Saturday, December 6, 2014

DIY Circle Skirt

Fun fact: I'm not a huge fan of wearing short skirts.
Additional fun fact: Most clothing stores that cater to people my age only sell short skirts.

You see my dilemma?

Therefore, along with refashioning, I've super gotten super into making my own skirts and dresses, and it's actually easier than you might think! I made two circle skirts at the end of the summer and have already worn them so much that I'm plotting to make like.... 87 more.

DIY Circle Skirt


Circle skirts are just so much fun to wear and make. They're super easy to construct and they're perfect for twirling in. Not that I like to stand around in my living room and twirl around like an idiot in them. Nooo, no, def not me. Nah. For this first one, I found this red suiting fabric at Joann's and loved the color of it. It's less of a hoochie red and more of a deeper red, but either way, it's pretty fab.

DIY Circle Skirt

I also made a second one out of black suiting fabric because suiting fabric is just... yes. Last time I was home my friend Carrie and I had a very deep conversation about our love of suiting fabric, so trust me. It's legit.

Interested in making your own? Because you should be. Because like I said-- prime twirling.
Well the best resource I found on constructing your own circle skirt can be found with the lovely Annika Victoria, and her tutorial can be found right here. I seriously love the stuff she makes so if you have never seen her site before, please check it out!!

I followed her tutorial pretty much throughout the whole process but with a few alterations here and there.

DIY Circle Skirt

First things first, I laid out my fabric, folded it with selvages together, and then folded it again the other way just like in the tutorial. Naturally, Kitty apparated out of nowhere to lend his sewing expertise and critical judging eye.

DIY Circle Skirt

Then, using chalk and a measuring tape, I marked in my measurements. My waist measurement came out to about 4.25 inches and for my length I did about 22 inches. If you don't know what measurements to use, then there is also this handy dandy calculator which tells you what to do so you don't have to math yourself. Because everyone knows that no math is the best kind of math.

DIY Circle Skirt

Also, whilst cutting it my skirt out, I found that the center piece makes a great hat/cat-judgement blocker.

DIY Circle Skirt

The only thing that I really did differently from Annika's tutorial was the waist band. Instead of cutting one piece of fabric and folding it over, I cut two pieces that were about 2.5 inches tall and about an 1.5 inches bigger than my waist. I then did a straight stitch along one of the long edges.

DIY Circle Skirt

And then I ironed it like so, pressing my seam inside and the two remaining edges up so that I could encase the raw edge of skirt, thus eliminating all raw edges. (Oh yeah, and fabric switch here because I only remembered to photograph the black and not the red at this point.)

DIY Circle Skirt

Then instead of just doing one straight stitch along the bottom hem, I actually did two rows of stitches. I found that this actually made my bottom hem sit flatter.

DIY Circle Skirt

And it's just as simple as that! Yay for not having to wear skirts that are so short that every passerby gets a free show... 

So don't be surprised if I make about a thousand more of these because *spoiler alert* I bought a lot of suiting fabric (and other fabric, to be fair) when I was home on black Friday. Get psyched!

(Pssssst. Also.Those shoes are a DIY. Just saying.)

Linkin' up:
x x 



13 comments:

  1. Great shirts, love the pictures of you cat watching too :):)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Oooooh, I love them! This doesn't look too hard either (is it, is it? Please reassure me! I am terrible at sewing! Did you use a machine or by hand!?) Love what you did with them!
    Oh and hi! I came over from Claire's! Your cat reaaaaaaaaaaally looks like my old friend Marianne's cat Teddy! x

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's really not hard at all, promise! I am still pretty novice when it comes to sewing, so no worries! Thanks for stopping by!!

      Delete
  3. I love the swing of circle skirts! Yours turned out very cute. Stopping by from Creative Mondays. Have a great week!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Lovely! It's so nice to see a young woman who doesn't want to flash everyone her backside everytime she bends over or sits down. I don't know how half the skirts out there these days even qualify as anything more than a belt. Ooooh, I'm sounding very old and crotchety, but I really do like your skirt :) So glad that you joined us at the Make it Monday Party! Hope to see you again next week.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I know right? It's like... how is that considered a skirt... Thanks for hosting though!

      Delete
  5. Beautiful! That looks pretty simple! Thanks for sharing!
    Jennelise

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It was quite simple and I wear it all the time!

      Delete
  6. What kind of fabric did you use? I made one once with a cotton material but I think it was too thin so the skirt draped around me and had less poof than yours does. What kinds of fabrics would you recommend?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I used this polyester suiting material from the suiting section of Joann's, just because I liked the stiffer pouf of it too haha.

      Delete
  7. I like this blog, the color and the idea is amazing. I like the way you have shown your talent. I love to share with you about Cotton Fabric Suppliers in IndiaThe best cotton manufacturing company in India, this company has made huge effort to make it as a successful company in India. The manufacturing and the cotton materials used in the company has used in large amount and the company has wide range of products, it also has Manufacturing Textile Fabrics in India The company is a leading synthetic fabric and latest technological advances in manufacturing processes. To give all Best services to customer. I am sure this company will help you in making you success in your life and your business.

    ReplyDelete