In today’s post: Learn how to sew a cute gathered skirt with shorts attached! Perfect for your active little girl over the summer. Also called a scooter skirt.
My little girl loves dresses and skirts, and lately she’s been insisting that they “float up” when she twirls. Gathered skirts are easy enough to make, but I end up spending the whole day reminding her to put her skirt back down and make sure her undies are covered. So I figured out how to make a simple gathered knit skirt with shorts attached! It’s all one piece, so it looks like she’s just wearing a cute, twirly skirt:
But when she actually twirls (or hangs upside down on the jungle gym) you see the shorts underneath instead of her Minnie Mouse undies.
I’ve seen these skirt with shorts attached in stores lately called “scooters” or “scooter skirts”.
How to make a skirt with shorts attached
I made this skirt/shorts combo from a thrifted men’s tee, meaning it only cost $1! Thrifted men’s shirts are a GREAT way to buy cheap fabric!
NOTE: I made another version of this project using storebought bike shorts to make it even easier! Check out that skirt with shorts attached here.
Here’s how I made this easy gathered skirt with attached shorts:
I measured from my daughter’s waist to just above her knee (10 inches) and cut that much off the bottom of the tee to use for the skirt.
Next, I used a pair of leggings that fit her well to cut shorts pieces from the top of the shirt (remember to add seam allowance). There will be 4 pieces for the shorts.
Finally, I cut a rectangle for the waistband – 3 inches tall and wide enough to go around my daughter’s waist. (I used material from the sleeves for this). Remember, the stretch needs to go along the length of this piece.
I started by sewing the shorts together along the dotted lines below – down the outside of each leg and then down the inside of each leg.
The I turned one leg right side out, and slid it into the other leg which was inside out. I sewed the two legs together along the rise (the crotch seam). Turn everything right side out, and you have shorts.
Next, I cut the waistline a little in the front of the shorts and the front of the skirt, as you can see below. This is important when sewing for toddlers since their little tummies stick out. If you don’t lower the front, the skirt will end up being longer in front than in back. If your toddler still wears diapers you’ll want to lower the front even more than what’s shown here.
I sewed a gathering stitch (long stitch length, lo tension) along the top of the skirt piece and gathered it until it was the same width as the top of the shorts (not shown).
The next step is to get the waistband ready. Sew the two short ends together as shown below, leaving a scant 1 inch opening on the lower half (1st photo below). Then fold the band in half and press. You’ll see that at the seam you have an opening where you’ll be able to thread elastic through (2nd photo below).
Now it’s time to put all the pieces together! First the shorts to inside the skirt (both right side out), and then the waistband goes on top of that, with raw edges together. The hold for the elastic should be on the outside at this point.
Pin all three pieces together – you can see what it looks like below. Shorts on the inside, gathered skirt next, waistband on the outside.
Sew around all the raw edges to connect everything. Then cut a piece of 1-inch elastic to 1 inch smaller than the waist measurement, and thread it through the waistband. Sew the ends of the elastic together, and your skirt with attached shorts (scooter skirt) is done!
Since knit doesn’t fray, I didn’t even worry about hemming the shorts. It probably took about an hour start to finish, including taking photos, so I bet it will go even faster next time.
Jill says
Aahhh to be back at the age when I didn’t care who saw my undies as long as I was having fun! I LOVE skorts – for ME – such a great way to wear a shorter skirt but still be able to squat, lunge, and run with kids and still stay modest.
I’ve been looking for a good tutorial on how to assemble everything. I think I could do this for an adult skort by hacking a skirt and a shorts pattern. Great tutorial!
Prue Pennington says
Hi Thank you so much for sharing this fabulous skirt with attached shorts, just what I need for my energetic granddaughter. She too loves wearing skirts and spends most of her time upside down, with undies on show practicing her hand stands and cartwheels..I’ve got quite a few large t-shirts I can use. I can’t wait to get started..
Thanks again much appreciated
MKEgal says
This seems so easy!
Here’s hoping I can scale it up to adult size…
I’d prefer a skort or culottes, but this would work fine too.
Barbie says
Im in the process of making my twin girls some skirts with leggings and didnt know how to attach the shorts/leggings part. Now im rethinking on my pattern, haha. Nicely done. Also love your little model there. Her with her shoes on the wrong feet. my girls are 6 and still do that. thanks again for the tutorial.
Angela Worrell says
This is so nice, much more than I expected. My 5 year old granddaughter loves dresses & skirts too, but papa always insist on her wearing shorts or pants underneath. So we’ll make some of these and kill two birds with one stone.
They are super cute and the t-shirt idea is awesome. Thanks