Simple Skirt Rig

For those do-it-yourselfers...
Grok
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Re: Simple Skirt Rig

Post by Grok »

Items for making a simple skirt may include:

For measurements, a cloth tape measure to determine the circumference of your waist.

I find that a metal tape measure can be convenient for determining the length of a skirt. For example, if you wanted a knee length skirt, you can extend the metal tape from your waist down to your knees, and lock the metal tape into place. I find that the rigidity of the metal tape makes it more convenient for these measurements than cloth tape.

You may find a yardstick useful.

The usual: scissors, pins, needles, thread. A pen for marking on the fabric.

Fabric sources have been mentioned earlier.

A notebook for scribbling down measurements. I find it helpful to sketch out a skirt with the planned lengths written on it.

BTW, I was thinking of a beginner's project where you don't necessarily need a pattern.
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Fred in Skirts
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Re: Simple Skirt Rig

Post by Fred in Skirts »

Grok wrote:Items for making a simple skirt may include:
A pen for marking on the fabric.
It is better to use a tailors soap stick to mark on the cloth. A pen may permanently mark the cloth. And the soap marker will not.

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Re: Simple Skirt Rig

Post by beachlion »

Besides informative YouTube videos and websites, there are also old-fasioned books with a lot of pointers to the basics of sewing and pattern making. I used a book from Winifred Aldrich. It is quite expensive, even my much older print, but it gives you a lot of info you can use.
https://www.amazon.com/Metric-Pattern-C ... ed+aldrich

I like the paper form of information because you can make notes and have them ready where and when you need them.
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Grok
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Re: Simple Skirt Rig

Post by Grok »

When I was using second hand sheets for material, the skirt would rip when I was pulling it up to my waist.

Bought dark blue, heavy duty denim. I cut two circles to create a denim doughnut. I figured that heavy duty denim wouldn't rip as I was pulling it up to my waist. No problem with ripping this time-the inner/waist hole was a bit too large. :shock:

I had intended to use suspenders/braces to hold up the skirt. This worked. Two things I noticed right away. First, this arrangement concentrated the weight of the skirt on two spots on my shoulders, which was a bit uncomfortable. The skirt is fairly heavy. Also, the arrangement seems a bit precarious-I sensed that the clamps could all too easily lose their grip, and the skirt would fall to my ankles. (No way am I going to wear that rig out and about). If you are wearing trousers that fit fairly well this is less of a risk, because trousers have a tendency to hug your body and stay up.

At this point I am thinking more in terms of dress like garments.
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Re: Simple Skirt Rig

Post by Spirou003 »

I'm a bit surprised that you have ripping issues. Do you make a hole larger than the largest part of your body?
I mean, for example if I take my waistband it is 86 cm, but a bit lower (at the level of glutes) the measurement is the highest with 93 cm => if I do a hole sized for my waistband, I won't be able to put the skirt without ripping it.
And after you have done this, you need to add something to clamp to the waistband so that the skirt can't fall anymore until the clamp is not detached. That clamp can be a zip, an elastic waistband, buttons, belt, etc.
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r.m.anderson
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Re: Simple Skirt Rig

Post by r.m.anderson »

Spirou003 wrote: Sat Aug 29, 2020 8:04 am I'm a bit surprised that you have ripping issues. Do you make a hole larger than the largest part of your body?
I mean, for example if I take my waistband it is 86 cm, but a bit lower (at the level of glutes) the measurement is the highest with 93 cm => if I do a hole sized for my waistband, I won't be able to put the skirt without ripping it.
And after you have done this, you need to add something to clamp to the waistband so that the skirt can't fall anymore until the clamp is not detached. That clamp can be a zip, an elastic waistband, buttons, belt, etc.
Remember if you are wearing a skirt with a fixed waist measurement - the skirt has to pass over the wider (glutes) HIPS to fit.
Thus you need to temporarily make the skirt bigger by either a zipper (fly) front side or back -OR- the waist must be elastic (non-fixed).
-OR- make the waist like the kilt with wrapping aprons.
If you are not allowing for passing over the hips the other way is to pull over the head and pull down but now you are confronted
with the bulk of the chest no doubt being the same or bigger than the hips.
If your waist is bigger than the hips you got other problems to contend with - braces suspenders clinching belts elastic closing.

In any event stop ripping the stitches allow for that ease in the fitting.
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Re: Simple Skirt Rig

Post by crfriend »

Grok wrote: Sat Aug 29, 2020 3:46 amBought dark blue, heavy duty denim. I cut two circles to create a denim doughnut. I figured that heavy duty denim wouldn't rip as I was pulling it up to my waist. No problem with ripping this time-the inner/waist hole was a bit too large. :shock:
You backed -- entirely accidentally -- into the problem with the waist/hip disparity and its solution. In most healthy folks, the waist is smaller than the hips; this goes for males as well as females of the species, with the female ratio being larger than the male. If you set the "inner circle" as your waist size, then it makes absolute sense that the fabric would be stressed and rip if enough force was applied when trying to pull the 3-D shape over an obstacle larger than its circumference. Set the "hole size" to fit over the hips if those are larger than your waist, and then use either elastics, zips, a belt, or Velcro to fasten securely at the waist.
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Re: Simple Skirt Rig

