Flat Front Skirt Tutorial (size 2 to 16)

Looking for a Flat Front Skirt Tutorial? This Free Flat Front Skirt Pattern is the perfect skirt for girls, and may be just what you need.

*Update: This skirt tutorial now goes up to size 16! I will be updating the title photo soon. 🙂

New pattern alert!! Remember my Flat Front Skirt from last week? I have the pattern and tutorial ready to share with you today!

I love how the skirt turned out; the fit is perfect!

Why You Need to Sew this Flat Front Skirt Pattern

The skirt has a flat front, so it looks good with a tucked-in shirt.
The elastic in the back makes for easy on/off (and easy construction.) I definitely prefer the ease of elastic-waist bottoms, and the look of the flat front really makes it look more structured.
You dress the skirt up or down, depending on the fabric used. (Be sure to check out my Boho Maxi Skirt version- it’s adorable!)

This flat front skirt pattern does not have a printable PDF pattern. The skirt is made of rectangles, and I have provided a table with the cutting dimensions. (Find the table under step one.)

Recommended Fabrics for this Skirt

It’s a bit difficult to see in these photos, but the fabric is corduroy. ( All fabrics I used came from Joann’s, and the ribbon trim from Hobby Lobby.)

Just about any non-stretch fabric will work:

Woven cotton blends
corduroy
linen
gauze fabric

Ready to make one of these skirts for your little one?

Read on!

How to Sew a Flat Front Skirt

by Scattered Thoughts of a Crafty Mom, Size 2 to 16

Fabric Requirements for the Flat Front Skirt:

Size 2, 3: 1 yard
Size 4, 5, 6: 1 1/4 yard
Size 7, 8, 10: 1 1/2 yard
Size 12, 14, 16: 1 5/8 yard

(If you do the contrasting band, that takes about 13 inches inches of fabric, so deduct that from the amounts above.)

Supplies needed to Make the Skirt:

Fabric
1/2 inch elastic (If you prefer wider elastic, use it. Just add a little extra height to the back waistband to compensate.)
Safety pin
Trim (optional)
Basic sewing supplies

Important Pattern info:

Seam allowances are 1/4 inch

Products used (or recommended) in this post:

My favorite fabric shop for knits: Fabric.com, Funkalicious Fabrics and Girl Charlee.
My favorite online retailers for quilting cotton and other apparel fabric: Fabric.com and Etsy
My Sewing Machine: SINGER 9960 Quantum Stylist, my coverstitch: Janome Cover Pro 1000cpx
My Serger: Brother 1034D 3 or 4 Thread Serger or you can just use Pinking Shears
All purpose/universal 90/14 needle
Rotary Cutter
I love my large ruler and large cutting mat, but you may prefer to start off with a smaller Cutting set
Dritz Dual Purpose Marking Pen and Fray Check
Wonder clips (I didn’t use these in the post, but they are just awesome!
Cordless iron

Step 1: Cut your fabric pieces.

Cut out your fabric pieces and elastic based on this measurement and cutting chart (click to see it larger.)
This is the chart for sizes 12 to 16. (I will combine the two charts into one when I have more time.)

You will have 1 front waistband, 1 back waistband, 2 main skirt pieces and 2 skirt border pieces.

Step 2: Put together the waistband.

Fold the front waistband in half, and press.

Fold the top of the back waistband over 1/4 inch and press. Fold over another 7/8, and press again. Sew along the bottom of the folded casing, about 1/8 from the edge.

Attach elastic to a safety pin and pull through the casing until the end of the elastic is just inside the end of the casing. Pin in place.

Sew back and forth 1/2 inch from the edge a couple of times to secure elastic in place.

Line up the raw edge of the front waistband piece with the raw edge of the back waistband piece, right sides together (the edge where the elastic is attached.) Sew together and finish this seam with pinking sheers, zig zag on a sewing machine or serger.

Stretch out the waistband, the safety pin should still be attached to the elastic and will be in the middle of the casing somewhere. (Leave it in the casing, we’ll finish pulling it through later.)

Step 3. Assembling the main part of the skirt.

Line up the 2 skirt pieces and 2 border pieces, right sides together and sew. Finish this seam with your favorite seam finishing method.

Fold the border piece in half (folded height = 3.25) and press.

Line up the bottom of the main skirt piece with the raw edges of the border piece (as shown) and sew. Finish this seam with your favorite method and press the finished seam up.

Change the stitch length on your machine to the highest setting and sew a basting/gathering stitch along the top edge of the main skirt piece, 1/4 inch from edge.

Pull on the bobbin thread until the skirt is gathered to the same width as the waistband.

Tip: Since the back waistband of the skirt has elastic, the back of the skirt will have more gathers and be more full. To help even out the fabric distribution, you can line up the side seam of the skirt and waist band, then distribute the gathers evenly from this point:

(Switch your stitch length back!) Right sides together, line up the gathered top of the skirt with the bottom of the waistband and pin together.

Sew right below the gathering stitch. Remove all pins finish this seam and press.

Finish pulling the elastic through the casing and pin in place.

If the child is handy, have her try on the skirt and make any elastic adjustments.

Sew back and forth 1/2 inch from the edge a couple of times to secure elastic in place.

