Hello friends! Having now completed one skirt pattern with the pinafore I shared in the last post, I could see how pattern drafting could become addictive. I wasn’t satisfied with how the last skirt turned out and the itch to perfect the pattern and test something new had set in with a vengeance. However, I wasn’t drawn to making a pleated skirt since I found one I adore at an Op-Shop and tailored it. I also don’t tend to gravitate towards gathered skirts. These don’t feel either comfortable or flattering on me. So it was with some delight that I discovered the amazing Styles InSeams had come up with the perfect solution in designing a circle skirt that wasn’t gathered at the waist, but which had gathered tiers below it for volume and flare. Not only had they come up with this wonderful design, but they also created a calculator to make it simple for others to follow along! Content warning: this post includes mentions of weight fluctuations.
As you can image, I was absolutely thrilled to have this invaluable resource from a very talented designer. There are some designs I want to recreate in the future that have a similar sort of look to them where the circle skirt is divided into a yoke and gathered panels. However, having made some errors in the length of the pinafore skirt, I was anxious not to repeat that mistake. So when I started fussing around with measurements in the calculator, I set the skirt length to be at least 31″. After some consideration I also chose to have three tiers, with each a little longer than the last. The tiers in order from top to bottom were 9″, 10″ and 12″. The reason I made the last tier that much longer was because I wanted at least 1″ available for the hem. But perhaps one of the best things about the calculator after customising those measurements, is that it takes into account fabric length and width to make the absolute most of the yardage available.
Because I purchase fabric secondhand it’s rare for me to get a lot of yardage. This is the reason I tend to ignore fabric layouts even to my own detriment. However, I had gotten excessively lucky with this pink cotton fabric. I found a thin roll of it at the back of an op-shop and since they were keen to see it gone they gave it to me at quite a discounted price! I knew that it would be perfect for testing this pattern. I ended up using several meters of it for the skirt, but the fullness this provided was nothing to sneeze at! However, I do find gathering extreme lengths of fabric by hand isn’t all that accessible. In the future, if I repeat the design, I’ll need to look into a gathering foot to make this easier on me.
There’s also a few things to keep in mind with this design. The circle skirt portion will stretch. This is the nature of circle skirts. But because of this, it’s best to assemble the skirt and waistband section, and let that hang for a couple of days before attaching the gathered tiers. The tiers themselves are rectangles, and it’s obvious when part of them has to be cut or folded up more than the rest in order to even up a hem. You can also attach pegs to the base of the circle skirt portion while hanging to mimic the weight of additional fabric. Because this top tier isn’t all that long, it’s also much easier to place the pattern down on top of it once more and use that guide to trim it back to shape before attaching the tiers. I also skipped adding pockets – which is sacrilegious I know, but I didn’t like the bulk of the gathers around the pocket opening.
Unfortunately I was still experiencing those weight fluctuations at the time of drafting this pattern, so I had set the waist measurement at 32″. I am a firm believer in sewing for the body I have. Still, I should have gone back and measured my waist to make sure I wasn’t going too far in either direction with the sizing and I didn’t, which meant that both this skirt and the next skirt in this series were so big neither of them were anywhere near my natural waistline. I also didn’t realise this until I had completed them, and with their construction done to a degree that I was extremely happy with, I was loathe to unpick them and risk damaging them somehow. They have since gone to new homes.
Time Taken: 60+hrs, across all skirt variations
Cost of Materials: Estimated $15, including notions
Stitch Sessions 