How to Make a Circle Skirt

Making a circle skirt was a really fun and easy project, especially if you know a few tips that help you sew on the curve. So, the first decision you need to make is what fabric you're going to use. I like to use a really lightweight fabric, just because there's so much bulk in a circle skirt that a lightweight fabric keeps it from being too heavy. And depending on how lightweight your fabric is, it might be a little bit transparent. If so, you can add a lining.

I like to choose a lining that is very similar hand to the fabric that I'm using. So right here, I have a synthetic lining, but I just made sure that it matched the care instructions of the cotton wall that I chose for the skirt itself. So next step, you're gonna use an all-purpose thread, and all purpose thread is a good choice just because it's really strong. So as you're going around curves, it won't break on you as you're sewing. And I like to also do an invisible zipper in the side seam of the skirt, rather than another type of zipper, just because it doesn't interrupt the lines of the skirt, and I actually find that it's pretty easy to install, especially just if you follow the instructions that are included on the inside of the package.

And if you need more instructions or more tips on inserting an invisible zipper, there's lots of information online, or if you just look any basic sewing book. And for this particular skirt, I did a tulle tape application at the waistline, rather than a a conventional waistband. So I chose a tulle tape that's about a half-inch wide for a pretty narrow quarter-inch finished waistband. And you can use anything. You could use a grosgrain ribbon, you could use any type of ribbon or tulle tape that has two finished edges.

And then next you're gonna need just a marking tool, whichever marking tool you like best. So I like using a chalk pencil but you could also use a removable fabric marker. And lastly, you'll just need your basic sewing stuff. So, I like to keep on hand little sharp scissors, just for trimming threads as I go, and then my good fabric sheers, and of course pins. So now that you've picked out your materials for the skirt, it's time to start sewing.

So you're going to follow your pattern cutting directions and cut one front and one back on the fold for the skirt, and the same thing for the lining, if you're adding a lining to the skirt. And before I even get started working with the pattern pieces, I like to give myself a head start by stabilizing some of the curves. As you can see, this edge, the upper edge, the waistline is really stretchy, since so much of the skirt is on the bias. So a really important thing to do is to add a line of stay stitching to the skirt upper edge. So you can see that I've already stitched from this edge to the center front, and rather than stitching the entire edge at once, I'm going to stitch the other direction and meet that stitching line at the center front.

If you do it all at once, it might torque the fabric a little bit. So I'll go ahead and... Just about a half-inch from the raw edge of the pattern. And you can use just a basic stitch length, so from 2.5 to three millimeters for stay stitching, just so that you get a nice stable, clean... Edge to deal with as you're sewing.

So once you meet the center front, go ahead and stop. And now we have a nice strong stitching line that'll keep it from stretching out and warping as we sew. So repeat that step with the back pattern piece and the lining pieces, if applicable. So on most ladies' garments, the zipper is going to be on the left side, so you're going to mark the left side seam on the fabric right side. So go ahead and take your zipper and place it wrong side up on the fabric surface, and I like to mark where my zipper stop is at the bottom, and then also where the zipper stops are here at the top.

So I just use a removable marking pen just to indicate that. And then I'm just going to line it up with the upper edge of the pattern. And I usually like to leave about three-eights of an inch to a quarter of an inch below the seam line so that I'll be able to add a hook and eye at the top of the zipper. So just go ahead and mark the pattern piece itself to correspond to the marks on your zipper tape. So this will give us a reference as we're inserting the zipper and sewing the side seam where the zipper tape is going to begin and end, and you'll repeat this same step for the lining, if applicable.

So before you insert your zipper, you can sew the remaining side seam, and you can just sew that with wrong sides together, as you usually would. And then you'll insert the zipper, following the instructions that are in your zipper tape package, and just go ahead and insert it without sewing the side seam first, because you'll actually finish sewing the side seam after you've inserted the zipper. So now that you've constructed your skirt, it's important to let it actually lay overnight, because the hem of the skirt can sometimes distort, just because so much of the fabric is on the bias. So you're going to allow the skirt to hang overnight and come back to it in the morning, and just check to see if any distortion has occurred. And one way to check is just to lay it out flat and kind of visually look at the lower edge of the skirt to see if there's any warping.

