How to Make a Circle Skirt Without a Pattern

8/11/2019 How to Make a Circle Skirt Without a Pattern

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HOW TO MAKE A CIRCLE SKIRT WITHOUT A PATTERN

Step by step tutorial to make a circle skirt without a pattern. This

tutorial includes a handy waist circumference chart, and instructions

on how to add a pocket.

YARDAGE REQUIREMENTS

Purchase five yards of 45 wide fabric. If the total of the wais t

measure + the waist to hem length is more than 44, then purchase

five yards of 60 wide fabric. You can tweak your yardage

requirements after you make your first skirt.

I recommend you make a test skirt using cheap muslin fabric. Once

youve made a skirt using these instructions you can redraw the

pattern on a large piece of paper to use as a traditional pattern.

INSTRUCTIONS

This full circle skirt is made of two half panels, which means

you'll end up with two seams, one on each side. This skirt is


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made to slip over your hips, thus the sk irt can sit either on your

waist or hips. Ive included measurements for a 3 panel skirt in case

you want more fullness in the skirt.

1.Cut the 5 yards of fabric in half so you have two 2 1/2 yard (90)

long pieces. If using 3 panels, cut the 5 yards of fabric in thirds so

you have about 1 2/3 yard (around 60) long pieces.

2.Fold each piece in half.

3.Draw the waistline curve: Measure around the fullest part of

your hips or waist whichever is larger if you are inserting an

elastic waistband. Measure around your waist if you are finishingthe waist without elastic.

Find this measure in the hips column in the Waist Chart below.

Choose either the 2 or 3 panel measure.

Example: I want to make a skirt with an elastic waist. My hips

measure 35. My waistmeasure is 5.

Pin a length of ribbon to the top corner edge of the fabric. Measureout waist measure and tie the other end to a pencil. Use it as a

compass to draw the waistline curve, shown in the image as a

dotted blue line.

4.Draw the hemline

curve:Measure from your waist

(or where you want the skirt to

start) down to where you wantthe skirt to end. Measure down

the side of your body without

bending over. Add 2 for the

hem.


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Example: I want my skirt to start at my waist and end just below my

knees. With a plastic tape measure I measure from my waist, down

the outside of my hip, to just below my knees. This measure is 25.

My total skirt length is 27 (25 + a 2 hem).

Mark this measure on the fabric s tarting at the end of the waist,

shown in the image as solid red line. Pin a long length of ribbon to

the top corner edge of the fabric. Measure out your wais t measure

PLUS your waist to hem measure and tie the other end to a pencil.

Use it as a compass to draw the hemline curve, shown in the image

as dotted red line.

Example: My waist measure is 5. My waist to hem measure is 27.The length of the ribbon from the top edge to the hemline curve is

32.

Things you will need:

Fabric I recommend polyester over cotton (it is less crumply so no ironing

needed) at least 1m wide by 1.5m long

A 10 20cm zipper

Scissors

A pen

Pins

A sewing machine (not entirely necessaryyou could hand sew this but it would

take quite a long time!) and thread

A ruler and measuring tape

1. PUT ON SOME SEWING TUNES

Before you even begin. Seriously. The Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Cloud Control&Birdee

Mixtapesare particularly great to listen to while sewing. Just saying.

2. CUTTING OUT YOUR SKIRT
http://birdeemag.com/birdee-mixtape-seven/http://birdeemag.com/birdee-mixtape-seven/http://birdeemag.com/birdee-mixtape-seven/http://birdeemag.com/birdee-mixtape-seven/http://birdeemag.com/birdee-mixtape-seven/http://birdeemag.com/birdee-mixtape-seven/


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You need to start with a square of fabric at least 1m x 1m (I started with a 1.10m x 1.10m

piece of fabric. The size will depend on how long you want your skirt to beI wanted a

roughly 55cm long skirt but its best to start off with more than you think youll need,

just in case).


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Fold it in half, and then in half again.

Make sure the right side of the fabric is on the inside of this fold.

You then need to make a simple calculation. Measure right around your

waist. Then divide this measurement by 2 x Pi (Pi = 3.14).

For example, my waist measurement is 69cm. I simply divided this by 2 x Pi, and got the

above number. Lets round this up to 11cm to make things easy.

Take a ruler and place it along the edge of the folded-up square on the

corner with no raw edges.


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Using a pen or chalk, draw a quarter-circle with an 11cm radius all the way around like

so (if you remember from maths at school, a radius is simply half of a circles width).

Then cut this out!


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Now the actual sewing starts!Fold this rectangle in half lengthways (wrong side up) and, using the longest straight

stitch on your sewing machine, sew straight down the length of the fabric. Make sure

that the edges of the fabric meet up the whole way, so that you are sewing them

together.


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Starting at the split you made for the zip, carefully pin the waistband to the front of the

fabric like so:

Pin the waistband all the way around the smaller circlesedge, on the nice

side of the fabric. The top of the waistband should match up with the raw

edge of the small circle.

