Introducing...
The most time consuming (yet twirly) skirt one could possibly make!
And I made it!
Some of the fabrics were from my first tiered skirt, some were leftover from other projects (of new fabric
), some were handkerchiefs/bandanas and I got some remnants for a quarter a piece. I made the pattern myself.
The front:
The back:
Twirl!!
Heh, it's so heavy I had to hold it up while twirling. And walking for that matter. I need to find a way to help it stay up better, any suggestions? It has an elastic waistband to hold up all the patches it's constructed of (106, heh).
I can't wait to wear it once I fix the heaviness issue. I'm really proud of it!!
Thanks for looking, comments always welcome!
Tutorial:
1. Get a large piece of paper (NOT FABRIC) to make your pattern. You will be modifying and reusing parts of it. Measure your hips and divide the measurement by four. Make that measurement into a quarter circle edge and cut it off. From that edge, measure out all the way around how long you want your "tiers" to be.
Mine were 6 inches. Cut off the excess material, just like a circle skirt, which
is what this basically is.
2. Unfold your paper and it should look like this. Add seam allowances all around the edges. Now you can A. Cut out your fabric using the pattern or B. Cut your pattern in half on the blue lines and cut each piece from different fabrics so the front of your skirt is different from the back like mine (if you do this, don't forget seam allowances on the blue lines!). If you chose option B, before proceeding to the next step, sew your pieces of fabric together on the blue lines, right sides together, to end up with a full circle. You now have your first tier, whether you chose option A or B.
3. If you ever want to reuse your pattern, trace it onto another piece of paper before doing this step. Divide your pattern into six equal pieces as shown in the picture (or fold it in half and divide it into three pieces). Cut out one of them, retrace it onto another piece of paper to add seam allowances. This is your patch pattern. It doesn't have to be 1/6, you divide it however you want. Keep in mind: Smaller patches means more cutting, more sewing, and more time. Vice versa for bigger patches.
I actually had two different patch patterns, one being 1/6 of the circle, and the other being 1/7 (I have no idea how I ended up doing that). I alternated them when I sewed each tier together. You can do it that way or have all your patches be the same size, which would probably make it a lot easier (and possibly quicker).
4. Might as well get the waistband out of the way. Mine was elastic. You have to cut a seperate casing for it and sew that onto the skirt. Here's an easy method: Cut elastic about an inch smaller than your hips. Maybe smaller because it really stretches from the heaviness. Stretch out your elastic as long as it will stretch and measure how long that is. Make a casing out of fabric that length and cut it wide enough to fit your elastic in it and add seam allowances. While stretching it, evenly pin your elastic to the casing and fold it over. You might want to pin it while it's folded over so you don't sew through a pin! Zigzag stitch through your fabric and elastic on the top and bottom, STRETCHING THE ELASTIC while sewing to ensure elasticity. Sew the waistband together and then sew to the first tier, right sides together.
5. Take out your patch pattern and CUT CUT CUT CUT CUT all your pieces from various fabrics!! Whilst sewing together the patches for the last tier, I realized it would have been faster if I had cut out more than one at a time by cutting through multiple layers of fabric. Once you think you have enough for the second tier (we already have the first, remember?), lay them out in an attractive order. My second tier had fourteen. Now sew the sides together (green lines) until you have a lengthy strip of patches. Pin the top of the strip to the edge of the first tier, right sides together. Sew on more patches if necessary. Sew the end of your strip to the beginning so you have a full circle, then sew the second tier to the first (on the pink line)!
Your skirt now has two tiers. Repeat step five for the third tier and again for as many as you want. The amount of patches needed for each tier on my skirt was more than twice the amount of the previous tier (14, 29, 61). So each one takes about double the time as the preceeding. When you've finished your last tier, hem the bottom. You can now add embellishments, a belt (or something else to hold it up), buttons, etc. Now you can go twirl around be so proud of your new skirt!
GOOD LUCK!! Please ask if you need any clarification of anything! I'd also love to see any finished skirts!
