skirt block – THE COMPULSIVE SEAMSTRESS

How to Make a Wiggle Skirt – Veronica

Here it is then, a tutorial to make your own Veronica wiggle skirt. Now bear in mind that this is just the way I did my pattern. Every patterncutter has their own methods. This one works for me. There will be some re-working required, all depending on exactly what you want to end up with, so be prepared to change measurements, angles & distances – and making more than one toile!

Firstly, trace off your skirt block. If you don’t have one yet, here are some instructions. The length will be up to you, but should be a decent length to “wiggle” in! I made Veronica 68cm long, from the waist. Daughter No2 is pretty tall though, so go for a length that hits you just below the knee for a good look.

Your traced skirt block should look something like this:

Your traced skirt block, fitted and altered to your figure.

Step 1:

The first thing I did was to change the shape of the skirt. I took 2.5cm off the hem line on each side seam and about 1cm at the hip line. I joined the hem point to the hip point and then up tot he original line at the waist. This gives an overall tighter fit as you are removing some of the ease over the hip. I also moved the back seam in 1cm. This came to a point approximately 10-12cm below the hip line. Made sure when you are doing this that your lines flow easily & there are no jerky joins to original seam lines. Also, may I remind you at this point there are no seam allowances on this pattern. All the lines you are drawing are going to be your stitching lines – seam allowances will be added at the end.

Step 2:

Now to move the dart & change the angle of it. I wanted the dart to angle towards the hip & to be further from the side seam to accommodate the pocket. I moved the dart position towards the centre by 3cm and shortened it by 3cm. The original dart was 10cm long, but I didn’t want the pocket to be that low down. Also, the style line had to be altered, so when redrawing the dart I didn’t keep it on the same plane as the original. The left leg of the dart runs almost parallel to the centre front. The dart is still the same width, 2cm.

Step 3:

Drawing in the stlye line of the pocket. I started about 5cm up from the hip line and played with various combinations of angles to get this right. It really will be up to you as to where it all ends up, but the sketch shows where my pocket eventually ended up. I did two toiles to get this to just the right place, so maybe you could start by drawing on a toile to get the correct placement for you. The base of the dart will be the jumping off point for the pocket, so think about the angles between the right dart leg, the pocket opening line & the return. the dart legs will become seams for the skirt front & the hip yoke pocket piece, eliminating the dart as such.

Step 4:

Trace off the pocket pieces as seperate items. You will have a hip yoke pocket piece, a pocket bag & the skirt front & the back. The red lines on my pattern here are the cutting lines. Remember to add notches, grainlines and name the pattern pieces! Also, at this point you will need to add seam allowances. Add 1.5cm everywhere and don’t forget the hem. For a good weight on a skirt like this add 3-4cm.

The finished pattern pieces, all ready for seams & sewing! — The finished pattern pieces for Veronica, all ready for seams & sewing!

If you have any queries, please comment below. Have fun now! 🙂

***EDIT***

I am working on making this pattern available as a pdf download. If you’d be interested, please leave a comment below.

A Tale of Two Skirts

Better late than never, right? These are two skirts I ran up after New Year for Daughter No1. They both use up fabric from my stash, score!

One very simply cut from the straight skirt block with a shaped waistband & invisible zip.

Another developed from the straight skirt block, same shaped waistband as before, but this time a gored panelled skirt with piping in the seams.

The straight skirt first – the fabric was from my stash, the left overs from the trousers I made in the Autumn. I usually over-buy fabric when I’m not 100% sure what I will make. Anyone else have this problem? Thus I am frequently left with pieces of about 50cm or so. Thankfully daughter No1 was happy to have me use up this little bit for her skirt. The lining also came out of the stash in the cupboard, (as did the lace & invisible zip) so I did well on this!

Dressed down with t-shirt & puffy jacket

I thought it would be nice to have a pretty hem detail, the hem was edged with some black lace and hand stitched in place.

I used a skirt hook & bar for the waistband closure, rather than a button.

For skirt no2, I had some black & white heavyweight herringbone wool that I’d got from Harlequin Fabrics in Leamington Spa in September (£8 for 1.5m in the sale!). I had originally thought to make a 60’s style skirt for Daughter No1, but she nixed the idea. Instead she wanted a skirt with the same waistband as the straight skirt, and the same length. I still wanted that a-line shape, and we compromised on a gored panelled skirt. I had in my mind an idea to emphasise the panels, so went digging to see if I had any black bias binding in the stash boxes. Instead, I found pre-made piping, perfect!

That piping has been hanging around a while, the lable is in Afrikaans, with a very cheap price tag in South African Rands. I shudder. It could be as much as 22 years old… Nevermind, it has been used now! 😀 As you can see from the shiny black stuff in the picture, I didn’t use the wool to face the waistband. Daughter No1 is a sensitive little thing, so I used some black crepe backed satin, again from the stash.

