Kawaii Underbust Skirt - Sewing Tutorial 

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Hi everyone! This is my first tutorial, and today I'll be recreating/revamping the first garment I ever sewed by myself and giving you a tutorial on how I made it. 

This skirt is soooo cute and flattering, and would be very suitable for an inverted triangle or hourglass body shape. I think it could be incorporated nicely into a himekaji co ord, and I'm planning to make a puffy, off-shoulder top in white to match, which I'll give a tutorial to draft the pattern for and the instructions to assemble. 

However, I have a longggggg list of things I want to make, and I don't have any more space to store fabric, so it could be a while. Don't worry though! I have lots of other cute tutorials planned too 😝

In November last year, I made this skirt:

It's cute, and I did wear it fairly often. It was the first garment I made without the help of my technology teacher or grandmother. I remember scrolling on Pinterest in the school library at lunchtime, and coming upon this tutorial by Yumi King. I was obsessed! And so excited I'd found something so easy to make, with a FREE pattern. I was lucky that day was a Friday, as soon as I'd finished my homework, I went straight into sewing it! It took me that afternoon and the Saturday following to finish it, but fun fact, the day after I went to the ARTMS concert with my mami and grandmother. We were Odd Eye Circle (I dressed as Kim Lip). 

For a very beginner's sewing project, it wasn't too bad. The hems were massive and pretty uneven. I had no idea how to finish seams, and the zipper is holding on for dear life at this point, but as I said, I was pretty proud of it.

I know she's not looked well upon in the lolita and sewing community, but Yumi King took a huge part in my sewing journey. I love her, she's fantastic, and so many of her tutorials have been the base of what I've made. She seems like a super sweet lady, and her creations were so cute and nice.

Now that I've yapped your pretty little earrings off, let's get onto the tutorial!

જ⁀➴ MATERIALS

• 1m of fabric - I used a lightweight, 130gsm cotton fabric, which is pretty easy to get and was perfect for the skirt.
• Zipper - If you have any butt or hips at all, please use at least a 30cm zipper; I only used a 25cm, so I have to shimmy very slowly to get mine on without snapping any seams 😭
• High-quality thread - Get out your Gütermann thread you save for special occasions, these seams have to be strong!
• Scissors
• Fusible interfacing
• Iron + ironing board
• Sewing machine with a standard and invisible zipper foot
• Lace - make sure you have a fair bit, you don't want to run out!
• This pattern - from Dr Cos. It is paid, but only 500 yen, which is not even 5 AUD. But if you do really want to avoid paying, you can use this free pattern instead, which is also from Dr Cos, but is just highwaisted, not an underbust skirt

જ⁀➴ STEPS

1. Get the “corset skirt” pattern, print it or trace it onto paper. The pattern I'm using is so nice, it has a similar, but slightly less flare than a half circle skirt, which is nice
Tip: measure yourself carefully, the nature of this pattern makes it very important that it fits perfectly, and because you only pay for the pattern for one size, it can be an expensive mistake (well, 500 yen isn't that much, but still...) If you are right in the middle of sizes (for example, a 68cm waist is right between a size small and a size medium), size down and see my tip below

2. Cut out all the pattern papers and glue them together as directed

Tip: If you've never done this before, at the bottom and top of each page, there should be letters like AB or CII. These match the pages, so if the top of the paper has AB, it should be attached to the piece of paper with AB at the bottom edge. Also, don't forget to cut away the dashed border around each page so that all your pieces align correctly.

3. Lay out the pattern pieces on your fabric
Tip: If you are between sizes or just need a little extra wiggle room, when cutting the centre front piece, instead of placing it right on the fold, put it 1.5-2cm away from the fold, as I've shown on the diagram below. 
It may not seem like a lot, but putting the pattern piece 1.5cm from the edge adds an extra three centimetres, which can make a huge difference. Just remember to copy this adjustment when cutting the lining and interfacing for the centre front piece, so everything fits right 

3. Cut out the pattern pieces on your fabric, making sure that the arrow on the pieces is parallel to the selvedge, and remember there is seam allowance included in the pattern

Tip: A warning, this skirt is pretty short, so as you're cutting out the pieces, I'd recommend adding an extra 3-5cm on, more if you're not adding any lace to the edge.

4. Cut out the interfacing + lining pieces

5. Overlock/overcast the edges of each piece, except the hem of the skirt - we’ll do this later

6. Pin all the main pieces together
Tip: Please, pin every piece together before you sew. Normally, I don’t, but I’m so glad I did because it’s a bit confusing to know which piece goes on which side

7. Straight stitch each seam together

8. Iron the fusible interfacing onto the lining pieces, sticky side facing the wrong side of the fabric
Tip: cut any excess interfacing off the edges of the pieces to make it all tidy

9. Pin all the lining pieces together and straight stitch down the sides

10. Insert your zipper. The instructions do say to use an invisible zipper, but I just had a normal one, so I used that instead. However, I will insert it as if it were an invisible zipper for the sake of this tutorial and also because I think it's actually much easier than the “normal” way of inserting a zipper, which I always seem to mess up.

11. Right sides together, place the right side of the zipper on the left side of the skirt opening, like the image below, and sew this side of the zipper down using your invisible zipper foot.

12. Once you’ve sewn it down, fold the zipper tape back and check that it looks a bit like this

13. Now, get the right side of the skirt opening. Twist the other zipper edge so that the print side of the fabric is facing the front side of the zipper (right sides together). Sew the zipper tape down

14. Finish the rest of the seam going down the skirt's back so your bottom isn’t hanging out!!

At this point, it’s time to attach the lining.

15. Pin the lining and the top of the skirt right sides together, making sure that the lining goes the whole way from one zipper edge to the other

Tip: don't be like me and think it’s super crazy and complex to attach a lining when there is an invisible zipper, it’s actually so easy, I don’t know why I was stressing.

16. Forget there’s even a zipper there and sew up the sides and along the top of the lining and skirt, then turn the lining inside out so that the interfacing is hidden and the zipper is visible.

Mine looks a little funny in this picture because I forgot to take a photo before I top-stitched, but just add the lining in as usual.

17. Iron the top edge and topstitch to secure the lining. Normally, I’d say topstitching is optional, but this is a really crucial part that ensures the correct structure of your skirt, with the added benefit of looking more professional

18. Make sure all the bottom edges of the skirt match up and trim any necessary adjustments.

19. Overlock/overcast the bottom hem, remove as little as possible because this skirt is super short…

20. Get the matching lace that you want to use to finish the edge of the skirt. I wanted to use white, but I didn’t have enough, so I'm using pink. This is optional, but I needed a little something extra to lengthen the skirt a bit, and it is also an easier way to hem as the edge is curved, and rolled hems can get tricky with circles.

21. Measure out and ensure you have enough lace, but don’t cut it!! Somehow, I always seem to use about 5cm more than I expect, so I don’t risk mismeasuring

22. Put the lace on the right side of your fabric, and make sure the edge is facing away from the hem

23. Begin straight stitching the lace onto the skirt, use a 1cm seam allowance, but also leave about 3cm of lace unsewn at the start and finish 

24. Once you’ve attached the lace the whole way around the skirt, you’ll have these two lace edges. Leave one long, and cut one about 1-1.5cm long. What I'm going to do is make it so that one edge of the lace encases the other, a bit like a rolled hem. But you can overlock the lace instead if you have an overlocker.

25. Fold over the long edge once, then fold it again, over the short edge so it is encased. 

26. Make sure the whole cut edge of the lace is encased, then sew 

27. Open up the lace so that the edge is tucked to the inside of the skirt, then topstitch to secure, and you're finished!

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