Let's make a skirt, part 1

I thought it would be cool to make a skirt together. Today, we'll make the paper pattern. You'll need a few things:

1. Butcher paper or newspaper will do.

2. Pen, black works best.

3. Paper scissors. (There is a difference between paper and fabric scissors!)

4. Straight see-thru ruler that measures at least 18 inches. If you don't have one, you can buy one at your local craft or fabric store.

5. Measuring tape. If you plan on making the skirt for yourself, you'll need to have someone help you.

For this particular design, the skirt does not sit at the waist. I find that it creates a muffin top effect for most. I like to have my skirts sit just above my hips. You will have the option to alter that detail. Let's start with a 2 tiered skirt. It's really simple and you can create a lot of different looks.

First, sketch the design you have in mind. This is really helpful because it will help you when creating the actual pattern pieces. Try to be as detailed as you can. Include notes, I've forgotten all kinds of design details when constructing a pattern because I forgot to include notes.

If you notice, I noted the topstitching over the second tier! If you look at the sketch, there is really only going to be 2 pieces. Simple! Now for the constructing. You're going to need 2 measurements. The hip and the length that you want the skirt. I'm making a skirt for a 4 year old and figured the hip to be 24 inches, the length approximately 14 inches. The shape of the 2 pieces will be rectangular. At this point, you can make the skirt really flouncy, or just kinda fluffy. I decided on twirlable.

Remember our old friend arithmetic? This is where we use it. If the hip circumference in 24 inches, we need a front and back. Front is 12 inches, back is 12 inches. These numbers will be the width of the top tier pattern piece. Usually, a pattern piece won't be 12 inches wide, so if we were to fold that 12 inch piece, we would now have a 6 inch wide pattern piece. But, we also need to include the extra width to the hip to give it the twirl factor. This is where you would add for flounce. I decided on adding 2 inches. Now the pattern piece is 8 inches wide, but the actual front of the skirt will be 16 inches wide. You'll see later.

I decided that I wanted the total length of the skirt to be 14 inches. Here you can decide how to add up the lengths of the 2 tiers. I am going to make the length of the top tier 6 inches, including the elastic casing, (which we'll get into later) and the seam allowance. Usually, seam allowances are 5/8th inch, but, I do a 1/2 inch seam allowance.