How to Sew a Damsel Designed Skirt
- nikkilynnmurray
- Oct 4, 2021
- 3 min read
Have you ever wanted to make your own circle skirts?
I taught myself to sew, from scratch, with the circle skirt in mind... I just wanted to be able to make skirts in fun patterns that wouldn't break the bank, and now, you can too!
I go through all of this in the video, but I broke it down in writing for you here, too!
There are 3 things you need to know before you can start. 1.) What is my size? 2.) What is my waist radius? And 3.) How much fabric do I need?
Don't worry, I'll walk you through!
Step 1: How to measure.
Wrap your measuring tape around your waist over your clothing. It should be snug, but not tight. This is how your skirt will fit, so make sure it is comfortable.
As an example, I'll use my own measurements. My waist is 34 inches, and for the skirt I made in the video, I decided I wanted it to be 21 inches long.
Step 2: What is my waist radius?
Here is the calculator I use to get my waist measurement.
For my 34" waist, my waist radius is 4.6". (I don't use the "fabric length" section of this calculator because I have a different system that I have always used, which I will show you in the next section!)
Step 3: How much fabric do I need?
To preface this section, I always cut two half circles and switch them together to make a full circle skirt. While finding resources for this video, it came to my attention that most people make their circle skirts by folding fabric in half and cutting once- by cutting through two layers of fabric, they will get a full circle in one go. This is great, except it does waste a bit more fabric. I usually cut one half at a time, allowing me to off-set the circles and use less fabric. Here is a diagram of what I mean:
Either way is perfectly fine! It is up to you how you want to make your skirt.
How much fabric you need:
If you are going to cut twice, like the right half of the image and like I did in the video, here is a chart I made:
If you want to do the one-cut method shown on the left side of the image above, you can use this calculator here:
Here is a breakdown of the steps in the video:
Begin marking out your skirt on the fabric. You will do this by making two semi-circles, as shown in the picture I drew above. A small one using the waist radius measurement, and a large one using the length measurement.
Cut out the semi-circles!
Put the two halves of your skirt together face to face (pretty side to pretty side) and sew along one of the edges. If following the one-cut method, skip this step.
Sew the waistband along the waist
Fold the waistband over, covering the seam and pin BELOW the seam.
Stitch on TOP of the waistband, with your pins facing down. After you are done sewing this line, you can remove the pins.
Attach your hidden zipper. The way this is done varies based on the type of zipper foot you have. I have a few tutorials linked in the next section!
Starting at about 1 inch above the bottom of the zipper, stitch all the way down to close the skirt.
Hem the skirt... Congrats! You've done it!
Hidden Zipper Tutorials
Sewing isn't easy, but it only get's easier over time. DM me on the gram if you have any questions, I am happy to help!
Happy twirling!
Nikki
Comments