Hi everyone!

I hope you all are having a fantastic Tuesday so far!! We are getting super excited for Quilt Market here (4 days!!)…we can’t wait! For today’s How To’s Day, we present to you our Half-Circle Design Studio Collection Skirt. You may recognize the skirt from last week’s dual-tutorials: sewing an invisible hem and installing a zipper; we had shown you a little preview but today we are bringing you the tutorial for it!

This half-circle skirt is the epitome of girliness and flirtiness – it’s sweet, fun, and the perfect skirt for that first date or engagement photos, and any time in between!

To make our Half-Circle Skirt we used 2140502 #2, Yellow & Gray Deco Fans, and 2140503 #1, Yellow & Gray Hexagons. Both patterns are from The Design Studio Collection.

Ready to make your very own half-circle skirt? Let’s get sewing!! Click to see the tutorial after the jump.

Half-Circle Design Studio Collection Skirt

Supplies:

– 2 yards of 44″ wide quilting cotton in Skirt color*

– 2 yards of coordinating lining fabric

– 1/4 yard of 44″ wide quilting cotton in Waistband color

– One 6″- 8″ zipper

– A buddy

– Basic sewing supplies: sewing machine with a zipper foot and regular zigzag foot, measuring tape, fabric marker, fabric shears, straight pins, needle & coordinating thread, iron & pressing surface

*In this tutorial we made a flirty mini, but this project can be easily adapted to longer styles. To discover exactly how much yardage you need, simply add your Waistband radius to your Skirt length (please see Drafting & Cutting) and double the result.

A note on fabric: Since the Skirt is drafted as one half-circle piece, the grain will be rotated 180° through its width. Make sure to choose a multi-directional pattern for the Skirt so nothing looks like it’s sideways or upside-down. The Waistband, on the other hand, may have a directional pattern.

Please wash, dry & press your fabric before beginning. For this project you’ll also want to trim off your selvages.

Unless otherwise noted, sew all seams with a 1/2″ allowance.

 Drafting & Cutting

1. Measure the circumference of your waist and add 1″ for seam allowance. Cut a rectangle to this length from your Waistband fabric. Multiply the desired width of your Waistband by four to find the height of the rectangle. For example, if your waist is 28″ and you want a 1.5″ tall waistband, cut a rectangle 29″ wide and 6″ tall.

2. Divide the circumference of your waist by 3.14 (pi) to find the radius of your Skirt’s waistline (since the Skirt is only half a circle, its radius is equal to the diameter of your waist) and make a note of this number. You won’t add any seam allowance here, since the natural ease of a half-circle will compensate.  Now have your friend measure from your natural waist to where you’d like the hem of your Skirt to fall, add 3” for seams & adjustments, and write down the result as the length of the Skirt.

3. Add the length of the Skirt to the radius of the Waistline as shown in the diagram to find the radius of your Skirt’s Hem. 

Let’s sum up those numbers:
– Waistline circumference (natural waistline + 1”)
- Waistline radius (natural waistline ÷ 3.14)
- Length of Skirt
- Hem radius (Length of Skirt + Waistline radius)
– Total yardage needed (Hem radius x2)

Still with me? Great! That’s the end of the geometry lesson, I promise; from now on it’s all hands-on.

4. Mark a point for the center of your skirt along the long edge of your quilting cotton. You can fold the fabric in half and work from the center, or you can measure the Hem radius from one end of the cloth.

5. Hold one end of your measuring tape at this center point and mark a series of Xs around it so that their distance from the center is the same as the length of your Waistline radius. Draw the Waistline of your Skirt by connecting these Xs.

6. Draw your Hem in the same manner as the Waistline, but use your Hem radius to find the distance of the Xs from your center point. Cut out the half-doughnut shape you’ve created.

7. Repeat Steps 4-6 on your Lining fabric.

Assembly
1. Hem the short ends of your Waistband and press the seams.

2. Fold your Waistband in half lengthwise, Wrong Sides together, and iron the crease. Unfold the band, fold each long edge to the center fold, Wrong Sides together, and iron these creases.

3. Finish the straight edges of your Skirt & Lining by serging them or edge-stitching with a zigzag seam.

4. Fold the Skirt in half, Right Sides together, so the straight edges are aligned. Sew the straight edges together, leaving a gap near the Waistline for the zipper, and install your zip with one end open at the Waistline. We have a tutorial on how to do that here.

5. Sew the straight edges of your Lining together as your did for the Skirt piece, again leaving a gap for the zipper. Press the seam open, including the gap, and turn the lining Right Side out.

6. Fit the Skirt into the Lining, Wrong Sides together, and baste in place around the Waistline.

7. Hand-tack the folded seam allowance of the Lining to the zipper’s seam allowance on the Skirt. This step can be done by machine, but a little hand stitching will actually make your life easier and give a much cleaner result.

8. Fit the Waistline of the Skirt & Lining into the Waistband so their raw edges are against the center fold of the band and they are sandwiched between its two folded halves. Use plenty of pins, inserted perpendicular to the Waistband, and ease gently as necessary. If you’re using a directional print for the Waistband, make sure the pattern is the right way up on the Skirt side (upside-down on the Lining side).

9. Sew the Waistband to the Skirt & Lining with seams 1/4” from all four edges of the band. You may want to sew a second seam 1/8” from the edges for a more polished finish.

10. Hang your project from its Waistband overnight to allow for any settling of the Skirt’s fabric around the bias

11. The next day, put on the skirt and ask your friend to insert pins where you’d like the finished Hem to be, making sure all the pins are at the same height from the floor.

12. Take the skirt off and trim it 1” below the line of pins. Turn a rolled hem from the row of pins and sew it with an invisible hem stitch (we have a tutorial for that here).

13. Trim the Lining so its raw edge is flush with the finished edge of the Skirt and machine-stitch a rolled hem. This hem will be an inch or so shorter than the Skirt.

14. Press your hems, thank your buddy and you’re all set!

And voila! Now you are all ready to dance the night away in your pretty, new half-skirt! If you decide to make this skirt, be sure to share it with us. We LOVE seeing all of your projects. You can tweet us or email us at info@camelotfabrics.com

Happy Sewing!

PS: We are giving away an amazing Star Wars bundle for Winsday! Winner will be announced tomorrow. Click here to enter.