And if you notice anything, you can try on the skirt and then measure from the ground up to see, just to make sure that the measurement is the same all around. Sometimes it's helpful to have a friend help you with that, if you wear the skirt and they check all the measurements of the hem. So now that you've corrected your hem, if needed, you can actually finish the lower edges of the skirt and the lining if needed. So I'm gonna use the same principle to stabilize the edge of the skirt that I used to stabilize the edge of the waist. So I just go ahead and do a stay stitching line about a quarter inch from the entire lower edge, the circumference of the skirt.

And this will just make it really easy to fold and pin the hem, because there'll be a nice stable line of stitching, rather than having to try to manage the curvature of the bias. So after you've stay stitched the entire lower edge of the skirt, then you can begin pinning and folding the hem. And for this step, I don't even usually need to use an iron, just because the fabric itself wants to go so naturally along the stitching line that it'll fold very easily. So go ahead and fold the lower edge toward the wrong side. And I like to pin very generously at this step, just because it saves me more time as I'm sewing and just prevents any mistakes.

So I'm just folding again along the stitching line, and then to enclose that raw edge. And the stitching line just makes that really easy to do without having to iron or fold it over and over again. So once you have your entire skirt pinned, the entire hem, then you can stitch your hem. So stitching the hem is very easy. You're just going to stitch really close to that first fold that you created along the stitching line.

So go ahead and line up your needle very close to that folded edge, and lower the needle before you lower the presser foot, just to keep those layers aligned. So I'm just gonna stitch really close along that fold, and it stays very nicely folded and neat, just because we added that stitching line as the first step of the hem. So now you end up with a really nice neat quarter-inch hem. So the last step of the skirt is to finish the upper edge at the waist, and you can do a conventional waistband, but for this skirt, I really like to use a narrow tulle tape finish. And this is just very feminine, and it also stabilizes the skirt so that it doesn't hang off of you, just because the tulle tape is not stretchy at all, so it gives a lot of stability to that curved waistline.

So you can go ahead and just press your tulle tape or your ribbon, whatever you're using, press it in half. So this is a half-inch wide tulle tape, so I'm going to end up with a quarter inch-wide on the finished skirt. And if you want to, you can also, you're going to place the skirt and the lining, if you're using a lining, place them with bright sides out, so wrong sides together, because you won't need to be doing any turning to the right side, since you're just enclosing the upper edge with the tulle tape. So once you've aligned them at the upper edge, you can add a line of basting for security, or you could add a lot of pins, about a half-inch from the upper edge of the skirt. So I've just done a line of basting to keep those layers aligned.

And you're going to take your folded tulle tape that you've pressed in half, and you're just going to begin enclosing the upper edge, the upper raw edges, the layers of the lining in the skirt, between, just inside of the fold of the tulle tape Before you get that entirely pinned, you'll fold each end of the tulle tape about half an inch toward the inside, so you'll end up with a nice clean fold right above the zipper. So you're going, I like to use a nice fine pin when I do this, especially if I'm using a really narrow tulle tape, just so that the pins don't get in my way as I'm sewing. And as I'm folding, I like to make sure that there's a little bit extra tulle tape on the backside of the fabric, so that it makes it easy to catch all the layers as I stitch. So I'm going to go ahead and stitch on the fabric, right side. Again, lower your needle before you lower your presser foot.

And I'll just stitch really close and carefully... To that outer edge of the tulle tape. And you can check every now and then, just to make sure that you're catching all of the layers on the backside as well. So once you've completed the entire waistband, you're almost done. The only step that's left is, if you've added a lining, then you can hand stitch the lining to the zipper tape, just to keep it nice and clean on the inside of the skirt.

And I usually like to use just a basic whip stitch or slip stitch and hand-sew that together, and usually I incorporate the step of adding the hook and eye right at this point, because I'm already hand-sewing. So, hand stitch, as you reach the top of the zipper again, you can use a size three or smaller hook and eye and just place it at the upper edge of the skirt, and that just adds a little extra stability when you're wearing the skirt. It'll keep the zipper from unzipping on its own and hold it in place on your body. And so that's the very last step, and you've completed your circle skirt.