My finished gingham skirt

If you follow any fashion bloggers or Instagrammers, you will have seen a million gingham flounce-y or ruffled skirts this year. It seems that all of the fast-fashion shops sold a variation on the trend. I was sucked in by the gingham, but not willing to shell out the money for a trend that's likely to fade quickly.

I knew I could sew it myself. McCall's released a pattern that closely resembles the midi/maxi length (M7606). I was aiming for the mini version, and I knew that with some pattern hacking I could use any straight skirt pattern from the stash. Actually, almost all of this project came from the stash.

I started with Butterick 6287 from 1992. Mom has made the skort view (probably closer to 1992 than today), but I had my eye on the faux-wrap view B.

Butterick 6287 from 1992

I only cut the back, front, and wrap pieces. I also cut them a bit shorter than the pattern considering I'd be adding a few extra inches to the hem with the flounce. The pattern includes a waistband facing, but I had other plans. If you start with a plain skirt pattern without a wrap piece, you could easily create your own. Just cut out an extra of the front piece and cut a gentle curve from the hem at one side to about 2-3 inches in from the other side at the waist.

I drafted the flounce from scratch. After stitching together the body of the skirt, I measured the length of the hem. I started at the front under the wrap and continued all the way around the back and up the wrap to the waistband. I think it was about 60". I sketched out a spiral about 28"diameter. The spiral strip starts at about 4" at the outside and gradually narrows to about 1.5" at the center. I was very pleased that on the first attempt the total length of the strip was a few inches longer than the hem length I measured off my skirt.

My flounce pattern, on kraft paper

I won't go through all the construction details, as I didn't take pictures during the process. I didn't even pull the instructions out of the pattern envelope. Basically, I hemmed the flounce, stitched it onto the skirt with a bit of gathering at the front for extra volume. I finished my seams on the serger. I inserted a coordinating brown zipper in the back. That was another stash pull, so that brings me up to three stash items in the project; pattern, fabric, and zipper.

Detail of flounce/ruffle on faux wrap

For the waistband, I wanted to try out a grosgrain ribbon facing. I bought a spool of brown ribbon with a cute white stitching detail. Of course, I didn't realize until I pressed the waistband that the stitching was just printed on and peeled off with heat. To attach it, I placed the back of the ribbon to the right side of the skirt and stitched along the edge. The ribbon was folded to the inside and hand-tacked to the side seams and darts. It made a quick, comfortable, and stable waistband. I would use this technique again.

The inside showing the back-zipper and waistband

Ultimately, I'm happy with the time and money I spent on this little skirt. I think this has great visual payoff and will be easy to dress up or down this summer. After all, there are hundreds of 'OOTDs' online for inspiration.