Make Your Own Pompom Skirt

Our very own talented seamstress, Lora Heady, originally designed this Pompom Skirt for her nieces to wear at her sister’s wedding. Read on to discover how to create a pompom-filled skirt of your very own.

You will need:

Colourful pompoms – you can buy pre-made from a craft supplies shop, or make your own
Tulle net fabric
Sewing thread
25 mm wide elastic for the waistband
Fabric scissors
Safety pins

Step1: To work out the amount of tulle you’ll need, first measure around your waist/hips, depending on where you would like the skirt to sit. Multiply this measurement by three for a gathered waistband (or more if you would like it to add extra volume). Add 3 cm to this number for the seam allowance to work out the width of tulle you will need. To calculate the length of the tulle, measure from your waist/hips down to the point you’d like the bottom of the skirt to sit at, and add an extra 3 cm for the fold of the waistband. You will then need to multiply this measurement by six, as the skirt is made up of three layers of tulle folded together.

Step 2: Cut three layers using your measurement above.

Step 3: Fold each layer in half widthways and sew along the raw edges to create a side seam for each layer.

Step 4: Once each side seam has been sewn up, fold in half so that all of the raw edges are together. The pompoms will sit inside each layer along the folded edge at the bottom.

Step 5: Each folded panel then goes inside the previous, creating three folded layers that sit inside each other.

Step 6: Add pompoms into each layer so that they sit along the bottom of each hem.

Step 7: Cut your elastic to your waist/hip measurement plus an extra 1.5 cm for the seam allowance.

Step 8: Holding all six layers together along the raw edge at the top, work your way around folding down 3.5 cm and pin into place. Securely stitch around the raw edge of the fold, 0.5 cm from the edge. Leave a small gap to feed the elastic through. This creates a channel for the elastic waistband.

Step 9: Attach your safety pin to one end of the elastic. Using the pin to hold onto, feed the elastic band all the way through the channel, holding the other end of the elastic securely so that the fabric starts to gather. Once finished, you should end up with one end of the elastic at each opening of the channel.

Step 10: Making sure to hold tightly onto both ends of the elastic, sew them together 1.5 cm from the end. Push this last little piece of elastic through into the gap, then sew up the gap. You can then trim any longer bits of netting from around the edge of the stitching, just to create a neat edge (this will sit on the inside of the skirt).

Step 11: Lastly, make sure the gathers are evenly distributed along the length of the elastic and turn the right way around.

All done!