I piped the seams in the panels, and along the lower edge of the waistband.

The result… I also bound the hem with black cotton bias binding. The idea was that as it is fairly stiff, it will add bulk to the hem, making it stand out. This herringbone also frays like mad! I had overlocked all the seams to make sure we had no mad unravelling, because this skirt has to survive being washed in a machine at Uni…

Art student??

You will notice I didn’t pipe the side seams… There is a good reason, I promise. 1 – the invisible zip is in the other side seam, and invisible zips do not play well with added bulk, or piping. 2 – I had run out…

The making of these two pieces allowed me to buy that fabulous giraffe print for Daughter No2’s Jungle January jacket, and another two pieces from my stash have been allocated to another two projects, which is why I was allowed to buy some spotty twill from Ditto for Daughter No2 to make her Polka Dot offering for February. In addition, I have (almost) finished a project from February’s Burda, just the hems to do, also using a piece from my stash. Phew, this is exhausting! I have finally succombed to keeping a note book to keep track of everything!

Has anyone else signed up for the Sew for Victory sewalong with Lucky Lucille? That’s another job for February! I have started on the pattern cutting, and identified 4 pieces of fabric to use! Daughter No2 and I will both benefit from this little challenge, we have chosen blouse patterns, because we can bring them up to date with jeans etc. So I had better get some sleep, because I need to crack on with the toiles tomorrow!

Don’t forget the Swap your Stash party is continuing, if you’d like to join in the swap, leave a comment below or on Kat’s blog. You can also just show us your fabric stash. Maybe it’s madly chaotic and leaves you a little frazzled, maybe you are a queen of organisation and can share some secrets with the rest of us. The “questions” are available, just copy them onto your blog, fill in some answers and post some photos of your fabulous fabrics for us all to drool over!

How to make a Skater Skirt

Two posts in a week!! I think it is about time I did some catching up! 😀 Here are the instructions to make the pattern for a skater skirt, using the tailored skirt block from the previous tutorial. This pattern will give you a 12 panelled skirt.

Step 1

Trace off the skirt block as one piece. Move the side seam to the centre of the block. Divide the block along the hip line into 6 equal parts and draw lines from the top to the bottom of the block to make the panels. Make sure these are at right angles to the hip and hem line. The red lines in the drawing are the original block lines, the blue ones are the new lines for the pattern.

Step 2

Draw a dotted line parallel to the waist and hip line, 14cm down from the waistline. Construct new darts on the panel lines to touch this line. Ignore the old darts (the ones in red on this drawing). The darts on the back panel lines are 2.5cm each, and the front darts are 1.5cm each. Add 1cm to the back and front side seams and draw a new curved line to the hip point.

Step 3

Decide where the skirt will sit at the waist, whether you are having a straight waistband, a shaped waistband or a facing. Also decide on the finished length. For this project I dropped the waist line by 2cm and made the skirt 40cm long overall. Mark the length – don’t worry to add a hem allowance at this point, it is better to have the finished length when you toile it up. Adjust the waistline accordingly.

Step 4

Cut along the new waistline. Number the panels and add grainlines perpendicular to the hipline on each panel. Cut off the bottom at the new hemline.

Step 5

Mark a facing 5cm deep on the pattern and trace this off, including the markings for the darts. Cut the facing and close the darts to make a curved pattern shape. Mark the centre front and back, and for a skirt with a side zip, label the centre lines as being placed on a fold. You will need to add a seam allowance to the side seam of each facing piece, as well as to the top. Standard seam allowance is 1.5cm.

Step 6

Cut up the panel lines of the skirt. Stick paper down each side of the panels and add 3-5cm (or more if you want a really full skirt) to each side of each panel piece. Add seam allowance to the top and sides of each panel, but leave the hem for now. The pieces I show have had the fulness added from the dotted line that was 14 cm down from the waistline. You could also use the hipline as the start point. This would make the skirt more fitting to the hip, only flaring from there. You need to decide where you would like the fullness to start. I have shown a 4cm flare at the hemline.

So that is your pattern. For making up, it is easier to make the whole front and back, and then to attach them at the side seams. Remember to leave the left side seam open to the hipline for a zip. Sew the front and back facing together at the right side seam. Attach the facing to the top edge of the skirt, clip and understitch. Interface the facing. At the toile stage you can finalise the finished length, then add the hem allowance to the paper pattern. For this skirt 2cm should be sufficient. The fuller the skirt the more difficult it will be to hem with a deep allowance.

I would love to see the skirts made using this tutorial, so please post them, either on Burdastyle or Pinterest, with a link back here. Happy pattern cutting!

Drafting a Skirt Block

The straight skirt block is the basic skirt pattern, from which pretty much all other skirt patterns are made. This tutorial is based on the method in Winifred Aldrich’s Metric Pattern Cutting. I have included the two size tables for your reference. You do not need to take every measurement!! For skirts take your waist and hip measurement (if you are not sure where or how to do this, check here). Compare your measurements with the table and get your waist to hip measurement from the table. If you have different sizes don’t stress too much, the waist to hip doesn’t vary that much, so go by the one for your hip measurement.

