Let's Make Circle Skirts!

1950s Circle Skirts

1950s Circle Skirts

As a young teen obsessed with vintage clothing, I dearly wanted a circle skirt. I'd seen them in old magazines and thought the felt ones with appliqués like poodles or the Eiffel Tower were just too cute for words. When my grandmother realized how much I loved vintage fashion, she gave me a beautiful ruffled petticoat she had made in the mid-1950s and two felted wool circle skirts she was still wearing as late as the 1970s (she kept her 23" waist until her death by swimming and doing nightly sit-ups on a slant board!). I was 14 at the time, and the clothes were a perfect fit. I was on cloud nine. That lovely petticoat with its elastic waistline still fits, and I've kept it in good repair and wear it to this day. However, the fitted circle skirts were relegated to storage by my 16th birthday, when my waistline hit 26", and there was no way I could suck in enough to get the zippers all the way up! At that point, I was well into my "Edwardian phase" and was wearing an early version of my Edwardian Apron pattern over white lawn dresses or blouses and long skirts with granny boots. It would be quite a long time before I got back to the 1950s silhouette, but when I found it again a few years ago, I went a little bonkers, and I now have a wardrobe full of fit-and-flare dresses. 

My dad with my grandmother, 1962

My dad with my grandmother, 1962

Circle Skirt with High Waistband

Circle Skirt with High Waistband

But those skirts.... Ah, those flattering circle skirts! This year they came back on my radar screen in a big way, and I snapped up two lovely gored circle skirts from South Africa's own retro clothing company, MissHapp. Then I decided it was high time to make a few myself. Our tiny local fabric shop carries far more upholstery material than dressmaking fabric, but I lucked out in finding two linen-weight curtain fabrics that I thought would make fantastic skirts:At the same time, one of our young neighbors said she wanted to learn how to make a simple skirt, so I decided to kill two birds with one stone and teach her how to make her own circle skirt while making mine. Back to the fabric shop we went, and she found a lovely, soft flannel plaid and chose a lining to go with it so it wouldn't stick to leggings or stockings. Together we cut out our skirts and got sewing, and I decided I might as well write up a tutorial and create a downloadable PDF so you can make your own Easy Circle Skirts! I'm going to show you two options--a simple one with just a back seam, waistband and zipper, then one with side seams and in-seam pockets for those who just can't live without pockets! A circle skirt is exactly what it sounds like--a full circle with a hole in the center for your waist. The simplest tutorials (and there are many available online) will show you how to cut a circle with a hole, then sew on a wide elastic waistband and hem the edge. That makes a cute, functional skirt that you can pull on and off with minimal fuss. But if you want a more tailored look and prefer a waistband with zipper closure, I'll take you through it step by step.

Now, one very important note before we start: the length of your circle skirt is limited by the width of your fabric. If you want a skirt more than three inches below knee length, you'll need to look for a gored skirt pattern like this one:

Gored full skirt pattern

Gored full skirt pattern

This vintage pattern allows you to lengthen each gore, which means the skirt can be as long as you like. A true circle skirt, however, does not have gores and is cut in one piece, so your fabric has to be wide enough to allow for the waist and the hem length desired. This is one reason to take a look in your upholstery/home fabrics section, as curtain fabrics and lightweight upholstery materials are often 54-60" wide--ideal for circle skirts that hit about three inches below the knee (depending on your height). Now, if you plan to make a skirt that hits above the knee, like my young friend Ruby did, then you can use 44"-wide fabric without any problems.

Fabrics for my Circle Skirts

Fabrics for my Circle Skirts

Circle skirt with full petticoat

Circle skirt with full petticoat

Buying Fabric: When you buy your material, you need to have enough left over to cut out a waistband across the grain of the fabric. Buying two yards will leave plenty for your skirt, waistband, and for the optional pockets I'll show in the chevron circle skirt demonstrated below. Be sure to choose fabric that has a good weight that lends itself to draping beautifully. Quilting cottons work nicely, as do linen-cotton blends. Tencel can also work, but if it's very lightweight, you'll have to deal with the wind blowing your skirt straight up around your face! Don't hesitate to dive into the upholstery section, as you can often find hidden gems that work beautifully. Remember, if you choose a washable fabric like cotton or linen, be sure to pre-wash and iron your material so that it shrinks before you cut out your skirt rather than later in the laundry!

