Ruffled Sukapan Sewing Tutorial

Be there, or be square, cutie gals! I promised I would upload a new tutorial this week, and I did!

Today I'll teach you how to make this super cute ruffle skirt, which even has built-in shorts!

It's super simple to make, and it only took me about half a day. However, I did use a rolled hem foot, which definitely saved me an hour haha~

If you've sewn once or twice before, I think this is a perfect project for you. If you know how to use a machine but haven't sewn in a long time, I think it is also doable; there can just be a lot of fabric at times, and the amount of rolled hems can be frustrating.

In this tutorial, I'll teach you how to create ruffled layers, add an elastic waistband, draft a pair of safety shorts, and put it all together!

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Materials required

About 1m of your chosen fabric (probably a little more than that). I used 120gsm 100% cotton poplin, but I think a lightweight quilting fabric would work as well.
Some lightweight fabric for your built-in shorts. You can use the same fabric as your skirt, but mine was just too cute to waste.
Sewing machine
Thread
Scissors
Measuring tape
Elastic 4cm less than your waist measurement
Rolled hem foot (optional)
Scrap paper (science notes from last year work well!)
Masking tape
Ruler
Pencil + eraser

Part 1: Ruffle tier construction

Measure around the widest part of your hips & bottom
Measure how long you want your skirt to be. I always pick around 32-35 cm as this is just enough to cover my bottom, but you can be more cunty if you'd like!
Cut out two rectangles that are your skirt length divided by three wide, and your hip measurement + 15 long. In my case, this is 11cm x 115cm. When cutting, you should add a 1cm seam allowance. These pieces are the "bridging pieces"
Now, cut out three rectangles that are a third of your skirt length wide but double your hip measurement + 5 from earlier long. If an equation makes it easier: Width = skirt length/3, length = 2(hip measurement + 15)
If your fabric is not long enough to accommodate this, simply cut six rectangles that are the same size as your bridging pieces and sew them together in pairs; these are the ruffle pieces.
You should have a total of five pieces now: 3 ruffles and 2 bridging pieces
Roll hem the bottom edge of each ruffle piece; there should be three in total. I really recommend using a rolled hem foot; my hems are SO NEAT, and the 2mm hem is so nice and lightweight.
Turn your stitch length up to four, and your tension up to nine. Using a 5mm allowance (should be in line with your presser foot edge), straight stitch the whole top length of the ruffle piece - but do not backstitch! You'll find it will be nice and ruffly.
Compare the length of a bridging piece with the ruffle piece; they should be pretty similar length now, but if not, gently gather the fabric more by pulling the bottom thread.
Right sides together, sew the top edge of the ruffle to the edge of a bridging piece with a 10mm allowance
Once unfolded, the bridging piece should be completely attached to the ruffle
Now, place another ruffle at the top of the bridging piece. Both pieces should be facing the right side up.
Right side facing down, pin a bridging piece on top of the ruffle, so it is sandwiched between the two pieces.
Sew them all together.
Unfolding the bridging piece, place a ruffle right side up at the top again, sewing together again. Once finished, it should look like this
Overlock or zigzag the edges where ruffles and bridging pieces have been connected
Pin the ruffles down and seam up the side of the skirt, overlocking the edges

Part 2: Drafting the built-in shorts

So now we are going to draft the built-in shorts!! We'll first make a pattern block, which you can keep and use for other projects by changing the length and width. I was inspired by MeLikesTea's technique, which is so handy!!

The way we draft the shorts is actually a method I was taught in year 7 technology class to draft pyjama shorts, but it works all the same haha.

Stick two A4 pieces of paper together. You may need to attach do a little more, but you can always add.
Fold the paper in half and mark a vertical line down the page
Make a horizontal line at the top of the page; this is your waistline.
Make another horizontal line from your waist to hip distance down the page, mine was 17cm; this is your hipline.
Make another horizontal line that is your waist to crotch distance; this is your crotchline. This was 6cm below my hipline.
Mark the total length of the shorts, make sure it's at least 3cm shorter than your skirt so it doesn't peek out. Add about 1cm for hem allowance
Fold the paper in half, then mark 5cm from the fold on the hip line.
On the crotchline and hemline, mark 10cm from the fold.
Using a straight line, connect the waistline to the hipline.
Using a French curve ruler or freehanding it, connect the hipline to the crotchline.
Lastly, connect the crotchline to the hemline with a straight line.
Unfold the paper, and cut out the side where you drew your pattern, like how I did. This is going to be the front side of the shorts.
Fold the cut pattern over the other side of the paper
Trace around the pattern so you make a duplicate on the side; this will be the back of the shorts
You can unfold the page now and extend the back side 5cm (or more if you have a large bottom!)
Cut out the pattern & you're finished!!
Place the pattern on the fabric, and trace along the edge, then slide the pattern along the fabric until the top edge is half the length of a bridging piece. Now trace the back edge and close the bottom

This top part should be half the length of a bridging piece, since you make two
Cut out two of these pieces
Roll hem the bottom of both pieces
Now, with one piece, right sides together, seam up the straight edge, overlocking it as well.
Repeat on the other piece
Turn the shorts so they're right side out, and match up the seams you just made
Pin the two pieces right sides together, making sure the curves match. This means that the back curve should be sewn to the other back curve, and the front sewn to the front curve, if that makes sense
Sew with a straight stitch and overlock the edges
The curve on the left is the back, it's much deeper to allow bum room
Turn the shorts right side out and you are done!

Part 3: Assembling all the pieces

Pin the shorts to the inside of the skirt and sew them together.
Cut a strip of fabric that is the length of a bridging piece, but 9cm (Or double your elastic's width +4) wide. This is going to be what we make our waistband from.
Pin it right side facing the inside of the skirt, attaching with a 10mm seam allowance
Now, with the top edge, I'd recommend pressing over the edge a little before we continue.
Pin this down so it just covers the unfinished edges and sew around, leaving an 8-10cm opening to insert the elastic
Insert an inch-wide waistband elastic 5-10cm less than your waist circumference, making sure it doesn't twist over
Connect the two ends of the elastic with a zigzag stitch, then close up the opening.
All finished!