3 very easy maternity pencil skirt diys

Supplies:
1 to 2 yards of stretchy fabric
measuring tape
sewing machine
pins
scissors
thread
*optional oversized tee for the refashion

Instructions:
VERY BASIC PENCIL SKIRT
1.Cut out your front and back knit pencil skirt piece by either mimicking another pencil skirt you have (if not maternity, just add to the belly area of the skirt and lengthening it to hit the bottom of your ribs) or measuring your body as shown below and mark it out on the fabric. Cut out and sew up the sides

2. Hem the bottom at least an inch under with a zig zag stitch or a straight stitch (only the latter if you plan on stretching the bottom a bit as you sew it in, then it will give it the stretch you need to walk)

3. insert the waistband using one of the options below the picture.

GATHERED MATERNITY PENCIL SKIRT

1. Do the same from step on the very basic maternity pencil skirt above, but add 6 to 10 extra inches of length the belly area because this will be gathered. Cut out and sew up side seams.

2. Grab 6 to 10 inches of elastic (depends on how long you want the gathering to be, I recommend shorter) and pin the top just above the belly and pin the bottom  5 or 6 inches below on the side seam. Then stretch the the elastic out as you sew, so it will fall center on the side seam of the skirt. Then when you are done, it will bunch up. The more you stretch the elastic the more gathered the side will be. Hem the bottom at least an inch under with a zig zag stitch or a straight stitch (only the latter if you plan on stretching the bottom a bit as you sew it in, then it will give it the stretch you need to walk)

3. insert the waistband using one of the options below the picture.

REFASHIONED MATERNITY PENCIL SKIRT

**Tutorial here - make sure when you mark out the skirt to the top, you accommodate your belly like in step 1!WAISTBAND OPTIONS:

Option 1: elastic waistband (hidden on inside)
hidden elastic: mark the elastic and skirt into quarters, then pin those quarters together laying the elastic over the top of the skirt, placing the edge of the elastic to the edge of the skirt, on the outside of the skirt. i.e. only the top edge of the elastic will touch the top of the skirt. Sew the top edges together, stretching as you sew. Then flip under inside the skirt. Stretch as you straight stitch a topstitch it under one to 1.5″ down from top keeping the elastic in place. If you don’t want to topstitch it, it will still work but will flip up constantly.
Or you can have the elastic not hidden don’t flip under just up after you sew the top edge together on the outside of the skirt.

Option 2: wide stretchy knit band
Measure your belly/hip/waist area and make a long piece of fabric that that will tightly fit around your belly/hip/waist area as well as make it 2x as long as you want so when it is folded in half and sewn to the skirt, it will the official length in the end. Then fold it in half and make it a tube. Then fold that tube in on itself hiding the seam on the inside. Then pin and sew the tube RST to the skirt. Pop up! Keep popped up or fold down once.