Post by Grok »

Jim wrote: Wed Oct 03, 2018 8:57 pm
crfriend wrote:Tunnels for elastics are trivial to put into the upper boundary of a skirt. It's done by folding the top portion of the skirt over and stitching it down on what'll be the inside. Before the final length is done, thread an elastic that's been cut to the proper length through the tunnel and sew the ends together, then close off the tunnel.
A drawstring also can go through such a tunnel. Boot laces make fine drawstrings.
I have started work on a drawstring arrangement. I am hand sewing a tunnel around a long shoe string. Its slow going.
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crfriend
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Re: Simple Skirt Rig

Post by crfriend »

Grok wrote: Tue Sep 29, 2020 12:17 amI have started work on a drawstring arrangement. I am hand sewing a tunnel around a long shoe string. Its slow going.
Wrong approach and you're likely to sew the string down. Sew the tunnel first and then thread the string through it using a blunt "needle" with the string attached to it. If you're pulling elastics it's important that they not get twisted in the process and it's important that the tie be able to "float" in the tunnel.

I use wire-ties with the catches sliced off and the string-to-be-pulled sewed to the trailing part of the "needle". Long and big ties like that can be had with lengths up to a couple of feet if you have access to suppliers that cater to the HVAC crowd. Using some imagination will point up tactics to keep elastics from getting twisted when being pulled. A 3/8" or 1/2" wide 2' long tie provides a "needle" than can pull a 1" or even 1 1/2" inch elastic through am appropriately-sized tunnel.
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Re: Simple Skirt Rig

Post by Dust »

crfriend wrote: Tue Sep 29, 2020 12:25 am
Grok wrote: Tue Sep 29, 2020 12:17 amI have started work on a drawstring arrangement. I am hand sewing a tunnel around a long shoe string. Its slow going.
Wrong approach and you're likely to sew the string down. Sew the tunnel first and then thread the string through it using a blunt "needle" with the string attached to it. If you're pulling elastics it's important that they not get twisted in the process and it's important that the tie be able to "float" in the tunnel.

I use wire-ties with the catches sliced off and the string-to-be-pulled sewed to the trailing part of the "needle". Long and big ties like that can be had with lengths up to a couple of feet if you have access to suppliers that cater to the HVAC crowd. Using some imagination will point up tactics to keep elastics from getting twisted when being pulled. A 3/8" or 1/2" wide 2' long tie provides a "needle" than can pull a 1" or even 1 1/2" inch elastic through am appropriately-sized tunnel.
With a little extra effort, you can do this with something as simple as a large paperclip. It doesn't need to be something that will go the whole length of the tunnel...
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Re: Simple Skirt Rig

Post by Grok »

Thanks for the :idea: guys!

To avoid sewing down the string, I have used visual inspection for each stitch, looking before I push the needle all the way through. To double check, I give the string a little tug to see if it can still move. If okay, I push the needle all the way through and finish the stitch.

This may work, but it is very time consuming. I don't recommend this method.
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Re: Simple Skirt Rig

Post by crfriend »

Dust wrote: Tue Sep 29, 2020 1:35 amWith a little extra effort, you can do this with something as simple as a large paperclip. It doesn't need to be something that will go the whole length of the tunnel...
No, you don't need to go the entire length of the tunnel with the tool -- and in fact doing so makes things more difficult, but having one at least several inches long and moderately flexible in one dimension makes for easier going than with a large paper-clip. (BTDT)
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Re: Simple Skirt Rig

Post by trainspotter48 »

My mother, who was an accomplished needlewoman, usually used a large blunt needle, known locally as a bodkin.
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Re: Simple Skirt Rig

Post by Grok »

Considering a couple alternative projects:

1. Make a garment similar to a shift dress.

2. Make a sort of shirt dress, sewing a circle skirt to the bottom of a man's shirt.

Regarding 2.... Came across a DIY project online, for sewing a circle skirt onto the bottom of a girl's blouse. The blouse becomes the bodice.

I would make a tour of the area's thrift stores. In addition to shirts my size, I would look for shirts a size or two larger-with flat bottoms. I have in mind a rig that I could pull over my head like a T-shirt. Also, with a larger shirt I might be have something that is somewhat wider than my hips, the width becoming the diameter of the doughnut hole.

3. Return to the circle skirt concept, but with the alternative version of suspenders (braces). The suspenders I have now have clamps to grip the fabric. The alternative type suspenders hook onto buttons, which are sewn onto the garment.

4. Alternative idea to the circle skirt-a handkerchief skirt. Instead of a cloth doughnut, you have a cloth square with a hole for the waist. The advantage is that you skip the step of making an outer circle. Cloth is sold in rectangular sections. A handkerchief skirt appears to have an uneven hemline, which are the corners of the square hanging down. One must take care that the corners don't drag on the ground.

These concepts are all very preliminary, I am at the stage where I am just starting to collect information.
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Re: Simple Skirt Rig

Post by Bikerkilt »

Great luck on your quest.
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