4.26.2011

Geometry Skirt...with a Tutorial

Don't let the name full you, this isn't a hard skirt to figure out.
It is called the geometry skirt because it is made of rectangles and triangles.

To start figuring out how many triangles you need figure out your waist/hip size (where you want the skirt to fit).  For the skirt above the little girl's hips are around 34 inches.  I wanted it to be gathered so I rounded up to 40 inches.  I cut each panel 5.5 inches wide and 18 inches long.
I cut eight panels 5.5x8(minus seam allowance)=40
You can make wider shorter triangles for little girls skirts to get a bouncier look.  The little girl for this skirt is tall and will be going into second grade.
Take the triangle and flip it upside-down to cut 8 total triangles.
Because I used a scrap piece of material I laid all the triangles together and cut them to the same shape.
Lay out all the pieces to make sure you have everything.  I lay one panel and put a triangle to the right of it all the way to the end.
Sew, then serge (or zig-zag) the triangle to the bottom of a panel.  I only serge the triangle part, lift the pressure foot up on the serger and place the material where you want the serging to begin.
Take the next panel and line the panel/triangle up.  Start sewing from the bottom.
Sew almost to the tip of the triangle, then straighten the top panel to line up with the bottom panel.
Make sure that the tip of the triangle is sewn in the seam.  I like to backstitch to make sure this is a strong point.
From this point you add a triangle, serge, add a panel. 
Sew the first panel on the left to the last triangle/panel on the right to make a skirt.

Serge the top and bottom to even out all the seams.  Iron the hem, it doesn't need to be a thick hem.  Sew with a straight stitch.
Iron the wasitband.
 Take a peice of bias tape or ribbon for a tag.
Fold the bias tape and put it slightly under the folded waist.  I use this as my marker as I am sewing to know where I need to stop have a hole to add the elastic.
To give the skirt a finished look top stitch the edge of the waist. Put the elastic through and sew up the hole.

Press the seams so they will lay flat--always iron the seams to give it a finished look too.
Ta-Da! A Geometry Skirt.
I made one for my little girl too.  Instead of hemming the bottom I added some yellow bias tape.  It added an extra pop of color.
 Depending on what type of fabric you use and the width and height of the triangles this can be a very flouncy skirt.
It is another perfect skirt for twirling and dancing.
And after almost a year of ballet a curtsy to end the photoshoot.

This is a fun skirt to sew and doesn't take very long.  I would try sewing a box type skirt first if you have never sewn.  The angled seam might seam tricky, do it 30 times and it will be a breeze.

3 comments:

Tammy @ she wears flowers said...

Adorable!! I love the bias tape hem--I am going to have to try that!

Misty said...

What a cute idea! It makes a fun, twirly skirt! Thanks for sharing! :)

nicolette {momnivores dilemma} said...

That's a skirt that's built to twirl!

Thanks for linking to Creative Juice Thursday. Hope to see you back this week.

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