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The Square Circle Skirt (20-ish minutes to make)

 

Sometimes I buy too much fabric.  I admit it.  Just don’t you dare email my husband and tell him that I’ve admitted it. ;)  If he ever notices that I have purchased new fabric and he happens to ask what it’s for……..I just mumble and laugh myself through some crazy explanation like, “oh, it’s for this one thing that I’m going to make next week to try out a new technique and I really needed this particular fabric to test it out, and, yeah……..isn’t it great?!?!”  Then he laughs.  And tells me that he knows I bought it simply because I liked it.  Okay, fine, you’re right.

 

So, lately, I have really been trying to just use what I have.  And a while ago, when I saw someone walking around the store (or maybe it was at the park?? or a restaurant??) with an uneven skirt hem-line, I realized it was a square piece of fabric.  But it was cut like a “circle skirt”, which makes it twirly and full-ish.  But the square cut made it fall uneven at the ends.  So I wanted to test it out, you know, just for fun.  (Because we all know Elli has enough skirts so I didn’t really need to make her one.)  This little project was more for me to experiment a little bit.

 

 

And experiment I did.  Plus, I’m pretty sure I’ve never made a faster skirt in my whole life.  Do I say that a lot?  Well, this time I mean it.  This one is speedy fast!  And don’t be shy, this skirt would be just as cute in your own size!!

 

But half the trick of making it quickly, is that I used knit.  And yep, I snatched it from my fabric shelf.  (I found this knit at Wal-mart, oh, maybe a year ago.  I bought some in green and blue and pink.  Because I love having knit fabric on hand.  And Wal-Mart’s knit prices [if they carry it] is cheapy-cheap.)

 

 

To me, it kinda looks like a ballet dancing skirt.  One that you’d slip on over a leotard.  Anyone agree?

 

And because of the “circle-cut” method, it’s the twirliest type of skirt you can make.  But the square corners give it some pointy ends……making it look kind of drapey.  (But keep in mind, you can ditch the pointy edges and just made a regular ol’ circle skirt.  You would just cut out a circle rather than a square.  More on that below.)

 

 

 

Okay, experiment over.  I’ve got it all figured out. ;)

But remember, if you don’t care for the uneven edge, ditch it.  And keep it circular.  It’ll still be one simple row of stitches to make this skirt, if you use knit fabric.

**Since I used knit fabric, the only sewing I had to do was to attach the skirt to the waistband.  That’s it!!  And even if you’re not super comfortable with knit, this is a forgivable project.  However, you can make this skirt with regular woven cotton but then you will have to hem the edges.  And it won’t hang as nicely.  But it’s up to you. :)

 

 

Wanna give this skirt a try?

 

First of all, making a circle skirt is how they used to make poodle skirts.  The idea is that you cut out a huge circle and then cut out a hole for the middle where your waist will go.  Then, you add a waistband of some kind.  The idea is, that when you put it on and let the skirt hang at your waist from that center waist circle, it ripples and drapes really nicely, creating a fuller skirt, without having to ever gather any fabric.  (However, if you want to add even more fullness and give it more gathers, you can make the center circle bigger [and make the outer circle bigger too] and then gather it in to the correct waist size.)

 

So that’s what we’re going to do……except instead of a big circle, we’re going to make one out of an even square.  And in order to get a nice circle in the center, you can either cut out a paper circle and trace around that, or find a bowl that is the perfect size for you.  And instead of finding a circle that was exactly the size of my little Elli’s waist, I decided to go bigger and add in a little more ruffle to the skirt.  Not a ton, just a bit.  So I found a bowl that was about 1.5 times the size of Elli’s waist.  Her waist measures about 21 inches……and I found a bowl that was 30 inches around (circumference).  So just about 1.5 times as big.

 

 

Then, I had to decide how short I wanted the shortest parts of the uneven skirt.  I chose 10 inches.  And then the corners would hang down even longer.  So, I placed the bowl face down on my knit fabric.  And measured out 10 inches up/down and left/right from the bowl.  And then cut a perfect square.  (You could also measure out 10 inches from the right and left and then add in the measurement of the bowl and then remove your bowl and cut a square that size.)

 

 

Next, with your bowl exactly in the center of your square, trace around your bowl…

 

 

And then cut out that circle.

 

 

Now, you need some elastic.  Remember how I bought a ton of from Ruffle Fabric?  And I used it to make some other Elastic Band Skirts, that turned out really fun too.

 

Anyway, sew a wide piece of elastic (mine is 1.5 inches wide) together into a circle.  (I cut my piece the same length as Elli’s waist measurement and then overlapped the ends by one inch and then zig-zagged the ends to each other.  Then it’s about 1 inch smaller then her waist, allowing the elastic to stretch to stay on her.)

 

 

Then, place pins on the bottom of your elastic band at the sides and the exact middle in the front and back.  Then do the same for the top edge of the skirt.  (I think it’s easier if it’s folded in half.)  Now the elastic and skirt are divided into quarters.

 

 

If it’s easier for you (and it is for me too!), divide up the elastic and the skirt into eighths.  It will help while sewing.

 

 

See?  All nicely divided and pins in place.

 

 

Next, match up the pins of the elastic and the skirt, overlapping the fabric by about a half inch to the underside of the elastic.

 

 

Then, sew all the way around the elastic, attaching the skirt right to it.  Use a zig-zag stitch so that the elastic will still be free to stretch.  And just be sure that you are actually catching the curve of the circle waist opening.  (If you made your skirt opening wider than your elastic like I did, you will have to pull the elastic while sewing the fabric to it.  Use the elastic band skirt tutorial as a reference if needed.)

 

 

And that’s it.

 

 

Now go on, give it a try.

 

It’s such a quick little piece of sewing goodness!

-Ashley

 

 

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Ashley Johnston

Administrator at Make It & Love It
Ashley Johnston is a professional DIY costume maker, sewist, crafter, and owner of Make It & Love It. She is a mom of 5 and a wife to a very patient (with the craft clutter) husband. In case you’re wondering, she always chooses crafting/sewing/designing over mopping/dusting/wiping base boards……but bathrooms/laundry/full bellies are always attended to. Whew!

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Hi, I'm Ashley

Hi, I’m Ashley—the DIY-enthusiast behind this crazy blog!

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