MakingaCircleSkirt

These instructions are for drawing a pattern for a skirt that has 6 gores but is circular in its final dimensions.
Benefitsoveratraditionalcircleskirtarethatacircleskirthasitsseamsonthegrainofthefabric,andtendsto
stretchaLOTonthebias,leadingtoanunevenhemandtrippingandfalling.Thecirclegoreskirthasallofits
seamsonthebias,whichhelpsthematerialtoNOTstretchbuttokeepitsshape.Also,dependingonthecutting
method,agoredskirtismuchmoreconservativeintermsoftheamountoffabricneededthanacircleskirtis.In
terms of period accuracy, I won't say that a circular skirt is accurate, but gored construction is accurate, and
much more so than circle skirt construction. Fabrics of the time were much too narrow to cut a single panel
quarterorhalfcircle.Herearethepatterninstructions.Iwilltrytoputupapicturelaterofwhatthefinished
productshouldlooklike.ThispatternisHALFofeachgore,whichisgenerallycutonafoldorontheselvedge(to
laterbesewntogetherintoacompletegore).Ifanyonewantslayout,cutting,andconstructioninstructions,let
meknowandI'lladdthoseaswell.
Youwillneed:atapemeasure,arollofwrappingpaper(preferablythekindwiththegridontheback),aflat,
smooth surface, a pen such as a Sharpie, scissors, and a calculator. Also, you will need your natural waist
measurementandawaisttoanklebonemeasurementforskirtlength.
Soitshouldgosomethinglikethis:
Waistmeasurement(A):_____
Waisttoankle(B):_____
DividenumberAby6,androundup(addoneifit'sawholenumber)(C):_____
AddBandCtogettheMagicNumber:____
MagicNumberdividedby2(D):_____
MagicNumbermultipliedby.86(E):____

Drawadotorastarorsomethingononeedgeofyourpaper.Fromthere,measurealongtheedgeofthepaper
theMagicNumber.Useatapemeasureorastringwithapenontheendofitanddrawanarcbyholdingthe
nonpenendofthetapemeasureatthestar,andtheotherend(withthepen)atthemagicnumberandmoving
thepentowardthemiddleofthepaper.Gobacktothestar,andmeasuredowntheedgeofthepaper(again)
thenumberE.Itshouldbealmosttothearcatthebottombutnotquite.Drawalinestraightoutfromtheedge
ofthepaperuntilyoucrossthearc.Measurethislineyou'vejustdrawn;itshouldbeprettyclosetothehalfof
themagicnumber, D. Now draw a line from the star to the place where your E line crosses the arc. The last
thing is to draw the baby arc for the waist line. For this, you want to go back to the waistdividedby6and
roundednumber,C.Startingatthestaragain,measuredowntheedgeofthepaperthelengthC,anddrawan
arclikeyou didbefore.Thisshouldbealittletiny bit,between 5and8inches.Nowyourpatternisdone,go
aheadandcutitout.Youmaywanttomakeanotherpattern pieceby tracingtheoneyouhave;itwillmake
cuttingoutyourskirtmucheasier!


Cutting:thepatternpieceisHALFofeachgore.Youdon'thavetomaketwoofthepattern,butitmightmake
yourlifeeasierduringcutting.Youcancutitineitheroftwoways,dependingonthewidthofyourfabric.
1)Acrossthefabric
Pros
Fewerseams,sinceallofthegoresarecutinonepieceexceptthelastone.
Thepatternpiecemayfitmoreeasilysinceitisafewinchesshorterthanitiswide.
Cons
It'seasiertogetthegorescrookedsinceyou'renotusingtheedgeofthefabricasaguide.
2)Alongthefabric
Pros
Easiertolayoutandcut,sinceyou'reusingtheselvedgeandfoldtoguideyou.
Cons
Halfagainasmanyseamssincehalfofthegoresarecutontheselvedge,requiringthemtobesewntogether
later.
Across fabric: Make two pattern pieces. Lay out the pieces, starting with the piece labeled 1, which has the
straightsidealongthefoldofthefabric.*Beforeyoucut*,layoutthesecondpiece,marked2,whichisoneside
ofthenextgore.Cutthediagonalseambetweenthetwopieces,andthecurvedtopandbottomedges.DONOT
cutalongthestraightedgebetweenpiece2and3!(Thisisthebluelineonthediagram).Continuetocutthe
pieces.Itwillbeeasiertokeepthemstraightifyoumovethepatternpiecelikealeapfrog;layoutpiece2before
youremove1,piece3beforeyoumove2,etc.Youonlycutonthediagonallines,notthestraightupanddown
bluelines.Whenyouarefinished,youwillhaveatotalof5fullgores(includingtheonethatyoucutoriginally
onthefold),and2halfgores(piece6).

