Make a No-Sew Poodle Skirt

How to make a No-Sew Poodle Skirt

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For our 50's Sock Hop birthday party I made 10 poodle skirts as dress-up favors for the girls to wear during the party, then take home.  I wanted to keep them simple and low-cost.  I made them for about $6 per skirt. Once I made the first one, the rest were much quicker to make so I thought I'd share how I did them to save you some time.  I'll admit I don't like making things that require sewing patterns or pinning fabric. I always end up using my seam ripper. So I came up with this NO-SEW version to make a poodle skirt. I also needed them to be adjustable because we had very different waist sizes coming to this party that I couldn't measure in advance.  These are perfect for playing dress-up or for a dance recital.

Materials Needed

For Skirt:

• Measure waist to knees of the girl. However long you want it to go, double that number Then add 8. That is how big you'll want your square of fabric.  I wanted 17 inches long so I added 8 (for the waist cut) to make the square 42 x 42 inches to start. (Waist to knee length + 8 = length of 1 side of fabric square.)
• 42 inch x 42 inch square piece of colored felt. (Popular 50's colors, pink, baby blue, purple, red or black) Buy 1 and 1/2 yards of 72 inch wide felt.
• 1 package Iron-On Velcro
• Measure tape
• Fabric scissors and cutting mat

For Poodle:

• Hot glue gun
• 7 inch x 7 inch square of white felt (could use black) If you're just making one skirt you could easily buy the 8.5 x 11 sheet of felt from your craft store. If you need to make more, I recommend buying the 72 inch
• small pom pom for tail (matching color)
• Sharpie marker (black to draw eyes and nose)
• Collar - 3 inches of sequin ribbon
• Leash- 20 inches 1/4 inch wide ribbon (often a spools run 3 for $1 at JoAnn's) 

1.  Lay out the felt folded to measure and make sure you have enough fabric. (This picture shows me using my first skirt as a template to copy and trace onto the fabric for my 2nd skirt).

2. Start by folding the 42x42 square into an 21x21 square.

3. Cut a curved line from opposite corners to cut off the open edge. This curve becomes the bottom edge of your skirt. (See picture, this was my doll version size but you get the idea.)

4. While folded, mark 4 inches from the folded corner on both folded sides. Cut a curved diagonal line from each mark.  This creates a 16 inch waist opening. It will be adjustable.

5. Pick any area and cut a line from the outer edge all the way to the center circle.

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FREE PRINTABLE: I created this outline.

6. Copy and paste this image into 'Microsoft Word' or another program. You can adjust the size. You'll want it about 6 inches tall.

7. Print the template and cut out the poodle on your paper.

8. Place on white felt, trace around the edge.

9. Now cut out the felt poodle.

10. Hot glue the sequin ribbon behind the neck to hold in place on both sides. Hot glue one end of the leash ribbon behind the neck too. 

TIPS

Poodle Position: Wrap the skirt around your daughter to see where you want to lay the poodle.

EXCESS WRAP: You can cut the length of the circle shorter if you don't want as much excess wrap. If so, cut it first then add the velcro on the ends as directed below.

11. Now, hot glue the poodle onto skirt.

12. Then glue the pom pom on the tail.

13. Just hot glue a few spots on the leash to hold it in place.  Add a few loops for decoration.

 14. Glue the ribbon up to the waist of the skirt and tuck onto back side of skirt.

15. Open velcro, cut 2 pieces of the loop/pokey style (not the soft matching velcro), 2 inches long.

16. Next, layout your velcro, one on outside top corner edge of skirt, one on inside top corner edge. You want the pokey part of the velcro so it will stick to the skirt once you wrap it.  Now iron both pieces on as directed by the velcro package.

17. Try it on. Wrap it around your daughter and the velcro will stick to the skirt where needed. Works for larger and smaller waists.

My sweet sister helped me make 10 of these skirts for my daughter's birthday party.

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If you'd prefer to sew a skirt for everyday wear, check out the circle skirt tutorial on MADE. She has tips that would help you with this skirt as well.


BOOK OF LIFE = A LIFE OF BOOKS:

Read this cute book to your daughter to go along with your experience.  In this story, the poodle on Kasey's skirt comes alive and the two go on adventures around her town.

Try to find it at your library or see more info at Amazon.

I also found some fabulous paper dolls with 50's fashion and poodle skirts from Paper Studio Press.

See how to make a matching poodle skirt for an 18 inch doll.

See more 50's ideas at our Sock Hop Party.

If you try making a skirt I'd love to see pictures. If you post it online, leave a link in the comments below or send me an email (obSEUSSed (at) live.com)
Let me know if you have any questions about making your own poodle skirt.

Linking to more great ideas at Tip Junkie.