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Making your own crinoline for under a flowergirl or other girl’s fancy dress is easier than you think. The instructions below are for a size 5. For another size, simply make the pattern wider and lengthen the tiers. Sizing is approximate, so there’s no science here and not a lot of cost - just a few hours of work.In preparation, measure the:

1. Finished waist (circumference) of the dress you’re making. For this sample, let’s say 22”.

2. Length of the finished skirt. Subtract 2” from the finished length. Mine is 19” finished length minus 2”, so I’ll want the length of the crinoline to be about 17”

You will need:1. 1 yard of lightweight lining fabric.

2. 3-1/2 yards of netting (not tulle) - this is usually inexpensive and is rather stifff and coarsely woven.

Cutting the PiecesTier 1:1.Cut two pieces of fabric for the first tier. This piece can be cut on the bias or on the grain. I prefer to cut it on the bias as it provides some “give” and the edges don’t ravel. Each piece is approximately

7” wide and 5-1/2” long, with a slight curve for the waist and the bottom.

2.When laid out, the pieces look like this:

Pattern and InstructionsGirl’s Crinoline

http://fabricateandmira.wordpress.com/Girl’s Crinoline Pattern page 2

November 16, 2010 Volume VII

Cutting the Underskirt:By extending the length of the Tier 1 piece, cut two underskirt pieces about 15” long instead of 5-1/2” long.

Note: The single purpose of this underlining is to keep the crinoline from being “scratchy”. Cut a second one, just like the first.

You may notice that the curves are not quite symetrical - you can trim the curve later.

Cutting the netting:Roll out the netting and cut 6” by 126” pieces of netting. You will need:

★ 2 strips for tier 2★ 4 strips for tier 3

Note: if you want a fuller crinoline, make the pieces longer. To give you an idea of how much gathering you want, you can sew a sample such as the one below, This is 2:1gathering.

You will now have lots of leftover netting - save it for the next project. The reason I do it this way is to prevent piecing the netting.

Sewing Tier 2 to Tier 1:(all seam allowances are 1/4”)

1.Sew or serge one side of tier 1. Leave the other side open.

2. For Tier 2 you will use 2 layers of netting. On one of the long edges, sew or serge the 2 layers of netting together.

3.Now the fun begins. You will begin to gather and attach both layers of netting to the bottom edge of Tier 1 (sew as one layer of fabric). There are two ways to do this: the old fashioned way of gathering the netting and sewing it to Tier 1, or use a ruffling or gathering foot. As you can see, I use my serger and a ruffling foot, which goes very fast.

4.This is what it looks like:

http://fabricateandmira.wordpress.com/Girl’s Crinoline Pattern page 3

November 16, 2010 Volume VII

Sewing Tier 3 to Tier 2:1.You now have 4 pieces of 6”x126” netting remaining.

2.Sew pieces together so you have two 6”x 252” pieces.

3.Gather and sew (or use a ruffling foot) one of the remaining pieces of netting to each layers of Tier 2 fabric.

4.It will look like this:

Sew the back seam:Starting at the top of Tier 2, sew or serge the back seam. Tier 1 is not sewn as this leaves an opening for the zipper or other opening on the dress.

Note: Because most girl’s dresses have a back opening, the crinoline is constructed with a center front and a center back seam. This has a side benefit of reducing bulk in the side seams. You could change the positioning of the seams if you wish.

Sewing Tier 3 to Tier 2:1.Sew the seams of the underskirt, leaving enough room for the back opening, as you did with the crinoline.2.Hem the underskirt with a serged edge or a narrow hem.3.Pin the underskirt to the crinoline.

Congratulations! You are now ready to sew the crinoline to the dress.

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Attaching the Crinoline to the Dress:1.Gather the top of the crinoline and baste to the dress.

2.Sew the crinoline to the dress.

Tip: In the following photo, I chose to sew a line of stitching near the original seamline where the bodice was attached to the skirt. For a different dress, I back-stitched the crinoline to the dress by hand.

Crinolines aren’t just for Little Girls:You can use this same method for an adult crinoline. Once the skirt is more than 8” per tier, re-calculate and make a third tier. For my daughter’s wedding dress below (minus the underskirt and over skirt), I used the same technique, just with 3 tiers. To give it more fullness, add more gathering. In this case, we wanted the fullness to be lower on the skirt, so Tier 1 is longer in proportion to the lower tiers.

If you enjoyed this tutorial, please leave a comment on my blog. Alternatively, if this tutorial can be improved, also leave me a comment. Enjoy! Annette