Sew: Elastic Circle Skirt
Today I'm writing my first Halloween post on how to sew an Elastic Circle Skirt. I love the silhouette of a circle skirt, I think it's very feminine and flows beautifully! I chose this fabric because orange just screams Halloween to me and anything Glow-in-the-dark is going to be a winner to me! I can imagine my sister at a halloween disco looking awesome in a glow-in-the-dark skirt.
The lovely ladies over at Elephant in my Handbag sent me the fabric and trim for this tutorial! The fabric I used is an Orange Glow in the Dark Star Fabric by Riley Blake.
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| Orange Glow in the Dark Star Fabric by Riley Blake @EIMH |
1" wide elastic (long enough for waist measurement)
Fabric scissors
Marking utensil i.e. chalk.
Tape measure.
Fabric scissors
Marking utensil i.e. chalk.
Tape measure.
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| Everything you need to make a circle skirt. |
Measurement A) Measure around your widest point. For me this is around my butt. However if your waist/hips are larger then use that measurement.
Measurement B) Divide Measurement A by 6.28 to give the radius of your inner circle or use the table below that I created.
Cutting your circle skirt
It's up to you whether you want to marking directly onto your fabric or whether you want to make a pattern first. I choose to mark straight onto the fabric when I'm making a circle skirt.
If you are using a directional print then you may wish to cut four quarter circle pieces or maybe two half circle pieces. It is much easier to choose a multi-directional print such as the fabric I have chosen.
Fold your fabric in half so that your fabric is right sides together.
Fold the fabric in half again.
Find which corner is the corner with the folds on both sides (no raw edges). This is the corner at the centre of your fabric. This corner is marked with a pink dot in the below diagram:
You should now have a donut shaped piece of fabric.
It's up to you whether you want to marking directly onto your fabric or whether you want to make a pattern first. I choose to mark straight onto the fabric when I'm making a circle skirt.
If you are using a directional print then you may wish to cut four quarter circle pieces or maybe two half circle pieces. It is much easier to choose a multi-directional print such as the fabric I have chosen.
Fold your fabric in half so that your fabric is right sides together.
Fold the fabric in half again.
Find which corner is the corner with the folds on both sides (no raw edges). This is the corner at the centre of your fabric. This corner is marked with a pink dot in the below diagram:
Starting from the folded corner measure and mark measurement B. A good technique for this is attaching a pen/marker to a piece of string and moving it in an arc shape.
Starting from measurement B measure and mark measurement C.
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| Mark fabric as shown in above diagram. |
Cut along both marked lines. If your fabric is slippery then use some pins before cutting to keep the layers together.
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Cut inner circle marking.
Cut outer circle fabric.
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| Fabric once unfolded. |
Making your waistband
Cut a rectangle 3" wide by Measurement A (+ about 4 extra inches).
Fold the waistband in half right sides out so that the waistband is now 2" wide. Pin the waistband right sides together to the inner circle. Make sure the open end of the waistband is facing into the centre of the circle.
Thread elastic into the waistband using a safety pin.
Cut a rectangle 3" wide by Measurement A (+ about 4 extra inches).
Fold the waistband in half right sides out so that the waistband is now 2" wide. Pin the waistband right sides together to the inner circle. Make sure the open end of the waistband is facing into the centre of the circle.
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| Pin waistband leaving ends |
Pin the waistband all around leaving a few inches not pinned at the ends.
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| Pin all the way around. |
Sew the waistband in place using a 1/4" seam allowance leaving the ends loose.
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| Sew waistband to skirt. |
Thread elastic into the waistband using a safety pin.
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| Thread elastic through waistband. |
Make sure the elastic is not twisted at all. Now hold the elastic so it is peeping out the ends.
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| Elastic peeping out of waistband. |
Sew these ends to the fabric using a wide zig zag stitch.
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| Sew elastic to ends of waistband. |
Turn the skirt inside out. Sew ends together using a zig zag stitch.
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| Sew waistband closed. |
Hemming the Skirt
My least favourite thing about sewing a circle skirt has to be hemming it. When hemming it really does feel like you are sewing for miles but you must persevere!
First turn under 1/2" of fabric and press. Repeat by turning under another 1/2" of fabric. Press and stitch. Take your time stitching to avoid puckering.
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| Hemming.... hemming... hemming. |
Adding the extras
I decided to add mini pom pom trim to my skirt but think large pom poms would also look AMAZING. I decided to sew the pom pom trim onto the front of the skirt but that is up to you!
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| Pom pom trim on the skirt |
The colour of the fabric is just so vibrant and looked lovely when photographed. I think it also helped that my sister has a wonderful figure which makes it look even better. Here are some pictures we took of the skirt:
How to style this skirt:
- Pair this skirt with a long sleeve turtle neck jumper with black tights and boots for a cold night of trick or treating.
- OR a black vest top with knee high socks and black boots and a leather jacket. Perfect for a Halloween Disco so that you can take the jacket off and dance away!
- Add a bit of facepaint.
What are you planning to make for Halloween this year? Let me know in the comments below.
Goodbye For Now!
The skirt looks lovely when you're slim enough to wear it short. I'm a bit bigger and like longer skirts so the hem really is miles! I had a problem with puckering on the hem when it was folded 1/2"+1/2" because of the increasing circumference so just used the turning foot on the machine to make a rolled hem. Thanks for the instructions.
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