quarters of the top edge of the skirt.
Then you neaten the still open edge of your cuff with the serger. You can also trim this edge with an elastic overlock stitch on your sewing machine. Then mark the center front and center back as well as the sides on this cuff edge. Then fold this cuff edge around the upward facing seam allowance of the top edge of the skirt. Lay the seams edge to edge so that the overlock seam of the still open cuff edge protrudes over the overlock seam of the top edge of the skirt.
Then fix the still open edge of the cuff from the right side exactly in the seam shadow between cuff and skirt with a pin. Repeat this process all around. Again stretch the quarters of the cuff to the quarters of the top edge of the skirt.
This is what the finished cuff looks like from the inside.
From the right side, sew your cuff with a straight stitch exactly in the seam shadow. Again, the narrow edge foot is perfect for this.
Now thread your cord through the eyelets.
Your cuff is ready. With this type of sewing, your cuff stays nice and flat and doesn’t curl up.
completion
Finally, all you have to do is hem your Christmas skirt. I generally only hem lining skirts with an overlock seam. This keeps the lining nice and flat at the hem and unobtrusive. For the hem of my upper skirt, I chose the ladder stitch of the flatlock stitch on my serger. This is very decorative and sewn quickly.
With these instructions and the free pattern, I wish you lots of fun sewing the Christmas skirt, especially since the pattern will definitely also be used outside of the Christmas holidays.
Have a wonderful celebration with your loved ones.
