Sew Along: Adjustable Waist Half Circle Skirt {It has hidden Pockets!}

Welcome to the adjustable skirt sew along and a big thanks to Lizzie from Killer Kitsch for hosting!! If you are new here, I post recipes for vego/vegan food, loads of cakes and vintage inspired sewing tutorials.

This skirt is my new favourite thing! It is a half circle skirt that has an adjustable waist & pockets. It can grow or shrink by several imches in the waist. The best way to describe it is to show you. The front panel (which is secured with waist ties) conceals a button up waistband that can be adjusted by several inches. The modesty panel also forms two concealed pockets!

I first saw this concept on a vintage maternity pattern & was intrigued. I mean, how handy would an adjustable skirt be? I hunted for more info & I found several other vintage patterns and this adjustable trouser waistband article but nothing more. Along the way I lost some weight and started to run low on skirts that fitted. I was hoping to lose more & didn’t want to make skirts that would work for a short time. I dusted off the adjustable skirt idea and refined it a bit until I was happy and here we are!

When I think adjustable skirt, I think wrap skirt and you might wonder how this is different. I find that wrap skirts can feel a bit bulky on. And no matter how I tie them, I don’t think they look as fitted in the waist. I have made quite a few wraps skirts over the years and I never wear them as much as I thought I would. This adjustable skirt has cleaner lines and a more structured look to the waistband. Plus it has pockets! I have two others and I wear them all the time. I feel like this skirt has it all and I am in serious love!

Just some notes before we get started.

• To make my size fit 44″ wide fabric, I cut it on the cross grain, which means I chose directional prints carefully. I can just fit the skirt pieces on 54″ fabrics on grain.
• I used an overlocker to tidy my raw edges but if you don’t have one, you can pink or zig zag edges or even french seam everything. You will need to add extra seam allowance if you choose french seams and you might want to check out my post on french seaming pockets.
• You could also make this as a full circle skirt if you prefer
• don’t worry if you aren’t great with buttonholes. No one will see them so it’s good practice.

Draft the Pattern
The skirt is a half circle skirt made of four panels. To start with, you’ll need to draft a half circle skirt (info here & here). I wanted my skirts to fit my current waist measurement and be able to get smaller. So I drafted my skirt with my current waist measurement plus 4” (to allow for 1/2” seam allowance). If you want yours to be able to expand, add that extra in to the waist measurement . My half circle tutorial will give a pattern piece that is half the total skirt, so just fold or cut the piece in half to get the final panel pattern (1/4 of total skirt). Having two pattern pieces can make cutting out easier.

I have a free PDF of the pocket pattern piece above, just click download. It’s the part that took the most figuring out. There’s a balance in terms of the actual opening & pocket size that took a few iterations to get right. The ‘stop point’ as marked on the pattern maeks where the opening of the pocket is, where your hand will go into the pocket. If you have a bigger hand or want a bigger pocket opening, shift that point down an inch or so.

I cut 3 waistband/tie strips out 6” deep by width of fabric. You may need more or less depending on your waist measurement. In the end you will need one strip that’s 4-5” longer than the waist measurement you used to create the inner waistband with buttons plus one strip long enough to go all the way around your waist and tie up.

Cutting out

For the size of my pattern pieces, it’s easiest to cut the skirt out on the cross grain & I fit my pocket pieces in the gaps. I make sure to leave enough to cut out my waistband/tie pieces. It’s difficult to say how much you’ll need based on your skirt pattern but I can get everything cut out of 3m of 112cm wide. I actually only had 3 yards, so there is a tiny bit of selvage in my hem allowance! I put a little cutting diagram above.

Once you are all cut out, you should have;

• 4 skirt panels
• 4 pocket pieces
• 3 or more 6” strips x WOF

You will also need 3-4 buttons of the same size. Flatter ones will show less & create less bulk.

