Sunday 4 March 2012

DIY Velvet Circle Skirt Tutorial

FIND THE UPDATED TUTORIAL HERE.



You want to make yourself a velvet circle skirt??
Well read right on!

Firstly, here's two formula's you need to have down to make a circle skirt (they'll make sense in a second, I promise):

Got it? Good! Here's what you do:

1. Cutout your large circle from your fabric. I get to cheat because I have a table which is perfectly round. If you don't have a round table though, this is how to measure your circle:


What size should my circle be?


2. You also need to cutout your waist circle (smaller circle) from the centre of the larger circle.


For this, it's good to use a pattern:


And then place it onto the centre of your larger circle, pin, and cutout.

To get the radius of this smaller circle, you need to divide your waist measurement by 2 x pi.

For example, here is what my measurements look like for my waist (27 in) and desired skirt length of 16 in.
3. Now you need hem the outside circle! Circle hems are a little tricky. You do end up with a little bit of ruffling, like this:


But it's hardly noticeable, and this is the easiest way to hem your skirt.
To hem, you just need to go along the entire outer edge, folding up about half an inch as you go along, lifting the presser foot and readjusting as you go.


4. Waistband

(I accidentally stopped taking photos of the black velvet skirt here, so I'll continue here with photos from another circle skirt that I made.)

Cut your waistband to about 5 in x your waist measurement + 5 in (ie. my waistband was 5 in by 32 in).

 Fold it in half (the wrong way around) and pin together. Sew entirely up one side. Then turn it inside out.

Attach to the inner circle of your skirt on the FRONT of the skirt (pin first to ensure the correct placement!)
Sew along the entire length of the inner circle, so that that waistband is attached!

5. Zipper/button insertion. If the velvet you used had enough stretch, and you can fit it on without too much difficulty, you can totally skip this step, sew together your waistband, cut off the excess waistband and you're done! If the fabric doesn't have much stretch though, you will need to insert buttons/a zipper following the instructions below.

Now you will have a bit of overlap on the waistband. Where this overlap occurs, draw a line vertically downwards either the length of your zip (if you will be inserting a zipper), or the length you desire if you want to add buttons (you'll know when you've got the right length when you can fit it on over your hips!)


Follow instructions on how to insert a zipper here, or if you're inserting buttons, fold back both sides down the cut, hem, and insert buttons following tutorial here.

Hooray! Now you've made a circle skirt (and I hope I didn't make it seem too complicated, it's really one of the easiest skirts to make!) Check out another circle skirt tutorial here (youtube!) for some inspiration/help!

Have a gorgeous day!

xxx Annika

31 comments:

  1. Love it! Will have to try it out when I have the time to!

    xx maggie

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  2. awesome. velvet skirt is next on my DIY to-do list. maybe more like fourth. the green of that jumper is wonderful. thanks for the comments. in reply to your comment about wholesale, I know what you mean, but since it's so cheap, the little hiccups aren't that bad. the sizing is quite annoying, but still fits and there was a weird smell like of gasoline, coming from the shoes,but apart from that, I love it!

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    Replies
    1. hahahaha... I love that smell now because it reminds me of exciting packages in the mail & new clothes!!

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  3. Oooh! Lovely!
    I love your DIYs, they inspire me like no other.

    http://www.katieleee.blogspot.com

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  4. I love this!!

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  5. I like your DIY, and especially this skirt ;D

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  6. Great tutorial! I love velvet skirts but I'm loathe to spend £40 on one from American Apparel. This looks perfect- best blow the dust off the sewing machine!

    Becky
    xx

    http://www.beckybedbug.blogspot.com

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  7. :) This is a brilliant tutorial ! You're so creative with your DIY - Your posts always make for a refreshing read :)

    Rose

    pipsqueakrose.blogspot.com

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    Replies
    1. thank you so much :) your comment has made my day!

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  8. I am in awe! What an adorable skirt. It probably (or rather; I hope!) it sounds more complicated than it actually is. Anything involving maths makes my brain fuzzy!

    But the results are incredible. There's a lovely velvet dress in a local charity shop (well, the dress is HORRID, but the colour is GORGEOUS!) that I am now very, very tempted to buy in order to try this tutorial.

