Skirts are always a key player in a girl’s wardrobe and this definitely applies to my daughter who loves to wear a skirt whenever it is possible for her to do so. Here is the all-time favorite 3 tiered skirt I sewed for her. Scroll down to get the pattern; be it long, short, mini, or midi, adjust the pattern with your desired length.
I sew this above knee length 3 tiered skirt for my daughter who is in her pre-teenager age. She is 5′ tall and her waist is 25″. The skirt length is 15″ long and the total fabric required is 1 1/4 yard, lace is about 4 1/4 yard, the ribbon is about 2 1/8 yard. Again, this 3 tiered skirts pattern is for all sizes, all you need to have are the waist and the skirt length measurements of the person you intended to sew this skirt for.
Quick 3 Tiered Skirt
scroll ⬇️ to get the free sewing pattern & tutorial
For this 3 tiered skirt, I used a gathering presser foot to gather the fabric which is faster than the manual gathering method. If you haven’t used a gathering foot to gather fabric, there is a video at the pattern section to show you how to do it. The total time I’ve spent to sew this 3 tiered skirt is about 2 hours. If you do not have a gathering presser foot for your sewing machine you can still do the fabric gathering manually, refer to the ruffles skirt tutorial where I did the gathering manually.
My daughter loves this skirt a lot, especially the details on the lace trim at the bottom hem and the ribbon between the 2nd and 3rd tier. While I love to see her wearing this 3 tiered skirt and adore the way the skirt swirl as she walks.
What’s Next
- Start sewing and share your completed handmade on Facebook and/or Instagram. Remember to tag us, @craftpassion, so that we are able to see them.
- Pin it to Pinterest for future To-Sew List
- Share with your sewing groups for a sew-along event.
- Learn more about the basic of hand sewing and how to choose a sewing machine for beginners.
- Browse more free sewing patterns to sew, especially sewing for summer wearables.
Quick 3 Tiered Skirt Sewing Pattern
For this 3 tiered skirt, I used a gathering presser foot to gather the fabric which is faster than the manual gathering method. If you haven’t used a gathering foot to gather fabric, there is a video at the pattern section to show you how to do it. The total time I’ve spent to sew this 3 tiered skirt is about 2 hours. If you do not have a gathering presser foot for your sewing machine you can still do the fabric gathering manually, refer to the ruffles skirt tutorial where I did the gathering manually.
Enjoy sewing them!
Materials
Fabric (cotton – bolt width 42″), for above knee length:
- Baby – 1/2 yard
- Toddler – 3/4 yard
- Kid – 1 yard
- Teenagers and Petite Adult – 1 1/2 yard
- Adult & Oversized Adult – 2 1/2 yard
Elastic bands:
- Baby, Toddler & Kid – 1 yard
- Teenagers, Petite Adult & Adult – 1 1/2yard
- Oversized Adult – 1 3/4 yard
Ribbon:
- Baby – 1 1/4 yard
- Toddler – 1 3/8 yard
- Kid – 2 1/8 yard
- Teenagers and Petite Adult – 2 3/8 yard
- Adult & Oversized Adult – 2 1/2 to 3 1/4 yard
Lace (2″ width):
- Baby – 2 1/2 yard
- Toddler – 3 3/4 yard
- Kid – 4 1/4 yard
- Teenagers and Petite Adult – 4 3/4 yard
- Adult & Oversized Adult – 5 to 6 1/2 yard
Button:
- Small (as a decorative bow on the waistband)
Tools
- Sewing Machine
- Gathering Foot (Optional), you may do the gathering manually if you do not have this foot.
- Pins and needles
- Matching sewing threads
- Iron
- Seamstress pencil and ruler
- Seamstress scissors or roller cutter
Instructions
Note: You may use synthetic fabrics that won’t crease easily if you prefer the ruffle skirt to be wrinkle-free.
Remark: You may use the same method to sew a 3 tiered long skirt or maxi skirt, adjust the fabric required to suit the length of the skirt.
The following video shows how to use a gathering foot to gather fabric quickly. Alternatively, you could do the gathering in a manual way if you do not have this foot, refer to this tutorial for the manual way to gather fabric.
More Details On How To Sew 3 Tiered Skirt
- a. Measure the waist and length of the person you intended to sew this skirt for.
b. Gather all the materials and tools as listed above.
c. Cut the fabrics according to the measurement as shown in the picture. I doubled up the width of each tier to give moderate gathering on the skirt. Since I am using a gathering foot to sew this skirt, I didn’t use up all of the fabric widths for each tier.
You may use narrower width if you want less gathering effect on the skirt. The width can range from 1.5 times to 2.5 times the width of the preceding tier, calculate your total fabric material required for the skirts before purchasing the fabric.
Click the picture to get a larger view.
- The Tier 1 length (the bottom fabric pile shown in the picture) is longer because it includes the waistband.
Stitch to join up the fabric strips to make up the needed width for each tier.
On the right are the elastic band and ribbon for the skirt which I haven’t cut to the correct length yet.
You will need a 2″ width lace and a small button as a decorative bow on the waistband too which are in the picture.