Ruby working on her skirt...

Ruby working on her skirt...

Measuring

Take out your measuring tape, paper and pencil, and let’s get started. The first thing you need to do is measure your waist. It's the most important measurement for this project. The hips are free, so no need to measure them at all. For the sake of example, let's say your waist measures 30 inches, and you want a skirt that has a finished hem length of 26 1/2 inches (perfect below-the-knee length that will fit over a fluffy 26" petticoat). First, you need to calculate your waist radius. The formula is simple: Your waist measurement divided by 6.28. So, for a 30-inch waist, that's 4.77" (just a scant bit under 5", but that scant bit does matter, so don't fudge upwards). Now, if you want a final hem length of 26.5", you need to add half an inch--enough to turn up a narrow 1/4" hem twice. (If you have a rolled hem foot, you can just add 1/4", because the foot will make a much tighter hem). So that's a total length of 27". If you buy 60"-wide material, it will just fit. If you get 54"-wide, you'll have to cut shorter, but, as you'll see later on, the fabric is going to stretch a bit when you hang it up prior to hemming, so you'll end up with a longer amount anyway (up to two inches, depending on how tight the fabric weave is and how heavy the fabric itself).

Let’s Get Cutting!

To cut a perfect circle, you are going to fold your fabric twice--once to bring the selvedges together and once to fold the fabric in half again the other way. Here's a diagram to help you visualize this:

Folding Diagram

Folding Diagram

Once you've folded your material (basically into a square except for the leftover bit that will be used for waistband and optional pockets), it will look like this, and you'll be ready to mark your cutting lines, as I'll demonstrate below:

Marking Your Cutting Lines - Now take your measuring tape and position the end at the folded corner of your fabric like this:

Measuring Tape Position

Measuring Tape Position

Next, take chalk or a fabric marking pen and mark a quarter circle, using the radius you came up with in the calculation (4.77" in this example). Start at one folded edge and make a mark at the 4.77" mark, then pivot the tape and mark again, repeating until you reach the other folded edge, making sure the tip of the measuring tape stays on that corner:

Marking the waistline

Marking the waistline

Detail showing how to line up the tape measure with the waistline markings.

Detail showing how to line up the tape measure with the waistline markings.

Now your waist is correctly marked, and it's time to mark the length. This time, position the measuring tape at the chalk line you've just drawn and mark at your desired length (27" in this example), moving the tape along the chalk line so you have an accurate length at each point (think of the tape acting like the "rays" of the sun): 

Marking skirt length

Marking skirt length

Detail of marking the length…

Detail of marking the length…

Now you're ready to cut, and it's just as easy as cutting along the dotted lines:

Cutting the waistline

Cutting the waistline

Cutting out the skirt length

Cutting out the skirt length

In order to show you the simplest skirt first, I'm going to jump over to my photos of the skirt without pockets or side seams. Once I had cut out that skirt, I cut up the center back fold to make a seam opening. Some folks advocate cutting a slit, but I find it extremely difficult and frustrating to sew a zipper into a slit, so I strongly recommend cutting the entire center back open:

Center back of skirt cut open

Center back of skirt cut open

Making the Waistband Set aside your skirt and take your remaining material to cut a waistband. The length will be your waist measurement plus 1 1/4" for a 5/8" seam allowance on each end, so 31 1/4" in this example. The width is up to personal preference. I like my waistband to have a finished width of 1.5", so I doubled that and added 1.25" for the seam allowance and enough to turn under on the inside and whipstitch over the seam allowance to enclose it. That made for a final waistband width of 4.25". 

Waistband layout on a portion of your leftover material.

Waistband layout on a portion of your leftover material.