Line up the edges of the skirt and sew together. Finish this seam and press.

Add trim, if desired. I added ribbon by sewing along both sides. When I got to the end of the ribbon, I folded the edge under and stitched it down.)

That’s it, you are done. Doesn’t it look great? Now, have your little one try it on and come back and share the pictures on my facebook page. Nothing makes me happier than to see what you’ve made!

Like this post? Don’t forget to pin it!

If you end up making one of these skirts, dont forget to come back and share a picture of your finished skirt on my facebook wall or tag me on Instagram (@scatteredmom) and use #scatteredmompatterns

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About the Author

Jamie Sanders is a wife and mom of 2, located in the heart of Texas. She founded Scattered Thoughts of a Crafty Mom in 2011 as a place to share creative ideas and family friendly recipes. Her work has been featured on Martha Stewart, Woman’s World, HuffPost, TODAY, Pioneer Woman, HGTV, CNET, Good Housekeeping, Yahoo, Oprah Daily, and Redbook, plus many other publications. To date, she had given away just under a million free pdf sewing patterns.

55 Comments

Hello! I am using this pattern for your pioneer girl skirt and am a beginner seamstress. My daughter has a 20.5″ waist but is 47″ tall. She is a very tiny 8 year old. Has anyone here used a combination of sizes listed? I’m thinking I need the size 3 measurements for the widths but the size 6 measurements for lengths, plus whatever I need for making it go to her ankles. Does that make sense to anyone? Any help is appreciated!

I’ve read and re read this pattern . I really think the front and back waistband heights are incorrect as a few other posts indicate. Do you fold the front waist band over ? If so then the back waistband doesn’t match up at the sides and then the main skirt sides are incorrect. From your photos in the pattern it does look like the front waistband is folded but in the completed skirt it looks quite wide. So which is it?

Jamie Sanders says:

at

Yes, the front waistband is folded over (first sentence in step 2), so it equals 2 1/4. The back waistband starts at 3 3/8. Minus 1/4 (or 2/8) equals 3 1/8. Minus 7/8 equals 2 1/4 which is the same as the front waistband. This is simply a tutorial on how to make the skirt, feel free to adjust as needed.

Making a flat front skirt is slightly more complicated than a regular elastic waistband skirt, but is so much more flattering with a tucked in shirt.

Good luck!

Reply

1/4 seam allowance on the sides is way too small for properly finishing the seam.

Jamie Sanders says:

at

You are welcome to add more.

Reply

If you are still active here…..I am getting ready to help my daughter make this skirt for a 4-H project. Any tips on the elastic waistband part? I am concerned about bulk. Do you sew the elastic into the seam when the side seams go together or do you sew the elastic in farther leaving empty space for the side seam?

Jamie Sanders says:

at

I don’t have any tips other than what is already in the post.

Reply

This came out so cute! I didn’t have a contrasting border fabric but added on to the skirt front length – worked fine.

I made this and it’s really cute. I did have a few problems with the waistband directions and had to rip it out once. I think if I make it again, I’ll adjust the directions. Thank you for the pattern.

not able to find downloadable link to the flat front skirt. I clicked on what appeared to be link only to go around in circles.

Jamie Sanders says:

at

This is not a downloadable pattern.

Reply
1. Tracie says:
  
  at
  
  Will you offer a pdf for this
  I love it
  I went to print but the photos didn’t show on print preview
  So I did not print it
  Thank you for this
  I am going to make this again
2. Jamie Sanders says:
  
  at
  
  try using the webite print friendly. It allows you to customize what you want to print.

Love the pattern, but I have one question before I start. I understand the gathering of the back of the skirt, but since the front and the back pieces are the same in size, and only the back will be gathered, how do you match up the sides in the proper place? Are you still gathering some in the front, but not as much? That still wouldn’t come out evenly, would it?

Thanks for your help!

Jamie Sanders says:

at

you can mark the center of the skirt and arrange the gathers evenly along the front and back of the waistband before inserting the elastic in the back.

From the tutorial:
Tip: Since the back waistband of the skirt has elastic, the back of the skirt will have more gathers and be more full. To help even out the fabric distribution, you can line up the side seam of the skirt and waistband, then distribute the gathers evenly from this point: See this image.

I can’t think of a better way to explain it.

Reply

How do I get this pattern?.

Jamie Sanders says:

at

This pattern is all rectangles. Rather than waste resources, I provided a chart for you to fold your fabric and cut rectangles using a ruler and marker. The measurement chart is located on the sewing instruction page. (page 2) the link is at the bottom.

Reply

This is darling & just what I need to make some pioneer skirts for my teenage daughters. However, they are both , basically a girls size 16. Any tips on how I should adjust the cut measurements?

Thank you!

Jamie says:

at

This the skirt pattern I used for our little house on the prairie costume too: https://www.scatteredthoughtsofacraftymom.com/little-house-on-the-prairie-costume-bonnet-tutorial/. I have been meaning to increase the size as my daughter is creeping up into the larger sizes. I will work on the calculations this evening and try to update the measurement by the morning. (5/1/19)

Reply
1. Jamie says:
  
  at
  
  done.