If your waistband is a little bit too short to go all the way around, gather the fabric of the

skirt slightly on the smaller circle (just like making a little pleat). If the waistband ends

up a little bit too long dont worry. Thats why you added a little bit extra to your waist

measurement!

Onceyouvepinned the waistband onto the skirt all the way around, secure

it like this using a straight stitch:


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Hopefully, youll end up with a pretty seam like this, with the waistband successfully

attached to the skirt part:


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When you get to the bottom where the zip is, lift the foot and carefully do the zip back

up, then continue on sewing. Do the same for the other side.


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Youre very nearly done. And if your fabric doesnt fray easily, then you dont even need

to bother with the next step!

5. MAKING A HEM

If your fabric frays, you will need to hem the bottom of your skirt. Hemming a circleskirt takes a bit of patience and practice!

Fold the bottom edge of the skirt up a few centimetres, and keeping the fabric very taut,

sew slowly along. You will need to stop and readjust the fabric every 10 centimetres or so

because it is a circle shape, it will try and slip away from you! It will probably bunch

up a little bit, but dont worry about that just try and keep the fabric folded over the

same distance all the way around.


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Guess what youredone! Enjoy swishing around in your new circle skirt

and the satisfying feeling that comes from making your own clothes.

30 Minute Circle Skirt DIY Tutorial

Jamie PowellMarch 16, 2014

A circle skirt (or in this case, a half circle skirt) is a great quick little project that you can finish

all in one session and get that great feeling of satisfaction with the reward of something new and

cute to wear! So if you need something green to wear out tonight, why not grab some green

jersey fabric and whip up a cute little skirt for yourself?
http://redressraleigh.com/blog/2014/3/16/30-minute-circle-skirt-diy-tutorialhttp://redressraleigh.com/blog/2014/3/16/30-minute-circle-skirt-diy-tutorialhttp://redressraleigh.com/blog/?author=528d7d39e4b0877c7822b85ahttp://redressraleigh.com/blog/?author=528d7d39e4b0877c7822b85ahttp://redressraleigh.com/blog/?author=528d7d39e4b0877c7822b85ahttp://redressraleigh.com/blog/2014/3/16/30-minute-circle-skirt-diy-tutorial


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This tutorial is for a half circle skirt out of jersey fabric (no zipper, just pull it on). A circle skirt

is cut on the bias, which means that you're cutting the fabric on a 45 degree angle to the

grain. Cutting on the bias gives clothing a beautiful drape and for this skirt, a perfect shape that

shows off your waist and hides your hips (because isn't that what we all want?) For this half

circle skirt, your fabric will be folded in half once down the middle of the yardage length, and

cut in a wide arc for the hemline and a small arc for the waistband.

(For a full circle skirt, the fabric should be folded half once, then folded in half again. This adds

twice as much fullness to the hemline of your skirt and takes a lot more fabric.) The half circle

skirt can be made with about 2 yards of fabric; a full circle skirt takes about twice as much and

youll need a wide fabric, about 58 to 60.


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Translation

R is the distance we will measure down from the center fold, and cut in an arc to form our

waistline.

c is the circumference, or your waistline (my example is 29.5)

So, R = (2 x 29.5) / (6.28) which comes out to 8.9

Now you want to subtract your seam allowance; since Im using a serger and have barely any

seam allowance, I just rounded my R measurement to 8.75

Next, add your R measurement to your length to find out how far down from your fold youll

need to cut to have your finished skirt the right length

L (17.75) + R (8.75) = 26.5


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I like to pin my measuring tape at the folded top corner of my fabric for easy measuring. You

will measure out in an arc at your 2 different measurements, cutting a wide arc for the bottomhem of your skirt (at 26.5 for my example) and a smaller arc for your waistband (8.75 for my

example).

Pin along the open side seam of your skirt and serge. If you dont have a serger, you can sew

jersey fabric using the zig-zag stitch on your regular machine.

Now to cut out your waistband: I like to make a wide waistband that can be folded over, so I start

with a rectangle that is about 9tall by about 1 to 2 inches smaller than your waistbandmeasurement (to allow for the stretchiness of the jersey fabric) Fold your fabric in half and mark

out a rectangle that is 9 inches tall by your waist measurement, minus 1 to 2 inches. My

rectangle was 9 tall x 13 long.


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Serge down the open side of your waistband. Next, fold in half and pin along open edge, with

the right side of your fabric facing out. Finally, we will attach the waistband to the skirt. (skirt6)

Pin folded edge of waistband along top edge of skirt waistline, distributing the fabric evenly all

around. You can mark center points with pins on both the skirt piece and the waistband piece

before pinning them to each other to give yourself easy markers to line up. Serge around top

edge of waistband, then turn right side out.

Thats it! - its that easy! Since jersey fabric wont fray, you can leave your hemline unfinished,

just make sure its cut neatly and evenly. No zippers or closures needed, the jersey has enough

stretch to just pull it up. Leave the waistband up for a higher waist look with a tucked in top, orfold it over and wear it under a loose blouse. Now youre set for St. Paddys day, and for the hot

weather thats bound to come our way sooner or later!

How to Make a Circle Skirt Without a Pattern

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