The Skirt Waistband

The Skirt Waistband

To reinforce the waistband, cut a second one out of fusible webbing (interfacing): Iron the interfacing to the wrong side of the waistband to fuse it in place:

Waistband laid out on interfacing

Waistband laid out on interfacing

Fusible webbing backing the waistband

Fusible webbing backing the waistband

Ironing the webbing to the waistband

Ironing the webbing to the waistband

Now you're ready to pin the waistband to the skirt's waistline. At this point, some of you might be wondering why I didn't add an extra 1 1/4" to my skirt's waist measurement to allow for the center back seam. The answer is that, because the waistline is a circle, it has a huge tendency to stretch (thanks to the bias). Even when we add two side seams and a center back seam to the next skirt, we do not need to pad the waistline measurement, because it will stretch to fit the waistband even after three seams have been stitched up. Take my word on this, because I learned through trial and error that you do not need to add to the skirt's waistline, or you'll end up having to take pleats or cut down the center back! Cut your waistline to exactly your waist measurement's radius--no fudging! Match up the center front of the skirt to the center of the waistband, right sides together, and pin. Match each edge of the skirt back to the ends of the waistband on each side and pin. Evenly pin the rest of the waistline to the waistband, being careful not to stretch as you go:Now stitch the skirt to the waistband, making sure the skirt's material doesn't fold or buckle as you go:

Folding the waistband to find the center front

Folding the waistband to find the center front

Mark the skirt's center front

Mark the skirt's center front

Waistband pinned to skirt

Waistband pinned to skirt

Stitching skirt to waistband

Stitching skirt to waistband

Now iron the waistband seam up toward the waistband itself:

Iron waistband seam allowance toward waistband

Iron waistband seam allowance toward waistband

Next, turn down 5/8" of the raw edge of the waistband toward the wrong side:

Turn under top of waistband to inside

Turn under top of waistband to inside

Now fold the waistband down in half, completely covering the seam allowance. Iron it neatly to make a crease at the top (you'll need this in the zipper step):

Fold waistband to inside, covering seam allowance.

Fold waistband to inside, covering seam allowance.

For good measure while you're at it, mark the crease with a pin.

Mark fold line

Mark fold line

Pin marking fold line

Pin marking fold line

This crease line is to mark where the upper "stop" of your zipper should hit. Then, when you fold the waistband down, the top raw edge of the zipper will be neatly folded in and covered, as you'll see below. I prefer invisible zippers, but you need a special foot to sew them in correctly. A plastic foot with many shank adapters is available from all major fabric shops for about $3.50, and it's well worth the investment, as it makes zipper insertion so easy! There are always instructions for sewing invisible zippers, but if you are new to this, I'd recommend watching a video on YouTube or checking out the fantastic step-by-step tutorial at this link.

Inserting the Zipper - In the photo below, you see that I've lined up the point where the zipper stops with the pin at the crease of the waistband. This will mean the zipper stops very close to the top of the waistband, making a neater closure.

Pinning the top of the zipper at the waistband fold

Pinning the top of the zipper at the waistband fold

In the next photo, I've zipped the zipper so you can see that the pull ends at the marked crease.

Zipper closed to show the stop

Zipper closed to show the stop

Before inserting the zipper, turn under and iron 5/8" of each side of the skirt back where the seam will go. This will make a nice crease that you can use to line up the zipper's teeth when you insert the zipper:

Ironing under the seam allowance

Ironing under the seam allowance

The crease!

The crease!

So now it's time to sew in the first side of the zipper. After unzipping it, I line up the edge so that the teeth sit right on that crease, 5/8" away from the edge of the center back opening:

Lining up zipper teeth with the crease

Lining up zipper teeth with the crease

Inserting invisible zipper

Inserting invisible zipper

First half sewn in place

First half sewn in place

As you see, I find it much easier to insert an invisible zipper without first stitching up the center back seam, but this isn't required. You can do whatever suits you best (though you'll see I didn't follow my own rule on the chevron skirt later for another reason). So let's stitch that zipper in place! The most important thing to match up when inserting a zipper into a skirt with a waistband is the seam line between waistband and skirt. You don't want to end up with a mismatched seam, so the best "ounce of prevention" is to close the zipper after you’ve sewn one side and mark with a pin where the seam line meets the zipper tape:

