
My oldest daughter found a really cute skirt at a thrift store that I was more than a little jealous of. I used the Renee Top and Dress pattern to make my own version of an inner ruffle layer style skirt and I am in love with it!
You need to use the tutorial from the Renee Dress pattern. You don’t need to print the pattern since there is a cut chart for the tiers in the tutorial, but do what you are most comfortable with.
Make a New Top Tier
Just as I did in the hack to make the Renee dress into a maxi skirt, I made a new first tier to bring in the waist. Each tier is 1.5 x wider than the previous as you go down.
- To find the new top tier width you will need to divide the original first tier by 1.5.
- Mine: Tutorial tier #1 width is 36.25” divided by 1.5 = 24.166” (Rounded up to 24.25”) I ended up adding another .5” to this after sewing a muslin top tier to make it more comfortable to pull over my hips.
- The length will be determined by the length of your elastic.
- I used 1.5” elastic. You will add 3.5” to the length of the elastic you use to get the length for your top tier.
- My new top tier is cut to 5” X 24.75”. Cut 2.
Outer Skirt Layer
- Cut 2 of your new first tier, and 2 of your original 1st and 2nd tiers.
- You will be sewing the outer layer of the skirt the same as instructed in the Renee tutorial it just won’t be connected to a top.
- Sew both pieces of each tier right sides together at the short ends.
- Gather the top of the 2nd tier until it is the width of the 1st tier and sew them together.
- Do the same with the top of the 3rd tier to attach to the bottom of the 2nd tier.
- You can hem the bottom of the skirt now or later, whichever you prefer.
- Set the outer skirt aside.





Inner Skirt Layer
I didn’t do all of the tiers for the inner skirt layer because no one will see them, and it would be bulky. Instead, I made one longer top section and then attached an adjusted 3rd tier to it.
*I used a coordinating fabric for the top of my inner layer because I didn’t have enough of the other fabrics.
- Take your (new) #1, #2, and #3 tiers and fold them each in half lengthwise.
- Line them up along their fold edge.
- Use a long straight edge and angle it from the top outer corner down to the bottom tier.
- You won’t angle it to the outer point of the bottom tier. You will need to angle it to more of an aline slope and mark the angle along the pattern pieces.


- Lay your top section fabric out and set your angled pieces on top of it on the fold.
- Using your straight edge on top of your pieces, fold the excess paper out of the way, and cut along the previously drawn angle. Cut 2 of these.
- Stack your two top pieces right sides together, pin and sew along both outer edges.



- Open up your skirt at the fold and lay it flat.
- You will notice it comes to a point because of the angle it was cut at. If you leave this, the sides will hang down much longer than the front and back sections of the skirt.
- Adjust the skirt so that it is mostly straight across and cut off the point.
- You can see where I laid my ruler across to find the spot that was the straightest area. Mark this spot and measure. (Mine was 5” from the very point of the skirt.) Then I cut straight across.
- Do this on both sides.
- ***Don’t be like me and forget this step until you have already sewn on the bottom tier. My pictures show it attached to the bottom tier, but just pretend it’s not there.





- I used the original 3rd tier for the bottom tier, then added an extra 5” to the length for it to show below the outer skirt.
- If you prefer to make yours longer or shorter:
- Stack the outer skirt on the inner skirt top section and line up their top edges.
- Measure from the inner skirt’s bottom edge to how far below the outer skirt you want it to show.
- Add that measurement onto the 3rd tier.
- Be sure to calculate in seam allowance for sewing it to the top section, and the extra length for hemming.
- Cut two bottom tiers on the fold using the original width of the piece and your chosen length.
- Sew the short ends right sides together.
- Gather the upper edge of the tier to match the width of the bottom edge of the top piece.
- Pin, and sew together.
- I left the bottom tier the original width to create more gathering.
- If you prefer, you can measure the bottom edge of the top section and then multiply that by 1.5 to get the same proportions as the original tiers.


Put the Two Skirts Together
- Slide the inner skirt into the outer skirt with both of their right sides facing out.
- Pin them together along the top edges and run a basting stitch all the way around to keep them from shifting.



- Fold the top edge in ½” and press.
- Fold the edge over again the width of your elastic plus at least 1”. Mine is folded so that the top fold edge is along the seam between the 1st and 2nd tiers. The double layers of fabric add bulk making it difficult to get my elastic in without the extra room.
- Pin along the folded edge, then stitch in the ditch or just inside the folded edge leaving a 1”-2” section open for inserting the elastic.
- Take your elastic and pull it tightly around your waist and overlap the ends ½”. You want to pull it tight enough that it is snug but not so that it is uncomfortable.
- Attach a safety pin to one end of the elastic and thread it through the opening in the waist.
- Push it all the way through so that it comes out the opposite side.
- Overlap the ends by ½” and sew them together.
- Sew the rest of the opening along the waistband.
- If you have not done so already, hem the bottom of both layers of your skirt.



Look at that super cute skirt you made!



If you like the festive wreath in the background, you can find the tutorial for that HERE!
Want more FUN DIY Freebies? Check out the FREEBIE TUTORIALS and the FREEBIE PATTERNS!
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This looks fun! And so customizable!