If you’ve got a special event on the horizon and no time to sew, don’t panic. And don’t head for the store or a retail website. Instead, take a length of luxurious 54-inch-wide taffeta to tie a bustle skirt. You may want a little time to finish the edges, but there’s no cutting, seaming, or fitting involved.

You’ll have a finished rectangle of fabric that, when we show you how to tie it, will turn every head in the crowd.

This is an elegant, version of the pareu (pronounced PAR-ay-oo), or sarong, traditionally made of lightweight cotton and worn as a dress or skirt. Today, it is often used as a bathing suit cover-up.

Bustle skirt formula

Start with this formula to determine how much fabric you need:

Hip measurement + 1-1/2 yards  = Total skirt yardage

There are options for finishing the cut fabric edges: a serged rolled hem; a tiny hem made with a narrow hemmer foot; or a narrow, double-folded hem. If the selvage edges are attractive, you can leave them as is.

Wrap and tie the skirt

For the fun part-draping, tying, and playing with the pareu: Try these basic directions for tying the skirt. But feel free to experiment with draping the pareu to find your own favorite style.

1. Wrap the taffeta around your waist. Center one long edge at your back waist, and draw the short ends to the front. Let the ends drop, and grasp a handful of fabric at each side.

 

2. Knot. Tie the two handfuls in a square knot. Make sure the fabric is snug around your middle.

 

3. Drop your hands down 10 inches or to the fullest part of your hips. Grab a handful of fabric in each hand about 15 inches in from the fabric’s edge, then tie a second knot so the fabric is pulled tightly over your hips.

 

4. Shift the pareu. Slide it around your body to position the knots at center back, where they form a cascade. Alternatively, you can position the cascade off-center in front, over one hip.

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Adapted from “Silk Taffeta Pareo,” by Debra Blum and Moises Diaz, Threads #98.