Sewing a skirt to a brief or to shorts is a simple technique that will have a huge impact on your costume. We are going to show you how to tack a skirt to your briefs or shorts. This technique can work on a lot more applications than just tacking things down so they do not move around. It is really important with this skirt because the skirt will want to naturally move up to the smallest point which is the waistline which can really distract the judges. So this is a really important technique to learn that can come in super handy.
Supplies:
- Dance shorts or briefs
- Dance skirt
- Straight pins
- Safety pins
- Needles
- Thread to match
- Small scissors to clip threads
Directions:
Choosing Your Materials
The only choice of materials to be made here would be the pair of shorts or briefs and the skirt that you want to put together.
Sewing the Garments Together
We are going to show you how to put a pair of shorts and a skirt together. First, you take the back seam and the front seam and hold them together. Bring the waistband together matching the center seam and the side seams. Pin the side seams together at each end.
The skirt we are using only has one seam in the back. So, to find what would be the front center seam, pinch the back seam with your finger and thumb. Then while holding the back seam with your finger and thumb, smooth the skirt out so that it creates a fold. Put a pin in that fold and that pin will act as the front center seam. Then, take the back seam and match it up to the pin in the front. This will create a fold on each side. Put pins in those folds and you will have pins in what would have been the front seam and the two side seams. You can then match the back seam of the skirt and the three pins to the seams in the shorts.
However, the best thing to do is to put the shorts on the dancer and then put the skirt over the shorts and then decide where you want the skirt to rest. Should it go up higher or go down lower? Once that is decided, mark the shorts where you want the skirt to sit.
In this case, we already know that we want to sew the skirt right so the elastic of the skirt meets the edge of the shorts. So, we will pin the skirt to the shorts at the back and the front seam and at both sides. If the dancer is wearing the shorts or briefs at the time, use safety pins. You can pin them together at as many spots as you wish by pinning the skirt to the shorts in between these four basic spots. Just make sure that you stretch the shorts and the skirt out as you pin if your dancer is not wearing them. For our demonstration, we are just going to use the four basic spots.
We like to use long needles with big eyes and double thread the needle as shown in the Pins and Needles section above. Make sure the needle tip is sharp because it will have to go through several layers. Weave the needle in and out at the waistlines tacking the two garments together. To tack the skirt and the briefs or shorts together, stitch going through both the skirt and briefs or shorts and then tie a knot. Then, tack the skirt to the shorts by making several stitches through both garments at the same time until it they are good and tight. Tie the thread again. Repeat the same process at the other three basic spots. Make sure to tie a good, strong knot at the beginning and end of each place that you tack the skirt down. Once you have the spot at the back nice and tight, move to the front and repeat the process. Next, do the same on both sides.
