I literally had a dream about writing tutorials about drafting your own patterns. People are always impressed by the idea of that, but when you use a simple, flat pattern making method, it’s actually not that hard at all. I mean, it would be if you were drafting tailored suits or something, but the basics are pretty easy to do. The method I learned from my mother is only available in Dutch, some others here such as @Magpie might be able to recommend English language methods.
The pattern below is actually so simple it barely counts as flat pattern making. I’m using this for the first tutorial because it’s such an easy way to get started. If you can make something like this (and spoiler, you can!) you already have most of the skills you need to draft a slightly more complicated pattern next. I have an 8 pieces skirt and a straight, knee length skirt (inspired by King Louie’s Border skirt) in various stages of completion in my room right now. Those tutorials would be next up if anyone is interested!
What you need
depending on the desired size of the garment, 2-4 yards of fabric
sewing thread
hand-sewing needle
piece of elastic long enough to go around your waist (I used 2cm (3/4 inch) width)
pins of clips
fabric scissors and/or rotary cutter, quilting mat and straight ruler
basting thread in a contrasting colour and hand sewing needle (optional)
calculator (phone or computer will do) and a scrap of paper to write measurements down
basic machine sewing skills: sewing straight seams
very basic hand sewing skills: basting stitches
Step 1: taking measurements
For this pattern we need to take 3 or 4 measurements. You can do it yourself, but it’s easier to ask someone to help.
Nr 1 is the waist. Measure the width of your waist. The waist is the point where you put your hands when you put them at your side. Just circle the measuring tape around your waist and write the number down.
Nr. 2 is the hip width. Measure the width of the widest part of your hips. For women this is often not at the hip bone but a little bit lower. You can check if this is the widest part by holding the measuring tape between your index finger and thump, and moving it up and down.
Nr. 3 is desired skirt length. You can make this as long as you want, my tutorial will be for a full length skirt that will be around a yard long. If you’re tall and want to make this skirt longer, pay attention when we reach the last tier. You can measure the desired length on your body or measure an existing item of clothing.
Nr. 4 is a hidden step, this will be a little more advanced. If you want to make the advanced pattern, open the spoilers whenever you see them.
Summary
To make the pattern fit your body perfectly, measure the distance from the waist to your hip. This is the hip height. For me, that’s 7" / 18 cm. I know this is a common measure so that’s why I’ve based the pattern on this measure, but your body might have an entirely different shape.
Step 2: making the pattern
This is the basic diagram of what we’re going to do. This drawing is not proportional, it’s just to give you guys and idea of what we’re doing.
The first tier is 9" wide. For the length, use the waist measurement we took in the previous step and multiply that by 1,5. The number on your screen is the total length of the tier. Please check whether this number is higher than the number for your hip width. For most people’s bodies, 1.5 x waist would fit over the hip, but no two bodies are the same. If it doesn’t fit, figure out which number would fit over your hip, and use that. That’s tier 1.
For tier 2:
This tier is also 9" wide. For the length, take the length of tier 1 and multiply that by 1,5.
For tier 3:
This tier is also 9" wide: For the length, take the length of tier 2 and multiply that by 1,5.
For strip 4:
For me, this strip is 14" width. If you want your skirt to be longer than mine, measure and add extra width to this strip. For the length, take the length of strip 3 and multiply that by 1.5.
How to change total skirt length:
I prefer a look where the bottom strip is the widest. That means that if you want to make your skirt shorter, leave our strip 2 or 3 but keep 4. If you want to make your skirt a little bit longer or shorter, cut the bottom strip a little bit longer or shorter. If you are very tall and want a really long skirt, say you’re 6 ft, use the advanced version or make the bottom strip a lot longer than the others.
Advanced version:
Summary
For the advanced pattern, take the hip height measure. To that number add [the width of the elastic, times two] and half an inch for the seam allowance. The resulting number is the width of your top 3 tiers. Add up the width of all 4 tiers to figure out if the total length is right for you, adjust where necessary.
Extra customisation info:
Summary
The 1,5 x waist measurement makes a skirt that’s tiered and wide, but not extremely full. I feel this kind of skirt is still convenient for everyday use. You can make the skirt fuller by multiplying by a larger number, such as 1,75 or even 2. Multiplying by 2 would give you a very full skirt. If you go over 2 you’re looking at Civil War era skirts that you could wear with a crinoline or a hoop. Remember that a skirt that’s fuller doesn’t only use a lot more yardage, it’s also much heavier, and at some point it might become too heavy for the elastic waistband.
Step 3: cutting
Cut a strip of fabric 9" wide and as long as the number for tier one. You can use scissors or a rotary cutter. Depending on the WOF you might need to piece together several strips.
Cut more strips of fabric 9" wide for tier 2 and tier 3. You’ll need to piece those together.
You can either cut tier 4 now, or wait until the garment is almost finished to double-check the desired length.
Step 4: sewing
Piece the strips and then sew the beginning and the end of each strip together (right sides together). You have a couple of circles in increasing sizes now.
Take tier nr 1 and put a narrow hem in at the top, or use a zig-zag stitch. Hemming will look much neater but technically, zig zagging will do. If you own a serger, you can use that.
Measure the width of your elastic. With the wrong side facing you, fold over the hemmed edge a little bit further than the width of your elastic. Pin in place.
Turn the fabric over to the right side, and from the right side of the fabric, sew a tunnel in place. Leave a gap of about 3-4 inch, this is where we’ll later put in the elastic. You can sew this from the back of the fabric, too, but since this seam will show on the outside, sewing it from the outside means you’ve got the visible side up and you can see what it will look like.
Get the tape measure out, measure the finished length of tier 1, divide that number by 4. Put a pin in at all 4 quarters of the raw edge (bottom) of tier 1. Set aside.
Get tier 2 out and do the same there. Obviously tier 2 is 50% larger than tier 2 so the quarter pieces will be bigger. Next up, the ruffling. I always do it the old school way, which involves hand sewing. There are other ways to do it, check youtube for that. I just want to note that it takes far less time to do it by hand than people think it will. The basting stitches took me 8 minutes including stopping to take pictures for the top of tier 2. Knot the end of the basting thread, make basting stitches around half an inch below the raw edge of the fabric.
When you’re done, gently pull on the non-knotted end of the basting thread to create the ruffles. This is where the marker pins come in handy. Get tier 1 out, and line up the pins in the bottom of tier 1 with the pins in the top of tier 2. When the pins line up and I like how the ruffles are divided, I tie a knot in the other side of the basting thread, too.
With right sides together, pin the bottom of tier and the top of tier 2 together. Sew, avoiding stitching over the basting thread. Remove basting thread, then zigzag / serge. Repeat for the next tier.
Tier 4 is much the same, but if you haven’t cut it yet, put the elastic in the tunnel on top and safety pin both sides of the elastic together to hold up the skirt while trying it on. Cut tier 4 to the desired width. Repeat previous steps to attach. Hem the skirt.
To finish the top, put the elastic through the tunnel. Sew the beginning and the end of the elastic together using a zig-zag stitch. Hand or machine stitch the tunnel closed. Your skirt is now done!
I’d love to make this skirt. The picture of the rectangles was really helpful in showing the basic idea of the skirt.