If you know how to make a pleated skirt, you can add a flirty charm to any wardrobe. You don't even need to have a pattern!
How to Sew a Pleated Skirt
Pleats are folds in a skirt. You can choose to have lots of pleats or just a few. The pleats can be uniform or random. The choice is up to you.
In order to make your skirt, you will have to buy enough fabric. To figure how much fabric that you will need for your pleated skirt's waistband, grab a skirt that fits you the way that you like. Measure the waist of the skirt and then add one inch to this measurement. For example, if your waist measures 34 inches, you would need 35 inches of fabric with a width of 4 inches for the waistband.
For the skirt itself, decide the length that you would like for your skirt to be. Say that length is 25 inches. Add 1.5 inches to 25 for 26.5 inches. Now, take your waist measurement, at 34 inches, and multiply it by three for 102 inches. Add another inch to reach 103 inches. The piece of fabric for your skirt should be 26.5 x 103. You may need more than one piece of fabric for your skirt, depending on your particular measurements.
Pin your skirt to the waistband, using safety pins or straight pins. Don't forget to include a 7-inch zipper.
The pleats themselves are where you get to experiment. You can pleat your skirt randomly with direction changes. You might prefer pleats at one or two inch intervals. You could choose to only have box pleats on the sides. Play around with your design until you find one that you like. Then, pin your pleats into place and sew.
Remember to fold the unfinished side of the waistband under before sewing the waistband to the inside skirt. You may also wish to add hooks and eyes at the top of the zipper. Your final sewing act is to hem the skirt 1.5 inches.
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