Simple Skirt

I think this skirt is a perfect first project for anyone tempted to try making children's clothes. No patterns, just a few straight lines of sewing and you have a twirly skirt for the little girl in your life.

Brushed cotton and lining, both from John Lewis.
Velvet ribbon available by the metre from Singers.

You'll need:

fabric - the length you want the finished skirt to be, plus 5cm 

1 inch wide elastic - the waist plus 2cm

thread

ribbon - length needs to be whatever width your fabric is (usually around 115cm)

lining fabric (optional) - same amount as main fabric (make sure its the same width, too)

You can find instructions for this type of skirt all over the web - like Dana at MADE. The idea is basically one long piece of fabric, sewn together, and then a casing at the top wide enough to put the elastic in. 

To line the skirt like I've done, just make a second sewn together piece the same size out of lining fabric. When you come to turn the top over and pin to make the casing for the elastic, match both pieces up wrong sides together at the seams, pin, and treat it like one piece of material. Then do the hems as the bottom - making sure your lining ends up slightly shorter than the finished outer skirt. If you're adding a ribbon like on mine, you can save time and sew the hem and one side of the ribbon in one step.

Normally, I'd advocate sewing the elastic in a ring first, and inserting it into the casing at the top of the skirt as you go, rather than fiddling about threading it through and sewing the ends together afterwards. This way is much quicker and easier when making elasticated trousers, for instance. But on a very full skirt like this, I think it is probably quicker to just thread the elastic at the end - as otherwise you'll be constantly stopping to move the fabric along and stretch the elastic out, and it will be slow sewing the casing as a result.