The sewing

Start by pinning three of the skirt panels along the side seam, right side together. Sew the seams with a 1/2” seam allowance. The three panels should now be one big panel. I’m going to call it the main panel from here.
Overlock the two seams you just made and the two straight raw edges at each end of the main panel. Grab the front panel and overlock the two straight edges of that too. Overlock around all four pocket pieces to finish them. Give all the seams & overlocking a good press.

Next we are going to sew the pocket pieces to both the main panel & the front panel. Lay the pocket pieces right side together, along each open side seam of the main panel. Stitch with a 1/2 SA. Repeat with front panel.
Make sure the ‘stop point’ from the pocket pattern piece is marked on the pockets. Time to join the front panel to the main panel and create the pockets.

Lay the front panel right sides together on the main panel and pin all along the pocket piece and down the side seam. Sew from the stop point to the hem (or from the hem to the stop point) going around the pocket pieces.Where the red line is! The waist and stop point should still be open. Press the pockets toward the centre.

Inner waistband is next! Start by running a basting stitch 1/2” away from one long edge of a strip. Fold the fabric so that the stitching is just to the wrong side and press well. I find the basting the quickest & easiest way to get a neat edge. It will make things easy later. Mark the centre of main panel & the centre of the waistband. Align the two marks with raw edges & right sides together. Pin the waistband to the skirt, working your way out until you get to ends of the main panel. The pocket piece should be extended as shown.

We are going to use that same basting and pressing technique again. So start sewing at the end of the strip and sew the single layer of waistband until you reach the main skirt panel, sew the waistband to the skirt and keep going, on to the single layer of waistband. Press along those stitches, pressing the seam into the waistband.

Align the short edges of the waistband, right sides together & seam allowances folded in and sew along the edges to close the waistband. Repeat on other side. Press the waistband in half and topstitch along the whole length to close the waistband.

Sew several button holes (4-5 should do it but whatever works for you) to one of the inner waistband extensions and several buttons to the other. I sew mine about 1” apart using the auto buttonhole on my machine. Snip then open with small scissors and add a little fray check. You can make them in the middle or closer to the top. Sew 3-4 buttons to the other side.

The outer waistband! I need to piece 2 strips together to get the right length. I generally cut one strip in half and seam the shorter pieces to either end of the whole strip. That way the seams are mostly hidden when it’s tied. Once you have the right length strip; running a basting stitch 1/2” away from one long edge of a strip. Fold the fabric so that the stitching is just to the wrong side and press well.

Mark the centre of front panel & the centre of the waistband. Align the two marks with raw edges & right sides together. Pin the waistband to the skirt, working your way out until you get to ends of the front panel. The pocket piece should be tucked in as shown.

We are going to use that same basting and pressing technique again. So start sewing at the end of the strip and sew the single layer of waistband until you reach the main skirt panel, sew the waistband to the skirt and keep going, on to the single layer of waistband. Press along those stitches, pressing the seam into the waistband.

Align the short edges of the waistband, right sides together & seam allowances folded in and sew along the edges to close the waistband. This time I like to make an angle with my stitches & trim down the seam. Repeat on other side. Press the waistband in half and topstitch along the whole length to close the waistband.

All that’s left is the hem! I decided to simply overlock and turn under and topstitch but I often go with a bias hem. Use whatever method you prefer.

Thank you for reading all that! It might seem a little complicated but once you understand how it goes together it goes pretty fast. I can make one of these in a long afternoon, now I have them down.

I really love these skirts! I already have two others (a black one and a leopard print) but they are my ‘go to’ skirt now and there will be others. I hope you love yours as much as I do!

I will hopefully have some SAL stories/highlights on instagram. I spend way too much time on instagram, so if you want to chat with me personally, your best bet is insta. I will be checking in on the Killer Kitsch SAL facebook and I will do my best to answer any Q’s you might have. I am super excited to see you makes, so make sure you tag @asksarah.com.au @killerkitsch13 #killerkitschsewalong #wrapskirtalong so I can see them! Happy sewing xx