Tiered skirts are so comfy and breezy, but like a circle skirt, they take a considerable amount of fabric. Gathering the tiers can also become a little tedious, especially when you get to the bottom of the garment. A two-tiered skirt is nice because you can achieve the same swishy comfort without gathering all those looong strips. They are a quick sew as well, so let's get started.
Supplies:
1/2 to 1 yard of lightweight fabric
1/2" wide elastic
Thread to match
Determine the waist and length measurement of your finished skirt (I'm working with a 22" waist and 16" length). For the first tier width, add between 5 and 8 inches to your waist measurement. This allows for ease through the hips and makes it easy to get a nice, even number that's easy to work with. I added 8" to give me a 30" wide tier. For the length, take your total skirt length and divide by 3. This made mine a bit longer than 5", so I added enough to make it an even 6". Cut your rectangle accordingly.
To cut the second tier, use the width of the first tier and multiply by 1.75 (30x1.75=52.5). This is the width of the second tier. For the length, use two-thirds of the total length plus 1 1/2" for seam allowance and elastic casing. So, my second tier was 11" plus 1 1/2" to equal 12 1/2" long. Cut your rectangle using these measurements.
Fold rectangles win right sides together and sew the short sides to make a loop.
Then serge or zig zag around one of the top edges of each loop to prevent fraying.
Take that long edge of the second tier (the bigger one) and fold it up 1/2". Iron it flat and stitch around it to hem...
Tangent warning: (he he) I really loved the selvage edge of my fabric, so I left it unhemmed. I like the funky fringe it produced on the bottom of the skirt.
...Then flip it around and use a gathering stitch (a long stitch with no backstitching) along the other long edge of the second tier.
Take the smaller loop of fabric and fold the serged/zig zagged edge over 5/8". Iron it flat and stitch around it to make a casing for your elastic. Be sure to set your stitch length back to medium and leave and opening to insert the elastic later.
Gather the top of the second tier until it's the same size as the bottom of the first tier. With both tiers turned wrong side out, place the first tier inside the second and align the raw edges. Be sure to line up the back seams of both tiers and pin all the way around.
Sew around the raw edges, keeping the gathered layer on top so your machine's feed dogs don't ruin your gathers. Trim threads and pull the first tier up; now you should have a skirt that is inside out. Iron over the seam you just sewed to get it to point toward the top of the skirt.
Feed the inside-out skirt under your needle and sew the stitch down all the way around so you get a seam that looks like this on the right side of the fabric:
Cut the elastic to your original waist measurement and use a safety pin to thread it through the casing on the top tier. Sew the elastic together and pull it into the casing. Stitch the casing shut and trim the threads. Iron over everything and give the skirt a shake to make it lie nicely.
Now try it on and soak in the comfy-ness. These are great for beach cover-ups, last-minute trips to the store, or any other time you need a dose of style in a hurry, like catching bugs in Grandma's yard.
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