diy: circle skirt sew-along - cutting out
Are you excited? We’re actually to the cutting out portion of our circle skirts! This part is just a matter of laying all the pieces we drafted out and tracing any pattern markings onto the fabric.
Since my skirt is too long to be cut out in one piece (side seam on the fold), I’m using the following layout for the front and back (note the waistband along the bottom edge only needs to be cut once):
If you’re making a skirt that will fit onto your fabric so you can cut it in one piece, here is the layout you would use (note the extra fabric at the bottom to cut out the waistband), cut on the fold along the side seams (eliminate the side seam allowances that we added in the drafting portion):
Additionally, you may be able to play around with the pattern if you use a quarter (rather than a half pattern; like we drafted. Just fold your pattern in half down the center line.) pattern. This would be helpful if you have limited yardage and need to try and fit things in. Just remember to keep the center front line on the straight grain! The waistband will also most likely need to be pieced for this layout (I’ve shown it as half the length, cut on the double). Here is how you’d cut it:
Note that none of these includes any additional details you may be adding like patch pockets; be sure to lay those out as you determine the best cutting layout for your skirt pieces—you want to make sure you have enough material! Nothing is worse (and I’ve done this!) than cutting out the major pieces of a pattern, only to find that you don’t have enough for the details…
Repeat if you are using an underlining or lining for the skirt body pieces.
Once you have cut out the waistband, be sure to trace the center length line and overlap line (1 5/8” in from the left side if you’re looking at the piece right side face up) from the pattern piece onto the fabric’s wrong side. This would be a great point to add any embellishment like embroidery prior to construction. I cut out my bee skirt (which is done—I need to take some photos!), embroidered it, and then started construction. It just proved to be less cumbersome than trying to wrangle the entire skirt and all the fabric at once.
Next: we begin construction! How is your circle skirt coming so far?
If you’re making a skirt that will fit onto your fabric so you can cut it in one piece, here is the layout you would use (note the extra fabric at the bottom to cut out the waistband), cut on the fold along the side seams (eliminate the side seam allowances that we added in the drafting portion):
Additionally, you may be able to play around with the pattern if you use a quarter (rather than a half pattern; like we drafted. Just fold your pattern in half down the center line.) pattern. This would be helpful if you have limited yardage and need to try and fit things in. Just remember to keep the center front line on the straight grain! The waistband will also most likely need to be pieced for this layout (I’ve shown it as half the length, cut on the double). Here is how you’d cut it:
Note that none of these includes any additional details you may be adding like patch pockets; be sure to lay those out as you determine the best cutting layout for your skirt pieces—you want to make sure you have enough material! Nothing is worse (and I’ve done this!) than cutting out the major pieces of a pattern, only to find that you don’t have enough for the details…
Repeat if you are using an underlining or lining for the skirt body pieces.
Once you have cut out the waistband, be sure to trace the center length line and overlap line (1 5/8” in from the left side if you’re looking at the piece right side face up) from the pattern piece onto the fabric’s wrong side. This would be a great point to add any embellishment like embroidery prior to construction. I cut out my bee skirt (which is done—I need to take some photos!), embroidered it, and then started construction. It just proved to be less cumbersome than trying to wrangle the entire skirt and all the fabric at once.
Next: we begin construction! How is your circle skirt coming so far?
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