Building skirts: instructions for beginners. Measurements for building a drawing of a skirt

2024 Author: Sierra Becker | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-26 03:45

A skirt is one of the most indispensable pieces in any woman's wardrobe. As a piece of clothing, she was known in ancient Egypt, she was worn by everyone: men and women, commoners and pharaohs. If you have long wanted to sew your own skirt, but did not dare, it's time to start!

Interesting about skirts

In the modern world, the skirt is mostly considered exclusively women's clothing, despite the fact that in many nations it is often found in national men's costumes. For example, in Scotland, men wear a kilt, a knee-length skirt with pleats at the back that allow for free movement. Usually it is sewn from a checkered material, which is based on real wool.

Skirt can be worn as casual wear or used in evening wear. Even with a single basic skirt, you can create an incredible number of looks, the main thing is to correctly combine outerwear with it.

If you decide to sew this outfit yourself, but have never picked up scissors, we recommendfollow our advice. This step-by-step guide for beginners is the perfect way to get into the world of tailoring your own fashion. First tip: take a simple model as a first try, otherwise many take on the complex construction of a 6-blade skirt pattern and, as a result, after unsuccessful attempts, decide never to sew on their own again.

How to choose fabric?

The most important step in tailoring any clothing is the choice of material, because it depends on the texture of the fabric whether the skirt will turn out the way it was intended. You should choose a fabric depending on the style of the future skirt, as well as on the following factors: comfortable wearing, season (winter / summer), practicality (ease of care).

Classic products (straight and strict skirts) are sewn from a dense material that does not lose shape for a long time. The ideal option would be a mixed suit fabric, which is made from natural and synthetic fibers. Manufacturers offer a huge variety of products: silk, tweed, corduroy, knitwear and many others.

The easiest way to work with natural materials, but not all of them give the desired effect. Cotton or linen things very quickly lose their shape, wrinkle and spoil the whole image. We recommend choosing materials with the addition of stretch, viscose, polyester or elastane. Sewing a skirt out of them will be as easy as building a sun skirt pattern from stretchy fabric.

Find your style among a variety of styles

Another important step in tailoring a skirt is the choice of a suitable style. Here you canuse all your imagination and create your own design, but you should know some rules for matching skirts depending on the type of figure.

• For curvaceous girls, a wrap skirt is the best option. Using this idea, you can create an incredible number of different models.
• Refined and slender girls fit bell skirts, they will add femininity due to the effect of "volume in the hips".
• Mini-skirts above the knees seem to stretch the growth, visually making the girl's legs longer. In this case, it is advisable to choose mini models with a high waist.
• For an hourglass figure, a fitted or straight skirt is ideal (beginner pattern will be easiest to choose this model, as a straight cut does not require extra work).

The ideal proportions of the skirt, as you know, came up with Coco Chanel: its length should be just below the knees.

How to take measurements

To build a drawing of a skirt, you must correctly measure. All measurements are taken from the person for whom the product is sewn. If you have decided to sew a skirt for yourself for the first time, but do not know your size yet, first of all measure your volumes. So, you will need to take an ordinary centimeter tape and wrap it around the desired part of the body. Some girls, for various reasons, intentionally wrap their waist too tight. It is very important to "not reduce" your volumes, because it depends on how the finished skirt will sit on you.

To build a skirt we need the following values:

1. Waist circumference (that part of the body where our future skirt will originate).
2. Hip circumference (measure at the widest part of the body below the waist).
3. Desired product length.

Depending on the style you choose, you may also need information about the width of the skirt at the very bottom.

Skirt pattern for beginners: step by step instructions

In general, the process of tailoring any clothes can be divided into three steps: the first is taking measurements, the second step is the pattern, the third is the sewing stage.

If you do not have a ready-made drawing, you will have to do the pattern yourself. So, for this we need the following: graph paper (or tracing paper), measurements (values of the waist half-circumference - PT, the half-circumference of the hips - PT, the length from the waist line to the hip line TB, as well as the length of the product itself - DIZ). When patterning, you should take into account a few "extra" centimeters in favor of an increase in the freedom of fitting the finished skirt. Do not be afraid of these values, they are calculated very simply: if your waist circumference is 70 cm, then the half-circumference will be equal to half, i.e. 45 cm. We repeat the same steps with each measurement.

The following instruction is focused on sewing a regular straight dress skirt. Before sewing other models, it is better to practice on a straight-cut skirt, since it is easiest to understand the principles of drawing and sewing on its example.

1. To build a skirt and its pattern, choose a flat and spacious surface and spread paper or tracing paper on it, then arm yourself with a penciland start drawing. On our pattern, we must mark one point, let it be point T.
2. Further, according to our measurements, we lower the straight line from point T to point H - this will be the length of our skirt (DIZ)
3. TB is the length from the waist to the hips, usually about 20 cm.
4. Draw horizontal lines from each point T, H and B and mark new points T₁, H₁ and B 1_.
5. Width of BB_{1 is the sum of the values of the PT (Hip circumference=48 cm + 2 cm increase).}
6. Then BB₁ need to be divided into two parts and put point B_{2, from which we must lower the vertical line down - this is the side seam.}
7. In the drawing of a straight skirt (in the pattern for beginners shown in the picture) you can see the points T₂, T₃ and T _{4 which are side seam undercuts (approximately 2.5cm each)}
8. Next, draw the deflections of the waist on two parts: RF and PP. To do this, from points T and T _{1 set aside 2 cm each (for protruding buttocks we take 1 cm) and draw a line where the waist runs.}
9. The same undercut should be done on the middle seam (where our fastener will be). From point T'draw 2 cm to the right and connect with a dotted line to point B.
10. If you want a straight skirt below the knees, you should cut off 1-2 cm from the bottom line so that the width decreases and the skirt retains the silhouette.

