You guys, I love the gathered version (view C) of the Wattle skirt! Such a sweet and classic skirt style that creates a really full look. It’s a super simple construction, so I’m going to keep this short and sweet and get right to it!
Place the front and back skirt pieces together with right sides together.
Line up the side seams and pin in place.
Sew 5/8″ from the raw edge. Finish the raw edge with your preferred method (serger/overlock, pinking shears, zig zag stitch, etc).
Repeat for the other side seam.
Remember – on the left side, make sure not to catch the pocket bag layers.
Press the side seams either open or to the side, and then turn your skirt right way around.
Starting on the skirt front, sew a line of basting stitches 5/8″ from the top edge by setting your sewing machine to the longest stitch length. Leave long strands of thread at the ends.
Baste from pocket edge to pocket edge only, not all the way to the side seams.
You can also sew a second line of basting stitches 1/4″ away from the first (towards the top edge) for added stability and security for your gathers.
You can see here how the basting stitches don’t go beyond the pocket edge.
On the left side, make sure you only baste through the skirt front and pocket bag only, not the pocket piece. This needs to be left open so you can step into your skirt.
Now turn over to the back side, and sew one or two lines of basting stitches on the back, 5/8″ from the top edge – this time all the way from one side seam to the other.
Gather both the front and back, separately, by gently pulling on the thread tails that you left on the ends and using your fingers to move the gathers along.
Here is both the front and back gathered.
So how much do you gather? You gather as much as is needed until your waistline lines up with the waistband.
We’ll go over both waistband options in later posts, but I wanted to jump ahead a bit to show you how everything lines up.
Start pinning your waistband to one side of the skirt, with right sides together. Remember that the waistband extends 5/8″ beyond each side of the skirt.
Match up the notches, side seam, and other end of the waistband with the skirt. Now you can continue to pull, loosen, or even out the gathers until the raw edge lines up with the rest of the waistband.
Here’s the full list of Wattle posts and tutorials:
- Pattern Tester Round-up
- Inspiration + Ideas
- Pockets (all views)
- Bias Cut seams (views A & D) and Tips for Pattern Matching
- Pleats (view B) and Alternate Pleat Patterns
- Gathers (view C) (this post!)
- Button Waistband
- Tie Waistband
- Hem
Don’t have the Wattle sewing pattern yet?! Order Wattle today! We absolutely love seeing what you make, so don’t forget to tag your creations with #MNwattle and @megannielsenpatterns when sharing on social media, and check out what everyone else is up to!
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