Step-By-Step Cottagecore Skirt Sewing Tutorial

9 Materials

$20

2 Hours

Easy

I seem to have a knack for buying fabric with one project in mind and then using it for something completely different. I bought white cotton fabric and some lace, thinking I would make a milkmaid style shirt, but then I realized I had enough fabric to make a skirt! I based the design of this skirt on the cottagecore aesthetic, but I noticed it also somewhat resembles an Edwardian-era petticoat. Either way, it’s flowy and romantic and I absolutely love it, and I hope you will, too.

Cottagecore

Tools and materials:

2 yards of white cotton fabric
2 yards of eyelet lace
White invisible zipper
A full skirt (for the pattern)
Scissors
Pins
Measuring tape
Fabric chalk
Sewing machine

Lay the skirt on the fabric

Use a skirt to create the pattern

To start, I folded my fabric in half, and laid a skirt I already owned on top of it. Leaving one and a half inches around the skirt for seam allowance, I used pins to mark where to cut all around the skirt.

Cut around the skirt

Cut the fabric

I cut the fabric around the skirt, using the pins as a guide.

Make a cottagecore skirt

Sew up one side seam, and pin the other

Once the fabric was cut, I had one front piece and one back piece for my skirt. I pinned the pieces together along one side, right sides facing, and sewed the seam. I left the other side open, so I could place a zipper there later.

Sew a cottagecore skirt

Hem the top edge of the skirt

Next, I folded over the top edge of the skirt about half an inch and sewed it down.

Measure the waistband

Measure the fabric for a waistband and cut it out

I used a ruler and fabric chalk to mark where to cut for the waistband. I measured out a width of six inches, and to get the measurement for the length, I simply measured my waist and added an inch and a half for seam allowance. Then I cut the waistband out of the fabric, using the chalk lines as my guide.

DIY cottagecore clothing

Pin the waistband to the top edge of the skirt

I pinned the waistband all the way across the top edge of the skirt.

Sew in the zipper

Add the zipper

Once the waistband was in place, I pinned the zipper along the top of the open side seam, sewed it down, and then sewed down the rest of the side seam.

Use a straight, wide stitch

Create ruffles

I wanted to add a ruffled border to the hem of the skirt, so I cut a length of eyelet lace about one and one-third the length of the hem of my skirt. I ran the solid section of the fabric through my sewing machine using a long straight stitch.

Pull the thread

I did not backstitch at the beginning or end of the stitches. Once I finished stitching the length of the fabric, I pulled gently on the ends of the thread, bunching up the fabric as I pulled, creating ruffles.

Cottagecore tutorial

Pin the ruffles to the hem of the skirt

I adjusted the ruffles so they were spread evenly along the length of the fabric, and when I was satisfied with how it looked, I pinned it to the hem of the skirt, right sides facing.

Sew on the ruffles

Sew the ruffles down

Then I sewed the ruffles onto the skirt.

Make a lace ribbon

Make a ribbon for the waistband

I would have liked to use the same eyelet lace to make a border around the waistband, but I did not have enough. So I found a different piece of lace and decided to make a bow for the waistband instead.