Skirts!!

[elizabeth_mn]

Thanks, everyone for all the nice comments on my skirts the other day! 

 

People sometimes ask me about some of the really simple skirts I make, so I made a tutorial on how to draft a pattern for one.  This is my favorite skirt pattern; I've made a dozen skirts with it.  (I did the owl skirt with a store-bought pattern for a shaped straight skirt: this is the pattern for the black and white skirt.)

 

If you like simple, fast sewing, if you’ve never drafted a pattern before and would like an easy start, or if you just need a cute skirt, this is for you.

 

5-gore skirt tutorial 

I find this style flattering because with the multiple gores, more of the skirt hangs on grain from the waist, giving a smooth shape and and even fullness.  Totally straight seams make it quick and easy to sew.

     

(All of these are 5-gore skirts drafted using the same method.)

In the center of a large piece of drafting or graph paper, draw a line a couple inches longer than the length you want your skirt to be.  For me, a 21” skirt hits the middle of my knee, a 25” skirt grazes the top of my calf, and a 32” skirt hits the bottom of my calf.  Just hold the tape measure up in front of the mirror or measure an existing skirt to see what you prefer.  This line is your center line and grainline.

Take your waist measure where you want the skirt to sit.  Divide this number by five and draw a line a little longer than this at the top of your center line (fig 1). 

Curve the waistline by measuring down about ½” and drawing a smooth, symmetrical curve, with either a drafting curve or flexible ruler. (fig 2).  Hold a tape measure on edge to trim the ends of this line to 1/5 your waist measure, making sure the waistline is centered.  Erase your straight ‘waist line.’

Measure down from the waistline along the center line as long as you want your skirt to be.  Mark this and erase the rest of the line below it. 

Decide how wide you want your skirt.  60” is about as narrow as I can go for a calf-length skirt in this style, and 100” will make a pretty full skirt.  I wouldn’t go any wider than about 110” with only 5 gores.  Divide this number by five and draw a line this length perpendicular to the center line, at the bottom (fig 3).

Connect the ends of the waistline to the ends of the bottom line (fig 4).  Check that the hip area has enough ease by measuring down from the waist about 7” (or wherever the widest part of your hip is) and measuring across the pattern at that point.  Now take your hip measure,  add 3” ease, and divide this by five.  If the skirt at this point is less than that number, then you can make your hemline wider which will, in turn, make the hip wider.   If there isn't enough hip ease and you really want to keep the skirt narrow, you’ll need shaped seams and darts, and this is not the project for you.

To curve the hemline, use a tape measure or yardstick to measure down from the waistline to the hemline in radiating spokes, making each spoke the same length as the center line.  Connect the dots to curve the hemline (fig 5).

Add seam and hem allowances.  I like to add only ¼” at the waistline to use with bias tape.  Cut 5 of them, aligning the center line with the straight grain.

I like to construct skirts like this very simply, with an invisible zipper in a side seam, a narrow machine-sewn hem, and the aforementioned bias-faced waist.  You can use store-bought single-fold bias tape, or just cut a bias strip of coordinating or self-fabric, 1” wide and as long as  your waistline plus a couple inches.  Don’t iron the folds, just put right sides together and sew at ¼”, then fold at the seam and press, fold the raw edge under and topstitch in place, as below:

 

Voila!  A flattering skirt, and you drafted your own pattern!