Making a skirt, no sewing required!
This is what the skirt will look like:
1. Buy a length of material from a fabric shop – it can be whatever you want. I bought a metre and a half just to be sure I had the right amount.
Lay out the material and fold it lengthways so you have a long thin rectangle
3. Measure using a piece of string from above your hips (the widest bit) to wherever you want the skirt to end.
Tie the piece of string to a pen/pencil/fabric marker and starting where you know the pen wont go over the edges of the material draw a semi circle.
Cut along this line – you now have a circle – but don’t unfold it yet!
4. Fold the circle in half vertically and then diagonally.
5. Cut a rounded quarter circle about 2inches from the point of the folded fabric – you should have two concentric circles.
Then all you need to do is force yourself into it – head first! You may need to make a slight rip in the waist to get in but once you’ve done that it’s easy enough to get in and out of it!
Use hem tape for the hem.You can get it online or at Micheals or any fabric store. I like to sew a hem as extra protection but you shouldn’t have to do that if you don’t want to. Put hem tape on the hem and use an iron to fuse the tape onto the hem permanently.
To make it slightly better fitting, and to get the exact length you want, remember the length is equal to the radius of the outer circle, you can also estimate the inner circle (the hole) by:
circumference = 2 x pi x radius
Therefore:
radius = circumference/(pi x 2)
E.g. for a 32″ waist
radius = 32/(3.14 x 2)
= 32/(6.28)
= 1.62″
Remeber however, that that will produce a hole that is pretty much the same as your waist, meaning it’ll be a very tight fit, as a result, I’d recommend rounding up to the nearest whole inch.
As an alternative to Han’s method, you can also cut the inner circle in the same way you cut out the outer circle – i.e. when the material is founded in half only.
Believe it or not the way you suggest is actually quite a popular method for making skirts, or at least it is in my experience (my parents run a dancewear shop and used to make a lot of costumes at home..)
It was actually inspired by the dance society at uni
My housemate is forever making skirts like this!
actually, 32/(2*pi) is roughly 5 inches. a 2-inch radius circle is really, really small for your waist…
lol! you’re awesome. I love it!!
Now I just need to find some time to get to the fabric store!
very smart. I can’t sew! :p :bunny:
What an interesting idea! Do the edges not fray?
It depends what material you buy, I just had cheap shimmery stuff but it didn’t really matter what happened to it as it was only worn for one night, if you wanted to make a skirt to wear more than once I’m sure you could sew a hem and add a zip into the inevitable tear your going to make to get into it! I can’t actually sew so I didn’t bother