The Napkin Skirt Tutorial

Years ago I was given 4 Christmas napkins (probably for my wedding?? Who knows). But four? Really? That's not really enough for entertaining, and I have 6 people in my own family, so they have sat in a drawer for 13+ years (yes, I know, many of you would tell me I should have gotten rid of them a long time ago. I'm working on it!! LOL) But what do you do with only 4 napkins? And the pattern is such that I would have to have a very plain tablecloth, so they just sat there.

Enter the napkin skirt. Stay with me here. I know that sounds a bit bizarre. I didn't have a pattern; I just kind of made this up as I went along, so if you have a better way, please let me know!

Because I like a bit longer skirts on little girls,I used two napkins to make mine for my 2 year old, but you could use one napkin and cut it in half if you'd like a knee-length version. My napkins are a bit thicker than regular napkins, but you can judge for yourself the quality of the material you have.

Measure your napkins. Mine were 17" x 18". If necessary, trim them so they are perfectly even on the edges. (Mine were not). Also, measure your little girl. You want to know her waist measurement (my daughter is 2 years old and her waist is 19" if that helps), her waist to knee measurement so you can know how long to make your skirt (she was 11"), and her waist to ankle measurement if you want something longer (again, my 2 year old was 22").

If you don't want to add the ruffle, then you can save one of the hemmed edges of the napkins for your skirt hem. Just be sure you don't cut it off. Pin right-sides together and sew the two side seams.

I used 5/8" seams because those are standard in garments while sewing, but you can adjust as necessary if you'd like. If you have a serger, that would certainly be easier (and I am jealous!)

Press the seams open (unless you have a serger). Press a casing along the top edge of the skirt. Press the edge under 1/4" and then again 1 1/4" (this is what I used because I used 1" elastic. If you use 3/4" elastic, you can adjust your casing.) You could also create button holes and simply stitch the casing in place, then use a drawstring instead of an elastic. That would also be very cute, but since my skirt is for a potty-training 2 year old, I wanted something that was easy for her to do by herself.

Pin the casing in place. Mark with 2 pins where you plan to start and stop. You need to leave an opening to thread the elastic through.

Stitch casing in place, making sure to backstitch at each end and leave an opening.

For the ruffle, I used 1/4" yard of red polka dot fabric. This was just something I had lying around in my scraps. It measured 9 1/2" x 44", but one edge was jagged, so I squared that up and then cut the ruffle into 2 strips measuring 4.5" x 44" each. If you need more detailed instructions on adding a ruffle, click here.

Pin right sides together at the short end and stitch a 5/8" seam.

Press the seam open. Fold the bottom edge of the ruffle under 1/4" and press and then under 1/4" and press again. Pin in place and hem the bottom edge of the ruffle. It will be much easier to do at this step than after it is gathered and attached to the skirt.

Loosen the top tension & use a very long stitch length on your sewing machine and sew two rows of stitches. Sew one row 5/8" from the raw edge and one row 1/4" from that row of stitching (closer to the raw edge). Do NOT backstitch at the beginning of the row. Grasp the bobbin thread and pull gently to slowly gather the ruffle. Be careful so you don't break the thread. Adjust the gathers to fit the bottom of the skirt and pin into place (right-sides together).

Readjust the stitch length and tension to normal stitching. Stitch the raw edges of the skirt and ruffle together using a 5/8" seam. This will hide the gathered stitches.

Remove the pins and press the ruffle.

Thread the elastic through the casing. It is a good idea to measure it on your little girl before you sew the ends, but if not, you can always still adjust it before you stitch the opening closed. Once you are happy with the fit of the elastic, stitch the casing opening closed and you're done!

This napkin skirt is ankle length on my 2 year old, mid-calf on my 5 year old, and knee length on my 8 year old. Funny, they are all trying to get it to be "theirs." I do have 2 more napkins, but I wish I'd had 6 total, because then they would have all had matching skirts. If you wanted to make a longer skirt for an older girl, you could simply add more ruffles to the bottom or adjust the width of the ruffle by cutting a wider strip of fabric so you achieve your desired length.
Why is this frugal? Because for me this project's total cost was: $0.00. Yup. Seriously. I had everything in my house. It's all about recycling & repurposing what you already have. Look around and see what you have. Maybe you have a tablecloth with a tear in it. Even if you had to purchase the napkins and elastic and ruffle fabric, you'd still be under $5.00, especially if you shopped clearance sales or thrift stores. I also made a very cute one from some fat quarters (a quilting term for those of you who may not know), but I don't have any elastic right now. I will post some pictures of that one as soon as I get it done. Sorry about that.
If you decide to make this skirt, email us a photo of it. We'd love to hear from you. Happy sewing!