How to sew a flare skirt

Actually, I tried to edit the about me link on the right. But if you looked to the right, there is no 'about me' at all. I don't know what to write about myself.

If you were to ask me what my job title is, I might say makeup artist. But that is not what I do 100% of the time. I design packaging, clothing, just random shit that I like!

Ok this is the first time I actually remembered to take step by step photo of how to sew something. I hope it is detailed enough. I tried to make this really simple. So it is perfect if you are sewing for the first time. No zip fixtures, no need for precise sewing pattern. :)

Tedah! Haha I sew this skirt for my sister a months plus back, and I liked it myself. Plus, I have some cloth left. So.. why not make another one? :D

Here's what you need!
- Floral fabric or any cloth you want: 45cm * 145cm
If you purchase fabric from the stores, it usually comes with 145cm width. I just used that as the total width for my skirt. For the length, it depends on whichever you want. For maxi skirt, buy entire meter or 90cm(thats usually the unit price they give, but you can opt for a meter of cloth instead) of cloth. For me, I used 0.45m of the left overs.
- Lining cloth: 40cm*140cm
This is not required if your main fabric is thick enough. Lining material can be anything from man made silk to polyester cotton blend.
-  scissors. DUH you need to use this to cut fabrics!
- Elastic band - you could get this in spotlight.
- Sewing machine. Get this on ebay or spotlight.
Mine is a second hand Brother BM2600 which I bought for just $80 on ebay. It's fine, but you couldn't feed any thick material. If I'm not wrong, spotlight is having a discount for Brother BM2615 (newer model) at just around $150. However, it wouldn't be suitable for heavy duty sewing - eg jeans or multiple layers of fabrics.
Checked everything and you could start making now!

Cut the 45cm *145cm of cloth into 2 pcs of 45cm*72.5cm cloth.
Line the cloth together and half into half, and cut out a triangle. Now the total length of the smaller side of cloth must be around 10cm bigger than the circumference of your hips, so you could actually pull it up. I wasn't precise at all, so mine is probably like 20cm bigger. lols. totally up to you. You could even choose not to cut it at all.

Do the same to the black cloth. or lining

Double fold the bigger end of cloth, and sew it down. This will be the ending on your skirt. I recommend doing this for the lining first, so you wouldn't ruin your main fabric if you make any mistakes here.
Do the same for the main floral fabric after this.

This is how I sew the sides of the skirt. Since my sewing machine does not have the commercial fancy ending design, I used triangle pattern so lock the fraying fabrics, and top stitched right beside the triangle ones to create a neat finishing.
* Remember to make sure the right sides are facing each other! You need to flip this over later.

After doing the same thing to lining, arrange the main fabric and lining fabric together. We're ready for the waist band. :D

Make sure that the wrong side is facing each other.

For the waist band, I used a black piece of fabric, folded it 4 times, and ironed it down. All you have to do is to pin the skirt inside this band, and sew it down. Remember to leave the opening out so you could slot the elastic band inside this later. :)

If you do not like the black band, you could just fold the skirt twice like what you did to the endings and sew it. Similarly, slot elastic band underneath.

Yup, pin it down and sew it.

Try to sew as close to the endings as possible so it looks neater.

And I forgot to take a picture of the elastic band part... But just slot it in...... A tip would be to cut a little hole at the end of the elastic band and loop it through a hair pin. This would make the slotting part a lot easier.

Here you get your skirt! :) The first time I did this, I spent around 2 hours. This time, I spent less than an hour in total. So it's pretty easy. 

If you are wondering where you could get cloth, try Arab street before 6pm. Or chinatown. Chinatown cloth is more expensive though. I bought 90cm of mine for $15. It's made of pretty nice material and quite unique though. 

Look closely for discounted cloths. Sometimes you get muslin cloth at just $3 per 90cm, or some 'out of style' pattern at $5 per 90cm. That's perfect for practicing!