Wedding guest dresses!! Have you ever considered making your own?? Well I did it! And during the process I fell in love with the idea of sewing my own clothes… it’s opened up my world to creating clothing that actually fits my body! So exciting! I find it hard to find nice clothes that fit my tall, larger breasted, hippy chick body. Lol… I don’t think I have ever refer to my self this way, but its fitting.

This past month my little brother married the woman of his dreams, in the cutest place in SPAIN… ever!! The site for their special day was Tierra Del Agua in Caleao, Asturias Spain! It’s such an amazingly special place, with the most beautiful mountain views. So, if you are looking for unique get away experience, or maybe looking into finding a unique wedding venue, I highly recommend this special place.

And without further ado… my homemade Empire Waist Maxi Skirt with POCKETS!!!

EMPIRE WAIST MAXI SKIRT WITH POCKETS PATTERN

MATERIALS NEEDED:

• Heavy Weight Fabric (2 1/2 to 3 yards)
• Coordinating Thread
• Invisible Zipper
• Measuring Tape
• Pins
• Clasp
• Needle and Thread
• Chalk
• Sewing Machine

METHOD:

Step 1: Do your Body Measurements!

• Measure the length around your high waist. The measurement around your ribcage just under your boobs.
• Measure from under your boobs to the floor.

Step 2: Lay your skirt fabric on the floor to create the form of your dress first. You will need the measurement of your whole rib waist circumference for both the front and back of your skirt to allow for the pleats!

So the top of your front skirt panel should be the whole length of your rib waist, plus about 1 inch to allow for seam allowances.

EXAMPLE: My rib waist circumference is 37 inches, so I will need 38 inches of fabric to create the front of my dress. I will need another 38 inches for he back of my empire waist maxi skirt.

Step 3: Draw the shape of your dress onto your fabric with chalk. Add pockets if you wish. Start your pockets about 8 inches down from the top of your skirt. Use the shape of your hand as an outline for the pocket. Like this… Don’t worry about being perfect. I just eye balled it and drew a line that came out a bit from the top. this skirt is very forgiving. you just need to focus on the wait being the right size and the rest will flow beautifully!

Step 4: Fold the skirt in half to make sure your skirt is symmetrical, and then cut it out. Like this…

Step 5: Create your back panel, by laying your front panel on top of the fabric, trace, and then cut out your back panel to be the exact same size as your front panel.  Like this…

Step 6: Find the center of your waist on the front panel. Mark it with chalk.

Step 7: And create 2 pleats on each side of the center of your waist, making sure they are deep pleats (the fabric reaches the other fabric behind each pleat). Pin pleats in place. Make sure your front panel is now half the length of your waist, plus seam allowances. Like this…

NOTE: If your panel is not the length of half of your waist plus seam allowances, you can readjust the length by making the pleats bigger or smaller.

Step 8: Use a zigzag stitch and sew along the top of the skirt to hold all of your pleats in place. Like this…

Step 9: Repeat steps 6 to 8 for the back panel of the skirt.

Step 10: Sew your back and front panel together. Place your front and back empire waist maxi skirt panels face together, and sew up the sides of your skirt, making sure not to sew one side above the pocket to add an invisible zipper.

Step 11: Add invisible zipper. Here is the tutorial I used to insert my invisible zipper. (found here)

Step 12: Create the waist band. Cut a 4 inch wide strip of your fabric, the length of your waist, plus 1 inch for seam allowance.

Sew the ends closed by folding the fabric lengthways in half with face sides together. Stitch the ends closed, then flip the right way out.

Step 13: Sew waist band to the top of the skirt.

Step 14: Hand sew on the clasp to finish off the top of your skirt.

Step 15: Measure the length of your skirt and hem to your desired length. I wore flats with this dress so I cut my skirt 1 1/2 inches longer than my length to allow for the seam. However if your plan to wear heals, make sure to account for that extra height.

To hem a skirt evenly, just make multiple length measurements around the bottom of your skirt, then line them up, and trim away any excess fabric.

AND…. that’s it!!

FOR THE REST OF THE OUTFIT:

I added a little bling with my high-waisted belt (actually a maternity belt from Thyme Maternity) and my top was a mesh crop top (from Torrid), with a bra and bando underneath.

My vision of the top would have been more of a black lace crop top, but that was very hard to find this season. Maybe I’ll just have to make one!!! I love how the whole outfit came together though. wink!

My wonderful bro and I, all gussied up right before he said his vows!

And my little family. LOVE!

Photo above was taken by the wedding photographers: BOGA Fotografia

I hope my empire waist maxi skirt tutorial has inspired you to create your own fancy skirt for your next special occasion. I’m so excited to take inspiration from my list of 10 free wedding guest friendly skirt sewing patterns to create my next fancy outfit! And I hope you are too!

Until next time, enjoy making your own fancy clothes, and creating beautiful things everyday!

XO JCL