DIY 10-Minute Tribal Overskirt / Hip Skirt with Side Ruffles

DIY tribal overskirt hip skirt with side ruffles

This week I have a super easy DIY project for you!

I love the fun look of overskirts or hip skirts often worn by tribal fusion dancers, and even if you are not into tribal, you can wear an overskirt in place of a hip scarf over your practice pants. It’s fun to layer them in different colours and textures.

In this video, you’ll see how to make this overskirt  with dangling side ruffles in 10 minutes or less!

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To make this overskirt/hip skirt, you need:   

Hip Skirt Material

Stretch fabric

Scissors or rotary cutter

Measuring tape

Sewing tools – you can hand stitch this one, so you don’t need a sewing machine.

See the Tools & Resources page to learn more about the tools I am using. 🙂          

How to Make Tribal Overskirt / Hip Skirt with Side Ruffles

First, cut your fabric into 2 long strips in the direction of stretch.    

Here, I folded the fabric twice to make the cutting easier, and I’m cutting this one about 25 cm or 10 in wide. Then place both pieces on top of each other right sides together, then fold in half.  

Cut fabric rotary cutter
Overskirt pattern calculation

Then measure your belt line, where you want the overskirt to sit. Divide the measurement by 4 and subtract 2.5cm or 1in to account for the stretch.        

Measure it from the fold, and place a pin there to hold top 2 layers together, then another one to pin the bottom 2 layers together.    

Tribal overskirt DIY 1
Tribal overskirt DIY 2

From this point, cut towards the bottom corner.    

Tribal overskirt DIY 3

Now unfold the fabric, and stitch about 2.5 cm or 1 inch down from the pins, and just turn it right side out.    

Sew tribal hip skirt

And that’s it! Super easy, and you can easily make matching ones for your troupes. You can decorate it, or make a few and layer them to create new, fun looks.  

DIY hip skirt complete

Overskirts can be made in many different ways. If you are curious, you can find other ideas and patterns on these forum threads. 

http://www.bhuz.com/belly-dance-beauty-costuming/56273-overskirt-pattern.html http://tribes.tribe.net/diycostumes/thread/01b05d18-71e7-432c-8a4e-b82af74a7907    

Hope you liked this DIY, and if so, please share this post with your crafty or even not so crafty belly dance friends.

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Thanks for reading, and keep sparkling!

P.S. Pin this photo to make it next weekend 😉

DIY tribal overskirt hip skirt

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35 Comments

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    • Thank you, Joanne! I used 50cm of stretch fabric, so I cut it in half (25cm) to make 2 panels. I used the whole width of the fabric, which I think was about 150cm or so. 🙂

  4. Made 2 of these in a hurry before class today and now I’m in love! I think it took me 10 minutes total for both, but the best part was having something cute to add to me practice wear. I have a feeling there are many of these in my future! Thanks for such a great tutorial for a size diverse accessory! 🙂

    • Ohhh so happy to hear that, Chandra! You’re very welcome, and thanks for sharing your experience! 😀

    • Thanks for your comment, Asteria! You only need to do several stitches at sides, and you’ll be able to slip it on like a regular elastic skirt 🙂

    • You mean cotton fabric that doesn’t stretch? I’ve never made this overskirt with non-stretch fabric, but that’s a good question 🙂 It may look a bit different, but you could try to make the overskirt based on your hip measurement plus a couple of inches so you can put it on and off easily, then make an elastic casing or simply sew elastic to the top of the overskirt. It might be cute, actually 🙂

  7. Can you give he measurements in inches for how much fabric you need to start with? 50 cm does not seems big enough- Im confused

    • Yes, the fabric is just 20 inches, but you’ll be using from selvage to selvage. You get 2 panels out of 20 in fabric, so each panel is about 10 in long, and that will be the length of the overskirt. If you like your overskirt to be longer, feel free to adjust 🙂

    • Thanks, Joanne! And thanks for letting me know about these links. You’re right, the Bhuz was is not working…. I have to see about removing it. But the Tribe one just worked for me – have a look 🙂

  9. I cannot find the supplies I want to make my bra at the local frabric store. Is there a special online site I can buy it? For example spcial color fringed coins.

    • Hi Wendy! I think if you need a particular colour, you may need to just buy coins and sew on one by one, but have you checked Etsy (http://www.etsy.com)? There are vendors that specialize in trims and some may do custom work for you 🙂

  10. Thank you for this! I ended up making one using your pattern but sewing snaps on the side so I could use a less stretchy fabric & it worked wonderfully (also great if you’re layering over skirts or pants that have a lot of fabric!)

    • Good question, Emelie! The top of the overskirt (where you would normally add a waistband) is made a little smaller than the actual belt line measurement. Because the fabric stretches, you can put it on by stretching the section, and it’ll stay there by hugging your waist nicely 🙂