Skirts made from rich fabrics such as satin… silk… or velvet will automatically add volume to your lower half. You need to decide whether you want a pencil skirt or a flared skirt with more volume. Cut tulle/netting/crinoline into long strips of at least 6-inch width. Now you have to gather the top edge of this piece and attach the long strip of tulle fabric on top of the petticoat skirt.

You can either gather the top edge or pleat the fullness so that it does not bulk up on the waist. Either make an elastic casing and insert a 1/2 inch wide elastic to gather the waistline, or make a regular waistband and join the skirt after gathering it.

In summary… Puffy skirts look great when you walk down a street or party in the club. Although the concept may seem relatively simple… there are actually a lot of details that make it work. In general… there are 3 methods to make a skirt puffy or full: slash… crinoline… and petticoat. For a fitted skirt, a gathered petticoat will bring unwanted bulk. How to make a Petticoat Layered Petticoats Crinoline is usually made from cotton or nylon. Although both types are stiff… nylon crinoline tends to be more pliable and can conform better to curvy figures than cotton crinoline can. Some brands of crinoline have elasticized edges to help them fit more snugly around the waist.

Add fullness to a skirt by cutting it from a piece of fabric that is larger than the pattern piece. You’ll have plenty of fabric left over to create the fullness with gathers or pleats. Petticoats are categorized according to their shape – They can have a pouffy look or a simple A-line silhouette. The Pouffy petticoat can have either a bell shape or a cupcake, depending on the silhouette you want for your skirt. Then there are two types of petticoats – a petticoat with boning and a petticoat without boning. The petticoat without boning uses stiff fabric to look full. How to choose the Petticoat This dress is photographed with the petticoat skirt under, and it has made a difference in the way it looks. Use multiple layers of tulle – Tulle is a type of netting fabric used for tutus as well as petticoats. You can buy rolls of tulle and layer them on your skirt for more volume. If you use 2-3 layers… you will definitely get a nice amount of volume.Keep the zipper face down on the seam allowance where the basting stitches are made. Pin in place. Sew the sides. The first method (slash) is the most common and also the cheapest… but it usually has an evident pattern that ruins any illusion of smoothness.

Layers of flounces were attached to the lower edge to give great fullness to the outer skirt. If one petticoat did not give the full effect, more than one was worn.You need an extension of 1 inch on the front piece for fastening – you can sew buttons or hooks and eye to fasten the skirt. You can see the pattern to make this ruffled tiered skirt in the post on DIY Gypsy skirt here. It gives you all the bounce you want under the skirt.