50’s style full circle skirt

Just in case you miss my guest post on the Ribbon Retreat blog.

This first dinner at Breathing Space, was themed Stepford Wives. I had no clue what to wear. First off I had never seen the show and second off, I didn’t have a cute floral dress that look retro. So I decided to make a full circle skirt instead. And I’m so glad that I did because I love it!! I went with polka dots but polka dots are awesome!!

I used the Dottie by Moda in Teal, white tulle, teal thread, 1 1/4″ elastic, 14″ turquoise splash zipper from the Ribbon Retreat and then some white cotton fabric I had.

For the skirt I, I made it a circle skirt.

To figure out the measurements for the skirt, you need to figure out the radius of your circle. Measure where you want the skirt to lay, mine was 35″. Usually for the circle skirt you just add 2 inches, but since I put some pleats in the skirt, I added 5 inches. So 35+5=40″. That is the circumference of the circle around the waist. We need the radius, so we are going to divide the number by 6.28 (that’s 2pi). 40/6.28=6.37, I rounded it down to 6.25″.

I taped several pieces of paper together to make a big piece (poster board would be great for this). And then I started making the pattern.

From the corner, I measured the 6.25″

I moved the measuring tape at different angles and marked the 6.25″ at each angle.

I did that until I went across the paper, then I drew a line to connect the dots.

Now for the next part of the pattern. I wanted my skirt to go right under my knee, so the length was 21″. I added the 21″ to my 6.25″ which was 27.25″. I did the same that as I did for the first measurement, I made a dot at 27.25″ at all different angles on the paper.

I connected the dots and then cut it on the lines. This is the pattern for the skirt, it is a 1/4 circle.

Now it’s time to start cutting the fabric. To determine how much fabric you will need, you will take the last number, mine was 27.25 and double it, so mine is 54.5″. I need a square that is 54.5″x54.5″ ( I rounded it up to 55″). Since I’m using cotton and it’s only 45″ wide, I had to cut two pieces. Each piece was 27.5″ by 55″.

It’s still needs to be a big square, so I took the pieces and pinned them together and sewed them.

Here is the big square with the hem in the middle.

I folded the square in half and then in half again. I made sure to keep the hem on the sides. Then I pinned the pattern onto the fabric. And then I cut it, you get a really big circle with a hole in the middle, like a donut.

I then ironed the bottom of the skirt and hemmed it.

I wanted to make pleats in the skirts, rather then just gather it. I made three pleats in front and two in back. I folded over the fabric and then ironed it. Then I sewed the top to keep the pleats in place.

I took a strip that was 3″x34″ (my waist size) and ironed it. You could do a really wide waistband if you wanted.

I pinned the waistband onto the top of the skirt.

And lastly, I put in the zipper. I just cut the spot where I wanted it to go and then sewed it in.

And now I have a super cute pleated circle skirt.

Now to make the skirt really full, I made a slip. Using the same pattern I cut some white fabric 55″x55″. A full sheet would be prefect for this. I cut it and hemmed it just like I did with the skirt.

I took the tulle and sewed it onto the bottom of the slip. Instead of pinned it, I just gathered it while it was on the sewing machine. I gathered the tulle ever inch or so and then sewed it.