Home Page / Tiered Skirt and Wrap Vest Simplicity 8545
Easy tiered skirt pattern you can sew in a few hours
This skirt is easy enough for a 12 year old to sew
A tiered skirt never goes out of style. This was one of the first patterns I ever sewed for myself, and recently taught my 10 year old and her 12 year old friend how to sew using this pattern. It's really lots of straight seams, some gathering, and an elastic waist band.
The top I made for her without the tiered sleeves, as a wrap around vest is very popular right now, and is a great addition to a modest growing girl's wardrobe. Since I find my best savings are on dress up clothes, not necessarily every day work clothes, I made it out of a white synthetic satin material that really looks lovely.
Easy Garment Construction
The skirt is made of a series of large rectangles sewn together and gathered, and then sewn onto the next tier. It's all straight seams, and a good lesson in gathering. The instructions are easy to follow, and the results are very pleasing.
The wrap around top is slightly more challenging, but the clear instructions really help. I skipped the sleeves, and just used seam binding tape to finish the armholes. To embellish, I cut out two pink gauze hearts and applied them to the skirt and vest. To do this I ironed under 1/4 inch of fabric around the edge of the heart, and then used a tight zig zag stitch all around the edge of the heart. Of course, you could just purchase ready made iron-on appliques. My daughter was very happy with the results.
Teaching Your Daughter with this Pattern
The pictures below are my seamstressing, as the fabric is somewhat smooth and slippery. While teaching my daughter and her friend to sew, I chose a cotton crinkle gauze fabric that was both inexpensive, simple, and easy to sew.
I bought this pattern years and years ago, so I'm not sure if you can easily find it. If you can, I highly recommend it. You can use fancy fabrics for a fancy effect, or simple fabrics for a great all purpose tiered skirt.
If you're looking for a bargain in tiered skirts, check out what's currently on auction at ebay. You can often buy a skirt for less than you'd pay for fabric:
