A skirt project for all...

For those do-it-yourselfers...
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WSmac
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A skirt project for all...

Post by WSmac »

This idea came from a request for a sewing forum here.

I've been wanting to sew myself another ankle-length wrap skirt before winter sets in.
I have the material. It has been washed. I have a couple of patterns I used to make my last one (that I regretfully 'purged' because my wife didn't like me in skirts :( ).

I also have the book, "Easy Guide to Sewing Skirts" by Marcy Tilton published by Taunton Press.

Here's my proposal...

Let's pick a skirt style to sew as a group...uh... you all will have to move in a little closer so we can share :P ... work together to get all the little questions answered like: where to measure, where to let-in or let-out, which seams to sew where, etc.

I'd be happy to try and draw the basic outline and put it in a photo server somewhere like photobucket (is that still around?).

Any other ideas?

Is a wrap skirt good for the first project?

I'm going to do it anyway, so if no one joins in I'll keep a running post on my progress and mistakes :wink: , with photos and detailed commentary.
WSmac
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AMM
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Post by AMM »

Well, here's my contribution to the effort:

I don't buy patterns. I do make my own patterns by using a roll of 30" wide white or brown paper, using ruler and calculator to figure out what to draw, then cutting it out.

If I were doing this for myself, I would do it as a cone. I would first decide how full I wanted it and how much overlap (this is a wrap skirt.) Let's say I want a 4 radian skirt, which means that when fully extended (by spinning, say), it sticks out at roughly a 40-degree angle.

Now, my waist size is 46", and ankle-length on me is 33". 4 radians gives a hem circumference of 4 * 33 + 46 = 178 inches. The skirt (ignoring overlap) is then 4 radians of a ring with inner radius 46/4 = 11.5 inches and outer radius 178 / 4 = 44.5 inches. I'd then add 10-15 inches at the top for the overlap. This is maybe one radian, which means if you wanted the ends to go straight down, you'd add 45 inches at the hem, but you might want less.

So to describe what the cloth should look like: it would be about 5 radians of a ring with inner radius 11.5 inches and outer radius 44.5 inches.

Now, I usually modify this a bit. First of all, I like my skirts to have some gathering at the waist, so they puff out a bit -- I think this makes my "spare tire" a bit less obvious. I would use, say, a 56 inch waist (but keep the 178 inch hem circumference.)

Next, there's what the Utilikilt guys call the "beer gut adjustment." If I put a belt on, and measure from belt to floor at the front, sides, and back, I find that the back is one inch further from the floor than the side, and the front is 2 inches closer. So I would ajust the waist line to be 2" closer to the hem in the front and 1 " further in the back. (Where "front" and "back" are depend upon how you're going to wrap the skirt.) I think this sort of thing is important for both men and women: I saw a good (female) friend a few days ago who was wearing a skirt where the front was lower than the back and the whole skirt tilted. I was tempted to offer to alter her skirt for her.

Finally, you can't cut this as a single piece unless your fabric is over about 92 inches wide (always allow about an inch all the way around for seams and hemming.) You will have to cut out multiple pieces and sew them together. You will also need to do this anyway if your cloth has any tendency to stretch more in one direction than another (for example, if there is a noticable "bias") or if it has a "nap" (like corderoy.) There are various ways to do it, but I'd suggest doing "gores." That is, make radial cuts in your ring to get, say, 5 1-radian pieces. (I wouldnt' do fewer.) These will fit on your usual 45-inch wide fabric. Don't forget seam allowances!

The waistband would be made out of a 2 inch wide piece of the same fabric, and
long enough to go around your waist 2 times plus enough for a bow knot. (After you double the band over, sew it, and turn it right-side out, it will be 1/2 to 3/4 inch wide: perfect for tying.) In my case, this would be about 120 inches.

Then all you do is cut out the cloth, sew the radial seams, add the waistband (gathering the skirt cloth if you decided to do it the way I do), and hem it.

I usually put side-seam pockets in two of the seams.

-- AMM
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Post by Bob »

WSmac... great idea!

Photos can be posted directly on SkirtCafe --- or if you need to post an entire gallery full of photos, I can set up a regulary gallery photo server as well.
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Post by crfriend »

WSmac, it sounds like you've got a good basic premise there, and AMM (who is quite a bit more advanced than I am in this regard) provided quite a lot of insight into the process. Your basic wrap skirt should be an easy enough project for a beginner (the two skirts I've made for myself, and one on the same basic "pattern" for my wife, were essentially wrap skirts).

When I undertook the first skirt I made (the now-infamous curtain-skirt), I didn't work from any sort of pattern, but rather fiddled about with the fabric in an attempt to figure out how the construction process might work. It ended up being a compromise job all the way 'round; there's not much shape to them (but they fit me 'cause I'm a stick-figure), but due to the way the wrap works (like the aprons on a kilt) they actually work reasonably well. However. I suspect I'll be using some of AMM's wisdom when next I have a go at making one.

Diana also bought an interesting book on the topic, which actually specialises in skirt construction without pre-established patterns: "sew what! Skirts" (16 simple styles you can make with fabulous fabric) by Francesca Denhartog and Carole Ann Camp (ISBN 1-58017-625-9). In that book, one of the projects is a wrap design, and the authors give variations. I'll be referring to that as well when next I give sewing a go.
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Re: A skirt project for all...

Post by Skirt Chaser »

WSmac wrote:Is a wrap skirt good for the first project?
I'll just observe from the ultra-beginners corner as I work on a homemade Instakilt. 8)
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WSmac
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Post by WSmac »

AMM wrote:Well, here's my contribution to the effort:

I don't buy patterns. I do make my own patterns by using a roll of 30" wide white or brown paper, using ruler and calculator to figure out what to draw, then cutting it out.

If I were doing this for myself, I would do it as a cone. I would first decide how full I wanted it and how much overlap (this is a wrap skirt.) Let's say I want a 4 radian skirt, which means that when fully extended (by spinning, say), it sticks out at roughly a 40-degree angle.

Now, my waist size is 46", and ankle-length on me is 33". 4 radians gives a hem circumference of 4 * 33 + 46 = 178 inches. The skirt (ignoring overlap) is then 4 radians of a ring with inner radius 46/4 = 11.5 inches .....

-- AMM
sorry AMM, my adhd took over and I totally lost you! :(

You sound like some kind of mathematical genius, dude! :wink:

Seriously, I would like to see a picture of a skirt you made sometime.
I don't remember if you ever posted a pic of one on Tom's.

I'll try to do my best. I have a powerpoint assignment to complete this week before Wednesday (I'm back at college... yeehaw!), and I've had a particularly heavy last couple of days with personal stuff.

Okay, enough of the excuses.
I was thinking of setting up my own little gallery in a place like webshots.

I'll let you know how to find it when I get it together.
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Post by AMM »

WSmac wrote:
AMM wrote:<snip>
...
You sound like some kind of mathematical genius, dude! :wink:
No, but I guess getting a PhD in math does sort of warp your thinking.
WSmac wrote:Seriously, I would like to see a picture of a skirt you made sometime.
I haven't gotten around to getting a digital camera (although my company just gave me a Blackberry with a camera, but it doesn't have a feature for taking pictures of yourself), let along figuring how to get the resulting picture(s) onto a computer. I did find a picture of myself from the 2006 Dance Flurry, which I posted a link to last summer.

-- AMM
Last edited by AMM on Mon Oct 01, 2007 2:51 am, edited 2 times in total.
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WSmac
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Post by WSmac »

Nice skirt from what I can see and nice color coordination!

I used to let my wife do all my fashion figuring for me, now I'm experimenting on my own.
I have gotten a couple of compliments too!

Is that white piping at the bottom of your skirt or is it a lining that is showing?

The other guy looks vaguely familiar from all the old pics in Tom's days.

Perhaps I'm just imagining?

Ph.D in mathematics? So, you're... ready for this?... Another Mathematical Marvel (AMM)? :wink:

No offense meant.

I really enjoy math, but I've lost so many years not working on the higher levels of math beyond college intro algebra (and not much of that is still rattling around in my head) that I am truly in awe of your skills.
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Post by Skirt Chaser »

Vivid beautiful blue! You aren't afraid to stand out, AMM. It is very cool to see you. :)

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Post by AMM »

WSmac wrote:Is that white piping at the bottom of your skirt or is it a lining that is showing?
That is piping on the bottom. Denim blue, not white, but it's hard to tell in the light, plus the color balance in the photo is a bit skewed towards the blue.

Sorry, Quiet Mouse, the blue isn't as brilliant in Real Life. The material is slightly shiny (35/65 cotton/poly broadcloth), but not as shiny as the picture.

I have another skirt with essentially the same design, but rainbow -- the tiers (from the bottom) are black, purple, blue, green, yellow, orange, and red.

I also have some shorter, gored skirts, etc.

I'm planning to buy a digital camera this fall (since no one will buy me one :( ), and then I'll take pictures of myself in all my skirts. Maybe Bob can point me to a place where I can post them....

-- AMM
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Post by Skirt Chaser »

AMM wrote:I'm planning to buy a digital camera this fall (since no one will buy me one :( ), and then I'll take pictures of myself in all my skirts. Maybe Bob can point me to a place where I can post them....
I love the sound of the rainbow skirt. Seeing that will help me get over the loss of the glorious 'blue that never was except in pictures' skirt. :wink:

There are lots of places where you can put pictures online to share and just uploading one to the Cafe in a post like you did works well to show off a look. Maybe we one day there might appear a photo section where people can each have their own thread to post pictures and get comments.

Looking forward to the AMM gallery thread,

QM
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