Sweet (and easy) little girls pocket skirt tutorial

I love these sweet little skirts. They are made to sit above the knee, so are suitable for crawlers, and look gorgeous on their own or over leggings. Plus they are very easy to make, and can be made in about an hour. The measurements given are for a girl about 9 - 12 months. Just make everything larger for a bigger size.

You will need:

• 1/2 yard of fabric for skirt
• 2 pieces of fabric for pocket (7" x 7" pieces x2 would be ample)
• 16" of 1/2 or 3/4" wide elastic for waistband (make sure you measure around bubs waist first, as you may need longer elastic, so it is not too tight)
• needle and thread

1. To begin, cut 2 rectangles 11" x 16" for your skirt.

2. Place the two rectangles right (printed) sides together. Pin down the shorter sides, and sew down each side using a 1/4" seam, so you are left with a tube, then press the seams flat.

3. Fold the top hem down 1/2" and press flat, then fold over another 1" and pin in place.

4. Sew a seam right along (1/10") the bottom edge of the hem, leaving an 1.5" gap.

5. Fold the bottom hem up 1/2" and press, and then fold over another 1/2" inch, pin and then sew into place as above but do not leave a gap.

6. Using a safety pin to guide, thread the elastic through the opening left in the top hem and all the way around until it comes out the other end of the opening, then sew the ends of elastic together, and sew the opening closed.

7. Cut out two pockets. You can do any shape you like, but you want them roughly 5.5" across and 4.5" down, I like to curve the bottom edge.

8. Pin the pockets together with printed sides in and sew around with a 1/8" seam, leaving a 1.5" gap on one side.

9. Snip off the corners, and clip around the curve at 1cm intervals. Clip up toward the seam, but stop before it so you don't cut the thread.

10. Turn the pocket right way out by pulling it through the opening left in the stitching. Then iron it nice and flat and hand sew the opening closed. I like to use a drawing stitch, or ladder stitch, for closing the gap as you can't see it. Quilt Taffy have a great little tutorial on this method.

11. Make a pleat in the top straight edge of the pocket. I do this by finding the centre, and folding the fabric in 1/2" either side. The back edge of the pleat (where my finger is in the pic below) should be about 1".

12. Pin the pleat in place, then sew along the top edge to secure the pleat.

13. Now pin the pocket in place on the front of the skirt, and sew it in place (again sewing about 1/8 - 1/10" from the edge of the pocket). The stitching will be visible on the outside of the pocket, so choose a matching colour if you do not want it to be too obvious. I like the stitching on the outside, so I tend to stick with white thread.

All done! Now just sit back, and enjoy seeing your cute little number on a gorgeous little someone.

xx