Waistband seam lined up

Waistband seam lined up

Marking the seam

Marking the seam

PIn in the zipper tape

PIn in the zipper tape

Now unzip the zipper once again and line up the free side to the opposite side of the skirt back, matching the pin to the waistband seam and making sure you have the right side of the zipper tape matched to the right side of the skirt fabric. Stitch the other half of the zipper in place the same way, from top to bottom and stopping before the end of the zipper. Now zip it up and check to see that the waistband seam matches up:

Zipper inserted

Zipper inserted

Sewing up the Center Back Seam - Now you can close up the center back seam of the skirt, starting just above the lower stop of the zipper and going down from that point:

Sewing center back seam

Sewing center back seam

Iron back seam open

Iron back seam open

Finishing the Waistband - With the back seam sewn, it's all over but the finishing! I like to finish off the raw seam allowance of the skirt back with a zigzag stitch to prevent unraveling in the wash:

Finishing the raw edges with zigzag stitch.

Finishing the raw edges with zigzag stitch.

Now you're going to neatly turn your waistband to the inside and whipstitch it in place over the seam allowance. 

Turning under the waistband to catch the top of the zipper

Turning under the waistband to catch the top of the zipper

Waistband turned down and pinned in place

Waistband turned down and pinned in place

Closeup of the waistband pinned.

Closeup of the waistband pinned.

Slipstitching to enclose the top of the zipper.

Slipstitching to enclose the top of the zipper.

Waistband whipstitched in place.

Waistband whipstitched in place.

Let's Hem This Skirt! Well, it would be exciting if we could go right ahead and hem this baby now, but that would not be wise. Circle skirts, like anything cut on the bias, need to hang at least 24 hours by the waistband to allow the material to stretch along the bias as far as it is going to stretch. Once that is accomplished, you can remeasure from the waistband to the skirt's lower edge and see if you need to trim to even out the hemline. You can also try it on and have a friend eyeball it. I rarely find I have to trim away any "anomalies," but I do sometimes find that the skirt is now longer than I originally measured! If that's the case, you can either trim away the extra length or take up a deeper hem. Be warned, though: it is much harder to take up a deep hem on a circle skirt! On this skirt, I just turned up the lower edge 1/4" twice and stitched by machine:

Hemming the skirt

Hemming the skirt

Now iron that hem neatly, and you're ready to try on your skirt! 

In my opinion, a circle skirt just isn't a circle skirt without a full, fluffy petticoat underneath! In these pictures, I'm wearing the "Jennifer" petticoat from Malco Modes, which is comfortable and fun to wear. I also have petticoats from Banned Apparel, which you can buy on Amazon.com. For an excellent review of the different petticoats currently on the market, I highly recommend Miss Hero Holiday's review, which covers all the major brands. It's a bit of an investment to buy a really high quality petticoat (about $60 unless you happen to hit a sale), but they are far more expensive and time-consuming to make, so it's a worthwhile purchase if you plan to wear a lot of circle skirts or full-skirted dresses. This skirt went together from start to finish in about 1.5 hours and was such fun to make that I decided on the spot that I needed half a dozen more! ;-)

Now let's have a look at a circle skirt with side seam pockets--making this even more versatile and fun to wear. Like the simpler skirt, you'll follow the same cutting directions, including cutting up the center back to make a seam for the zipper to go into:

Center back seam cut open.

Center back seam cut open.

Now you will also cut open the side seams along their fold lines:

Cutting open the side seams.

Cutting open the side seams.

Because I wanted pockets, I cut myself four pocket shapes (you don't need a pattern--just put your hand down comfortably and mark a pocket shape around it, then cut!):

Pocket

Pocket

Pocket (you’re looking at it upside down).

Pocket (you’re looking at it upside down).

To add pockets, you'll measure down from the waistline of the skirt to the natural place on the hip where you would like to put your hands. In my case, it was six inches down:

Measuring for pocket placement.

Measuring for pocket placement.

Pin each pocket half to its corresponding skirt side seam, lining up the top of the pocket with this measurement, right sides together:

Pocket pinned in place

Pocket pinned in place

With the pockets pinned in place, you can stitch them to each skirt side seam (that's four seams total, as you have four pocket halves). Here's a line drawing of this step:

Step 1 of pocket attachment

Step 1 of pocket attachment

And here's a photo:

Stitching the pocket to the skirt

Stitching the pocket to the skirt

Now it's time to match up the side seams and the pocket halves and pin them together:With everything nicely matched up, you'll stitch the skirt side seams/pockets together, starting at the top of the skirt. You're going to stop 5/8" into the top of the pocket, leave the needle in the fabric, then lift the presser foot and pivot to follow the outline of the pocket:

Step two of pocket attachment

Step two of pocket attachment

In the photo below, you can see between my thumb and first finger the part of the side seam that is left unstitched to provide an opening for your hand.