And lastly, you need to think over an important detail - a belt. If the skirt sits at the waist, then it is better to make a beltabout 3 cm wide. In this case, the "extra" centimeters in the drawing should be noted (TT belt width _{1 and shade 1.5 cm).}

If you learn how to cut according to our guide, then sewing other models will be as easy as making a pencil skirt pattern.

How to cut a drawing on a material?

Building a skirt on the fabric you need to start with the correct location of the material itself. The fact is that any fabric has a warp and wefts (these are the threads from which it is made), which stretch in different ways. It is necessary to correctly lay the cut so that in the future the skirt does not warp to one side. If the selected fabric stretches well along the base, then we translate our pattern in this direction. To save money, be sure to measure its consumption before buying fabric. So, for example, when constructing a pattern for a wrap skirt, you need to take into account not only the girth of the hips and the length of the product, but also the width of the additional part.

The next step is to cut on the material itself. To do this, fold the fabric in half, while the front side should be inside. Then we put our finished drawing on it and carefully circle it with chalk. An interesting life hack: if you don't have tailor's chalk on hand, you can take a piece of dried soap and circle the pattern with it.

When cutting out the construction of the base of the skirt on the fabric, you should take into account additional centimeters for the "seams" - approximately 1.5 cm on each side. On a separate piece of fabric, we cut out our future belt (its length is equal to the waist circumference). In order for the belt to be reliable and emphasize the figure,you need to sew a lining into it. Non-woven is best suited for this.

This completes the construction of the skirt, and we can proceed to the next step.

Now let's sew

Many believe that the most exciting part of sewing is the process of stitching the details, because it is at this stage that you can already see what our skirt turns out to be. So, before you start sewing, you should prepare a sewing machine with threaded threads of the desired color, pins and, of course, be patient!

Before you start sewing the details of the skirt, it is better to chop them with pins so that they do not move relative to each other. For beginner needlewomen, this is one of the main problems, so do not be lazy and apply running seams along the edges. These stitches will allow you to move the pieces freely while you sew them on the sewing machine.

Make sure the seam is straight, even and continuous, otherwise the finished skirt will end up with ugly puffs along the line connecting the front and back panels. When all the parts are sewn together and the middle back seam remains, then you should leave a place for the fastener in it (about 2-3 cm).

It remains to sew on the belt and install the zipper. Pay attention to the seams of the "undercuts" when sewing on the belt: if they are too thick, just take an iron and go over them.

The simplest product

Girls' tulle skirt with flower or bow details. It is very easy to sew such an outfit, because it does not have a fastener.zippers, it is held on by a decorated elastic band.

To sew a skirt for a girl about 160 cm tall, we will need the following materials: tulle (size 3 x 3 m), satin fabric (about 60 cm long and 1.5 meters wide), standard elastic band (4 cm wide, 3 cm longer than the waist circumference). In addition, you will need pins, thread, measuring tape, scissors and, of course, a sewing machine with an adjusted mode.

We always start with a pattern: for this you need to spread our eurotulle on a flat surface, and then arm yourself with a measuring tape and tailor's chalk and mark five details on the fabric. Since we have a square cut (with sides of 3 meters), we can divide it into 5 pieces of 60 cm in length and 3 m in width. From each detail we will sew a new layer of tulle skirt. For younger girls, you can take a piece of fabric three times smaller.

So the next step is to assemble each part. You need to take a needle with a thread of a suitable color and pick up each resulting cut on the upper extreme cut. Be careful, gathers need to be distributed evenly across the entire width of the fabric. You should get the same patch as in the picture.

Step by step you need to follow the same steps with each layer. Then you need to connect each patch to each other, you get a voluminous and magnificent design, to which we will sew the lining.

A little trick for beginner needlewomen: if you want the process to go faster and at the same time the seams are applied neatly, we recommend periodicallyiron each layer of the skirt before sewing it to the next.

Ending the process

The lining for the skirt should be cut out of an opaque fabric, the ideal option is a satin fabric. The choice of color is limited only by your imagination, so here we give only one advice: let the lining look organic under the tulle layers.

It is necessary to scribble the lower edge of the satin cut, and on the upper one - to make uniform gatherings. Then turn the tulle part of the skirt inside out and sew on the lining on the sewing machine. Make sure the seams are even.

Our skirt is almost ready, it remains to connect an elastic band to it. There is a large assortment of decorated elastic bands in stores, so the process of choosing an element that matches the color is not difficult. You need an elastic band equal to the circumference of your waist + 3 cm for seam allowances. Sew it into one whole "circle".

Stretch it and baste it with the main part of the skirt in wide stitches. Then put it under the machine and carefully sew along the line of marking seams. Building a skirt, although it looks complicated, is actually very easy, and most importantly, an interesting activity.

Variations of tulle skirts - a huge variety! And the advantage of this particular model is that it can be combined with absolutely anything: a tutu skirt looks great with both summer tops and winter sweaters.

Adding details: interesting ideas

If you decide to dilute a plain skirt with bright colors, you can add embroidery to the top layer of the skirt. Scarlet roses, purple butterflies, elegant bows embroidered on delicate tulle,will add romantic notes to your look.

It is best to buy ready-made items in the decor store, where you can also buy special sparkles and beads. We assure you, you won't have to mess around with them for a long time. Modern manufacturers produce these items with ready-made glue, so you only need an iron to decorate the skirt.

A couple of years ago, a skirt with a train was fashionable. Usually it is worn for special occasions, however, if such a model is sewn from tulle, then it can be used as everyday wear. When constructing a pattern for a skirt with a slit at the back, it should be noted that more tulle and satin will be required, because now the length of the skirt will be longer.