- I used Bernina Gathering Foot #16 for the quick gathering job. If you are not using Bernina sewing machine, please check with the manufacturer if they have a gathering foot for their sewing machine.
Otherwise, you can do the fabric gathering manually, refer to the ruffles skirt tutorial where I did the gathering manually.
- Refer to the video given above on how to gather fabrics by using the gathering foot.
Adjust the stitch length and tension of the sewing machine. Test the gathering on scrap fabric pieces until you get the desired gathering you want.
If this is your first time using a gathering foot, practice a little bit more to get familiar with the technique before you start the actual project.
- a. Feed tier 1 fabric into the slot of the gathering foot while placing tier 2 fabric at the bottom with the right side facing each other.
b. Align tier 1 and tier 2 on the long side and sew with a seam allowance of 3/8″. The gathering happened to the bottom piece of fabric.
You may have an excess fabric of tier 2 at the end of sewing, just trim it off, this is common when using a gathering foot.
- Here is how the gathering looks like after sewing tier 1 and 2 together. To ensure that you get a uniform that gathers along the way, be sure not to restrict the feeding of the bottom fabric during sewing.
Repeat the same sewing technique to join tier 3 to the skirt.
- Neaten the raw edges of the seam allowance of the skirt by using an overlock stitch or zigzag stitch.
- a. Press the seam allowance of tier 1-2 upward so that it is on the tier 1 side.
b. Double top stitch near the seam line.
- Press the seam allowance of tier 2-3 the same way as above, but this time place the ribbon and topstitch near the seam line.
- a. Sew to add the 2″ lace at the bottom of the skirt. Fold and press the overlocked seam allowance upward, topstitch.
b. Sew to join the vertical seamline of the skirt, neaten the raw edges with either overlock stitch or zigzag stitch.
c. To make a 1″ elastic waistband, fold 1.5″ at the waist, then fold 3/8″ of seam allowance into the waistband.
d. Press with an iron to set the line.
e. Sew 1/2″ and 1″ from the top edge respectively if you are using a narrow elastic band.
Or, sew 1″ from the top edge if you are using a wider elastic band.
Remember to leave an opening (about 1″ to 1.5″) for you to insert the elastic band.
f. Stitch to close the opening after you are done with the elastic band.
g. Add a small ribbon bow at the center of the waistband and sew a small button at the middle of the bow. I like to use this to tell my girl where the front center of the skirt is supposed to be.
- After almost 2 hours of cutting and sewing, here is the 3 tiered skirt I sewed for my daughter. You will need a slightly longer time if you are doing the gathering manually.
Beautiful 3 Tiered Skirt that girls will love to wear.
Notes
This pre-teen 3 tiered skirt measures 15″ in total length, model waist is 25″ and height is 5′. Total fabric required is about 1 1/4 yard, lace is about 4 1/4 yard, the ribbon is about 2 1/8 yard.
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Cora
Monday 13th of March 2023
Hi, just to make sure I am doing this right my question is: waist measurement for tier one is 1.5 x waist measurement, for tier 2 do you use the 1.5 measurement x 2 or the actual waist measurement x 2 ? Thank you! Cora
Craft Passion
Thursday 23rd of March 2023
The width of the 2nd tier is 2 x (1.5 of the waist measurement), as suggested in the formula.
JT
Thursday 12th of November 2020
Would you please make this pattern available again? The link doesn't seem to be working. Can't wait to try out this pattern too!
Craft Passion
Friday 13th of November 2020
The pattern is right below the tutorial section. Please scroll down to read it. Happy sewing.
Deanna Miller
Tuesday 15th of May 2018
I LOVE YOUR SITE! Super user friendly and great selection. Thanks for all your work.
Natalia
Monday 21st of November 2016
I appreciate the input. Thank you!
Natalia
Friday 18th of November 2016
I really love this skirt with the fabric choice and trims, and the style! I do have a question about the gathering I'd love if you could share your thoughts on...
You mentioned that you use a ruffling foot. I also have a ruffling foot, but it's a vintage Singer (and it works beautifully)! What I don't understand is how you know, when using a foot, how much fabric it will take to make a certain finished length. For instance, you are using a 2:1 ratio for most of the gathering. Have you figured out exactly which setting gathers the fabric at 2:1? If so, did you have to do this by testing it on scraps and making notes? Or does your foot have a setting that tells you? Mine certainly doesn't. This is the only reason I haven't used my gathering foot more.
Thank you so much for any help.
Natalia
Craft Passion
Friday 18th of November 2016
Hi Natalie, first of all I am using gathering foot and not ruffling foot, these 2 feet are different. I mentioned in the tutorial that you will need to adjust the stitch length and stitch tension, test it on scraps to get the desired gathering effect of your choice. By saying that, you will need to mark the length of the fabrics in order to know how much fabric you are using for the tension and stitch length setting. Each machine is different, as well as the fabric you are using, and the tension you hold the fabric, you will need to test it out on scrap before you sew the skirt. 2:1 ratio is what I am using for this skirt, it is just a benchmark, you can opt for lesser or denser gathering.