Showing where the pocket seam is left open.

Showing where the pocket seam is left open.

Skirt side seam and pocket halves pinned.

Skirt side seam and pocket halves pinned.

This is why you pivot to go around the outer edge of each pocket. Note that you need to come up to the where my pointer finger is when you reach the skirt side seam. This makes the pocket deep enough that things don't fall out. Once you've gone around the outline of the pocket, you'll reach the skirt again and can pivot to follow the rest of the side edge down to the bottom of the skirt:

Stopping at the 5/8" mark.

Stopping at the 5/8" mark.

Stitching around the pocket.

Stitching around the pocket.

Finishing the side seam of the skirt.

Finishing the side seam of the skirt.

Repeat for the other side of the skirt, then cut out the waistband and follow the remaining directions above to sew on the waistband, insert the zipper, and hem the skirt. The one difference is that I went ahead and stitched up the center back of this skirt to the zipper insertion point before inserting the zipper, since I wanted the stripes to match perfectly:

Back seam with chevrons matched

Back seam with chevrons matched

And here's the end result:

Circle Skirt with Pockets

Circle Skirt with Pockets

I absolutely love this striking chevron pattern, and I paired it with my red petticoat from Banned Apparel and my Chelsea Crew T-straps from Royal Vintage Shoes! Here's a swish video to show the skirt in action: 

This skirt took about 2.5 hours from start to finish, due to the pockets and side seams, but it was worth the extra time and effort. I do love pockets! I have plans to make several more of these, because they are easy and so much fun to wear. If you're new to inserting zippers, it may take a few tries to get the zipper centered correctly on the waistband. True confessions: It took me three tries to get the zipper inserted in the chevron skirt, because it's harder to insert an invisible zipper when the center back seam has already been stitched. Don't despair if you have to rip out and restitch the zipper a few times. You'll get it in the end! And remember young Ruby, who asked me to teach her how to make a simple skirt? Here's her beautiful creation:

You can do this! No pattern required, and you'll have a lovely new addition to your wardrobe before you can believe it. I've put all the steps into a free PDF you can download by clicking on the image below. Have fun sewing, and share pictures through my submissions form if you’d like to Show and Tell!

Circle Skirts PDF

Circle Skirts PDF

Silk circle skirt

Silk circle skirt

Next, take chalk or a fabric marking pen and mark a quarter circle, using the radius you came up with in the calculation (4.77" in this example). Start at one folded edge and make a mark at the 4.77" mark, then pivot the tape and mark again, repeating until you reach the other folded edge, making sure the tip of the measuring tape stays on that corner:

2019 Update:

I'm still at it! Before we moved from South Africa back to the States in 2018, a seamstress there gave me a bunch of fabrics from her stash, including a lovely silk taffeta with a texture to it. There was exactly enough for a circle skirt with a wide waistband and pockets, so I got to work and made this, along with a blouse from a 1950s pattern in my collection. I love how it turned out, and I'm happy to report that the alternative side seam closure I tried when I didn't have a zipper (hooks and bars, plus snaps in the placket) works nicely!

I also learned a great trick for removing years-old creases from silk, and it's something I never would have dreamed of trying on my own. The wonderful community on Instagram jumped to action when I asked for a solution to the fold lines that stubbornly wouldn't iron out of this fabric, and the most repeated recommendation was (wait for it) VINEGAR! Sure enough, if you get a spray bottle that can shoot out a fine mist, all you need is 100% white vinegar and an iron set on the lowest steam setting. Don't dilute the vinegar. It needs to be full strength so it will fully evaporate and not harm the silk. Spray a mist of vinegar along the creases, then iron until they vanish. It really works! You can see the entire process under the the "Vinegar" highlight in my Instagram profile!