Things are about to get festive, because the party just arrived with this DIY sequin maxi skirt. Who doesn’t love sequins?! We started our 5 Days of DIYS yesterday, and today we’re back for our second one! I adventured my way into sewing in the quest for my holiday sequin skirt even being a beginner a sewer and I’m happy to report that you can totally make one too – and hey, for a fraction of the cost you see anywhere. Cin-cin!





What you’ll need:

• Fiskars Orange-Handled Scissors
• Fiskars Thread Snips
• 1 yard teardrop sequin mesh fabric in blush
• 1/2 yard stretch lining
• 1 yard nude foldover elastic
• Matching thread

Making yout DIY Sequin Maxi Skirt

1. Make a pattern

I love this teardrop sequin fabric because it’s a bit stretchy, so making a fitted skirt is a lot easier for someone who doesn’t know make a pattern from scratch like me. I used a maxi skirt I had to make a pattern using butcher paper and added a fishtail like shape to the bottom to give it a mermaid skirt shape.
The other reason why this sequin fabric is a little more forgiving when making a mermaid skirt the first time is that the sequins aren’t as tightly sewn in as the mermaid sequin fabric (the one the sequins flip into a different color) and you can easily remove them for seam allowance using snips.
After diving the depths of the internet researching how to sew sequin fabrics, I came across this post that helped me along the way. Here’s another great project using mermaid sequins!

2. Prepare the fabric

You’ll need to remove the sequins along the seam allowance before sewing your panels. Skipping this part means you’ll run into issues with your needle sewing over the sequins + having a prickly feeling with the skirt sequins poking your skin.
These thread sniks from Fiskars, along with a seam ripper were the tools I used to remove the sequins along the seam allowance. Its pointed tips on the blades offer control when trimming in tight spaces and it gives a clean cut when you trim the ends of your thread. It will also cut yarn, floos and other lightweight materials.

3. Assembling Your Pattern Pieces and Sewing Sequin Fabric

Whenever you sew stretchy fabric, you’ll need to use a zigzag stitch. I also used the walking foot attachment to make sure the fabric wouldn’t move around while stitching.
You will sew the skirt and lining sepaterely. Starting with the skirt, flip both panels so they face each other as if they were inside out. Sew along your seam allowance (1/2″) on both sides.
To make the lining, I simply sewed a short tube skirt with stretch lining fabric. The length of mine was a little above the knees, so the length will vary depending how tall and how long you want it to be. Sew 1″ hem on the bottom. If you don’t have a serger like me, you can use an edge foot attachment which usually comes with your machine accessories.

4. Adding Fold Over Elastic

This is super easy once you try on a piece of scrap fabric! FOE – fold over elastic – comes with a visible line in the middle, which is where (yup) you fold over the fabric.
Cut your foldover elastic to the same length as your skirt circumference and sew the ends together.
Align the lining skirt and the sequin skirt still inside out. I ran a wide stitch to hold both skirts together with a basting stitch, leaving both ends with long tails.
Place the skirt and the fold over elastic under it and lower the walking foot. Gently pull the elastic as you’re sewing around the whole skirt. Flip your skirt right side in and with your foldover elastic, align the skirt with FOE in the center. You sew FOE actually twice: there’s the inside stitch, which is zig zag; and the edgestitch for the “front” of the skirt.

You know you’re looking for stocking stuffer ideas, so I will just leave a hint since you (or someone else!) need a pair of sewing scissors that’s not the same one you use for everything else. I’m going to bet anyone could use a pair of signature orange-handled scissors. Can’t emphasize enough how much easier it is to DIY anything when you have sharp tools and Fiskars is the place to build or refresh your toolbox. We promise, you’ll use them again and again!