I cannot say no to stripes! I don’t know why but I just love a striped garment. But stripes and circle skirts (even half circle skirts) can be problematic because the curves distort the stripes in all kinds of ways. This can create some cool effects and can be used to your advantage to create chevron and other effects. Here are some examples:
As fun as some of those options are, sometimes you want the stripes to appear straight. And this is where panels come in! I think 6-8 panels work beautifully for a half circle and anywhere from 8 to 12 is great for a full circle. Panels are also good for border print fabrics too but depending on the fabric you may want even more! These vintage novelty skirts (bottom row below) each have 16 panels! It seems that some vintage fabrics were specifically printed in panels for circle skirts (top left) but you can also use contrast panels for a neat effect.
Being a sucker for stripes and having a love of vintage-y novelty prints, you can imagine how I felt when I saw this fabric! Pale blue and white stripes, festooned with boughs of evergreen scattered with pine cones and the whole pattern adorned with snowflakes. Sure, it’s a little Christmassy and I am pretty grinchy but I was so drawn to it. Then I saw the price, it was on ebay and I picked up three metres for $8 including shipping – Bargain! I had been wanting to try a panelled half circle in a stripe for some time and since the fabric arrived just before Christmas, I had to get sewing quickly! So there is the right way to do this and the way I actually did it. I was in a rush and not too fussed about how perfect the results were because how often will I wear a winter/Christmas skirt. I will explain both as I go…
I wanted to make a 6 panel half circle skirt, so I started with my half circle skirt pattern, if you need a pattern this post will show you how. What I should have done is fold the pattern in thirds and trace it and then add my desired seam allowance to each side of the wedge. This will keep my skirt the correct size. What I did do if fold the pattern in thirds and kind of wiggled it bigger until I had enough extra (about 1cm) on each side of the waist to account for seam allowance. Which meant I had a lot more (maybe 2-3 cm) extra at each side at the hem edge because that’s how circles work. It added a little extra flare at the hem but I was cool with that and very lazy. You can see what I mean if you look at my green pattern and how the front edge is sitting (pic above).
Many choose to fussy cut stripes to ensure everything matches perfectly and you are free to do that. You can go with a single or double layer cut out and tessellate the wedges so that they fit neatly on the fabric. But I was being quick and dirty! The edge of the stripes is blurred by the undulating garlands and the smattering of snow and I was feeling brave and cavalier! I folded the length of the fabric into a three layer arrangement and pinned at both selvedges to themselves, in the hopes of keeping the stripes aligned. I cut one wedge waist up and one wedge waist down and I had my six wedges! I sewed all the wedges in to one long strip and finished my seams with the mock overlock on my machine. Then I made it up exactly as I do all my half circle skirts, bias hem and all. Despite my general lack of care in the making, all but one stripe lined up perfectly!
Sometimes, quick and dirty wins! I didn’t take a ton of photos in the making, I know it’s unbelievable because I always have tons for each project! Stopping to take photos can take up so much time and I was in a hurry because Christmas is fixed date. What can you do? Luckily I took a few progress pics for my Mum. I still wanted to write a tutorial because as a completely self-taught sewist, I really wondered how people made border prints and stripes look so good! And if I couldn’t work it out, maybe others needed a hand too! Occasionally, google lets us down and we can’t find the exact info we need. I knew the answer was panels but not how many etc. It often just comes down to making something and testing your theories. Most of the time I don’t want to waste the fabric and I definitely don’t want to waste the time on making a ‘maybe’ when I can make a ‘hell yeah’! Since this ‘maybe’ became a ‘hell yeah’, I needed to share my findings. In the end I have a sweet, striped skirt that is wonderful for Christmas! These pics are from when I wore it to my ASG Sewing Group end of year drinks but I wore it to Mr Asks family Christmas too. The whole cool blue look is perfect for our hot weather celebrations but I think it could be cute in the winter with black opaques and a black top. All in all, I couldn’t be happier and I can’t wait to use this technique again! If you give it a go, send me pics xxxx
8 Comments
Hi, how would I do a full circle with stripes??? I have some GORGEOUS sari fabric and it has “stripping” running down the length. I’m really short too. I’m very scared to cut the fabric!!!
Never be scared to cut the fabric – you can’t have your fabric and wear it too! If you are worried, try drawing some stripes on a long piece of paper (ikea sells rolls for kids & I use it for drafting) and cutting out your pieces. It doesn’t have to be to scale. You can see how the stripes sit.
My stripes ran down the length (paralell to selvage) and I cut it to be this way (horizontal stripes) but this dress, the Priscilla Dress from The Pretty Dress Company is a great example of stripes running verically.
The more panels you have the ‘straighter’ the stripes will appear. For a full or half circle six is good, eight will mean a centre front and back seam and ten will avoid that. It’s really up to you and what you want in your final design.
Be brave and happy sewing xxx
Wow. I’ve got a bag of old wide-legged trousers that I saved for such an event as this. I’ve not sewed since 1991 in high school. Your post was great, so inspirational. Now to find the material, some newspaper, and your post with the pattern in it…
Oh yeah! That is a great project. I made my sister save a big tub of hippie clothes for a patchwork something! I am sure your sewing memory will kick in and you’ll be fine. I’d love to see your finished project. Happy Sewing xxx
Hi, I’m making a long dress with vertical stripes so I’m making a half circle skirt for the bottom and then making the top. I’m wondering how you connect the panels so they look so seamless?? Also I was a little confused with how you were supposed to use the pattern with like the extra on the side? Also does this work with long dresses too? Also I’m also self taught and kinda just put the fabric in the machine and sew without much technique so if you have any advice or basic pointers I would really appreciate it!!!
Hi JJ,
I had extra because I was too lazy to do things properly. Just find one third of the pattern and trace it and then add your desired seam allowance to each side of the wedge. When working with stripes, pin every stripe, so they match perfectly. It’s a bit of effort but it’s the only way to get the stripes neat. You can use this for any length, assuming you can fit the pattern on the fabric.
Hope that helps and happy sewing, S xx
Thank you!! Also how to you sew the panels together so perfectly you can’t even see them in your skirt! Its so seamless! Also do you make your own patterns and then just cut them into thirds and does that mean i would then have 3 panels all together or 6? Thank you so much for your help!!
Hi, Th panels look angled when laid out flat but when the skirt is on they appear straight, just line up the stripes at the seams. I make my own paterns. This post shows you how to draft a hald circle skirt for any bodice (this one for just a skirt). The skirt I made had 6 panels total, 3 front and 3 back. My skirt patten I have is for just half the skirt, so I used 1/3 of that (plus seam allowance) as the pattern for this skirt.
Hope that helps and happy sewing xxx