Along the fabric: You can cut this one with either one pattern piece or two. Lay out the pattern pieces in
numberedorderasshowninthediagram,startingwithpiece1.Laythefirstpiecewiththestraightedgeonthe
fold.Thesecondpiece,andtheotherevenpieces,shouldbelaid1/2"awayfromtheselvedge,toleaveaseam
allowanceforthestraightseams.Cutallthepieces.Whenyouarefinished,youwillhave3fullgores(cutfrom
thefold),and6halfgores(cutfromtheselvedge).
Construction:Theconstructionisbasicallythesameforbothcuttingmethods.Ifyouusedthealongthefabric
method,youneedtosewthehalfgoresintowholegoresalongthestraightseams.Pinandsewthehalfgoresin
pairsastheywerecutout.Whenyousewthefirstpair,leavethetop(waistend)oftheseamopenabout10
inches;thiswillbetheopeningwhereyoucanfastenthewaistband.Ifyouusedtheacrossthefabricmethod,
youonlyhaveonepairofhalfgorestosewtogether.Don'tforgettostopsewingtheseam10"fromthewaist
end.
Next,sewthegoresalongthediagonalseamsusingaseamallowanceof1/2"atthemost.Ifyousewtheseams
toowide,theskirtwillbetoosmallinthewaist.Sewingtheseamsfromthebottom(wide)endtowardthewais
endwillhelpkeepthemfromsaggingafterthey'resewn.Sincetheseseamsaren'tontheselvedge,you'llneed
tozigzagtheseamallowancestokeepthemfromfrayinginthewash.Ifyouusedthe"alongthefabric"method,
you will want to alternate sewn half gore panels with full gore panels to disguise the total number of seams.
Sometimesit'seasiertodothisifyoustartoutbysewingaseamedgore(previouslytwohalfgores,nowsewn
together)toafullgore,andthensewthepairsofgorestogether.BEVERYCAREFULinthisstepthatallofyour
seamsendupontheinsideoftheskirt.Pressopentheseams.Asyoupresstheseamthatincludesthewaist
opening,youwanttopresstheedgesopenallthewaytothewaistband,thenturntheopenendsunderintothe
foldandpressthemagaintohidetherawedges.Sewaroundthisopeningtokeeptheedgeshidden.
Next,youneedtoconstructandattachthewaistband.Zigzagtheedgesofthewaistband(it'seasiertodoitnow
thanafterthewaistbandissewn).Turntheshortendsunder1/4",then1/4"againtohidetherawedges,and
sew across each end. Next, press the waistband in half the long way. Also, press both long edges of the
waistband1/2"totheinside.
Attachingthewaistband:youcaneithergatherorpleattheskirttothewaistband,orjustmatchitifit'sclose
enoughtothesamemeasureasyourwaist.Matchoneedgeofthewaistopeningtotheendofthewaistband.
Matchtheotheredgeoftheopeningtoaspot1"fromtheoppositeendofthewaistband,leavingthat1"orso
ofthewaistbandattheendforoverlap.Thegoredskirtwon'thavenearlyasmuchpleatingasthestraightpanel
skirt.Thestraightpanelskirtpagealsohasadecentdescriptionofhowtoattachthewaistband.
Thelastthingtodoistohemtheskirt.Iusearolledhemfootforthis,becauseit'sfastandeasy.Youcandoa
regularrolledhem(presstheedgetotheinside1/2",thenpresstherawedgeintothefoldfora1/4"hem),or
youcanzigzagtheentireskirtedgeandapplytrimmingtotheedge.Extrawidedoublefoldbiastapeisnice,asis
quiltbinding(whichisbasicallythesame,justalittlewider).Youcancutstripsfromanothermaterial,suchas
broadcloth,andusethoseinstead.Youdon'twanttouseribbon,though;it'salittletoofancyforusaspeasants,
even"partypeasants".
Closures:Thewaistband constructionontheskirt pageleavesa waistbandthatissuitableforadrawstringor
elastic,ifyouwanttogothatway.I'dadviseagainstelastic,sinceittendstogetdraggeddownbytheweightof
theskirtandcomeoutfromunderyourbodice,trippingyouatinconvenienttimesandalsogettingverydirty
fromdraggingtheground.Youcanalsousetheoverlaptoputonabuttonandbuttonhole,orflatskirthooks
(usetheheavydutytype,atleasttwoofthem).Personally,Ijustusesafetypinstokeepthemclosed.

SaraPenner