It’s easy, it’s quick and it looks darn cute. You need less than a meter of fabric, some elastic and a spare 30 minutes. What’s not to love about the paper bag skirt?

I made one for my daughter with a lovely indigo double gauze. Have you ever used double gauze? It’s divine. Two layers of cotton gauze joined together with tiny invisible stitches. Lightweight but not see through. Breathable, floaty and so so soft. Once you try it, you’ll be hooked. I am.

I teamed up the paper bag skirt with a cute halter top, whist we wait patiently for the sun to shine.

Choosing what to wear with a paper bag skirt can be a little challenging, because after all, you don’t actually want to look like a paper bag. Needless to say it has to be tucked in or cropped. Kids can pull off the look quite easily. I made a Pleat Fold Top in the same fabric, and was delighted with the result.

So, do you want to make a paper bag skirt?

You will need 1cm wide elastic, the circumference of your waist.

Determine how much fabric you will need by measuring from the waist down to wherever you want your skirt to fall then add 18cm.

1. Using the full width of your fabric, measure the length you need and cut.
2. Fold your fabric in half with wrong sides together and join with a 1cm seam so that you are left with a loop.
3. Finish the seam edges with a zig zag stitch or use your overlocker if you have one.
4. Fold the top over by 1cm, press. Then 1cm again, press. Stitch along 2mm from the first fold.
5. Fold the top again, this time by 7cm, press. Stitch 2mm from the fold, leave a gap for the elastic. Fold again 15mm above to form a casing.
6. Thread the elastic through the casing. Overlap the ends of the elastic by approx 2cm and join with 2 rows of stitches.
7. Close the gap in the casing. Hem the bottom.

That’s it, doesn’t take long does it. I made mine in the time it took for my daughter to finish her breakfast.