Charts

So, armed with your waist, hip and waist to hip measurement you can begin.

Step 1.

You will be starting with a rectangle. Draw a line roughly parallell to the top edge of your paper. Put a small line and a #1 on the left of the line.

1 – 2: Measure along the line 1/2 of your hip measurement, plus 1.5cm. Make a mark and lable it #2.

1 – 3: This line MUST be 90 degrees to the line 1 – 2. Finished shirt length. For the purposes of a block, make this knee length, so make this line about 50cm long, and mark the end with a #3.

3 – 4: Is the same as the measurement 1 – 2. Again, make sure all your lines are straight and at right angles to each other.

2 – 4: Close the rectangle.

Skirt block Step 1 — Step 1 - The Rectangle

Step 2.

1 – 5: Waist to hip measurement from the table. Mark #5 and draw a line across the block to intersect 2-4. Mark this point #6.

5 – 7: 1/4 of your hip measurement, plus 1.5cm. Mark #7 and draw a line down to the hem for #8.

Step 3:

1- 9: 1/4 of your waist measurement, plus 4.25cm. Mark #9 and draw a short line up. #10 is 1.25cm up this line.

Draw a dotted line from #1 to #10. Divide this line into 3 equal parts and mark points # 11 and #12. Draw lines from these points at right angles. The line from #11 is 14cm long. Mark point # 13 at the end. The line from #12 is 12.5cm long. Mark point # 14.

Step 4:

Draw darts on the two lines from #11 and #12, 2cm wide. (that’s 1cm on each side of the central line)

2 – 15: 1/4 your waist measurement plus 2.25cm. Mark #15 and draw a line up. #16 is 1.25cm up this line.

#17 is a third of the measurement 16 – 2. Draw a line from #17, 10cm long. Mark point # 18 at the end.

Step 5:

Draw a dart 2cm wide on the line from #17.

Find the halfway point of the lines from #7 to #10 & 16. Mark a point 0.5cm out from this point on each line. Draw a curved line from #10 to #7, and #16 to #7. Make sure these lines touch the point you just marked and that they flow easily to the straight line from #7 to #8.

Draw a slow curve from #1 to #10 and #2 to #16.

Add notations, Back, Front and centres.

At this point, also add your name, the date, and the measurements you used, ie, hip and waist. This will come in handy when you want to check whether or not the block still fits you later on! So now you have a half skirt. To do the next step, you need to ink in the outer lines, the line from 7-8 and the darts. Then use tracing paper and trace out each skirt piece separately, so you have a front and a back. Cut the front out on a fold and cut 2 back pieces. Remember that the block has NO SEAM ALLOWANCE!! So add to the side seams and the centre back. Also remember to leave the centre back open from waist to hip so you can get it on! Keep this pattern uncut. If you need to make adjustments, use coloured pens to mark new lines, and DATE the adjustments. Use the patterns you traced off this one to cut up, otherise you will have to make a block everytime you want a new pattern. This is your template, keep it safe!

I will post the method I used to make the skater skirt next.

Happy drafting! Any questions, just shout, and if I haven’t made anything clear enough, please let me know, and it will be fixed asap!

Back on Track – the Skirt

Despite finding that lovely Liberty fabric last week and wanting to make the dress, I have stuck it out and made a skirt. I used Winnie’s Tailored Skirt block. When I drafted the block I was aware that the hip curve might be a little poofy – something that Winnie’s skirts tend to do on some people. I made a note to check this when I did the fitting.

The block actually fits well, apart from the poofy bit on the side. The side seams hang perpendicular to the floor, there is no pulling and no baggy bit at the back. All I needed to do was to adjust the hipline curve where I pinned on the toile.

Once the adjustment was marked on the pattern I started the adaptation for a 12 gore skirt. I had decided to make a skater skirt without a gathered waist. I wanted something fitted to the hip and flaring out gently. I divided the front and back along the hipline into 3 and moved the darts on the back to line up with the panel lines, the darts were made a little bigger and to compensate for this I moved the side seam out from the hip to the waist by 1cm. I did the same on the front and added a 2nd dart to go onto the 2nd panel. I marked the grainlines on the centre of each piece, labeled them and cut them up. I added 4cm flare to the hemline of each piece, on each side, tapering to a point 14cm below the waist on the panel seam. I am not going to have a separate waistband, but will draft a facing. The zip will go in the centre back seam.

Skirt Adaptations — Skirt Pattern With Style Lines Marked

The toile of the skirt fits really well, I love the line of the flare. I have 2 different fabrics to make this in, one a lightweight beige linen with a white pinstripe, and the other a retro print cotton sateen. It will be interesting to see how different the skirt looks with these two different fabrics.