    If my grandmother still has her sewing machine, I will have to!

    Ivy & Rosebuds
    ♡ ♡ ♡

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    Replies
    1. Definitely definitely try it out!!! I know the exact sort of dress you mean, they're a charity store staple ;) good luck!! let me know how it goes!

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  9. I just stumbled upon your blog and I love it!!

    This skirt is extra complicated to me because it involves a formula >___< But I hope to try it out in the future because it looks amazing.

    xoxo
    Lizzo

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    Replies
    1. ahh, I was worried the math looking parts would scare some people!! But i promise it's not hard. just use a calculator!

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  10. OH MY GOD YOUR BLOG IS AMAZING I CANNOT GET ENOUGH OF IT.

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    Replies
    1. Well this is extremely flattering because I read your blog all the time! Thank you so much!

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  11. Every time I see something cool from American Apparel I think "I can totally make that for 5 bucks or less." This is a fantastic tutorial that proves it!

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  12. Just found this from tumblr whilst searching for velvet skirts!! Can't wait to try this out wheeeeeee :)

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  13. love this, my next DIY project! x

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  14. Oh wow! I've wanted one of the American Apparel velvet skirts for so long but what's better than a DIY one?! As soon as i get a new machine I am trying this, great tutorial!

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  15. This is amazing,
    I never thought I'd need maths like this for a skirt!
    (yes formulas, the only thing I'm got at in maths)
    I'm definitly going to do this!

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  16. How much fabric did you use total? I need measurement for when i go to the store ;)

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  17. All up I needed 42.6 inches wide and long (diameter of skirt) plus a few inches for the waistband, but it depends on how long you want your skirt to be! About 1.4 m (or 4ft10inches) width of fabric should be enough. Just make sure the fabric is at least 1.2m tall as well!

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  18. Ooooh my! Thank you so much! You explain everytihng really good and you can inspire me a lot! Thanks to you I've made this pretty thing! http://oi42.tinypic.com/5cfsw9.jpg Thank you once again,Annika! :) :) :)
    Mimi~muuuch hugs

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    Replies
    1. Eeeeep! It's so cool! Flipping good work :) I'm so happy to have helped you!

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  19. Hey Annika!
    Firstly, I am in love with your blog and think it's really inspirational that you are doing great things in fashion and science! Your DIYs are so clear and easy to understand and your clothes are beautiful! I think you are a great role model for girls!
    Secondly, would corduroy work as a fabric for a circle skirt???
    Hugs for you my friend! xx
    Ruby

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    Replies
    1. Thank you so so so much! 。:゜\(*T▽T*)/ ゜:。
      And I definitely think that it would - I can't see why not. I haven't used corduroy before, so I'm not exactly sure how you sew it. But I have made this circle skirt using a heavier material - denim - and it worked out really fine! The only problem I could see is in doing the hemming around the edges - it's a pain on even very light fabrics! But I guess you could use bias tape around the edges (maybe??) if you know how to use it (I don't.... haha. So I'm not much help there).

      Also, I've actually done a more up-to-date version of this circle skirt tutorial, which I think is actually easier to follow: http://birdeemag.com/diy-make-your-own-circle-skirt/

      You also might want to look at tips on sewing "napped fabrics", could be helpful! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lg6Ayx1dEKE

      xx

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  20. i found this while trying to find a skirt that would go with a corset top, i was woundering if anyone could tell me: would this word with underlayers???

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    1. I'm not quite sure what you mean. You mean if you wore it with a petticoat underneath? That would work really well.

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  21. I made my own circle skirt for my blog and included a similar tutorial. It turned out super cute and I wear it all the time!! Check it out here (http://www.kokay.me/do-it-yourself/easy-diy-circle-skirt/).

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  22. Hello, great tutorial! I discovered your blog when I was looking for a circle skirt tutorial, and I love it so much I've featured you on my blog (Lola Nova Upcycling) as part of a round up of the best sewing resources.
    Keep up the good work :)
    Jeni

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Thank you so much for taking the time to leave me a message! I read every single one. Don't forget to check back for a reply if you leave a question! ♥

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