Welcome to the Skirt Pattern Instructions. Here you’ll be able to find a step by step guide on how to draft your first basic skirt. I have good news for you, skirts are one of the easiest and quickest patterns to draft. So get your pen and paper and let’s get started!!
This pattern is the base for designs like the pencil skirt, tulip or wrap skirts, sky’s the limit.
Measurements
The first step of this skirt pattern instructions is to look at what measurements are needed. Make sure to write them down on a piece of paper, and that the tape is not too tight around your body. It’s also important to understand that it’s okay not to be super precise, as you’ll be able to modify the pattern during the prototyping phase. One final thing, it is better to take the measurements wearing what you would normally wear under the garment.
WAIST CIRCUMFERENCE
Measure the circumference of the thinest part of your body. If you want to be more precise, you can measure the front and back waist curve instead of the whole circumference.
HIP CIRCUMFERENCE
Measure the circumference of the widest part of your body. If you want to be more precise, you can measure the front and back hip curve instead of the whole circumference.
SKIRT LENGTH
Measure the vertical line from the waist to how long you want your skirt to be. It can be made longer or shorter later on, so don’t stress too much about this one.
HIP DEPTH
Measure the vertical line from the waist until where you measured the hip circumference. This measurement is taken on the side.
Instructions
Step 1 – Structure
Step number one is to build the structure of our culotte foundation. We start at the top left and mark 0.
- 0 – 1: Skirt length measurement
- 1 – 2: Half the hip circumference plus 1.5cm
- Finish drawing the rectangle
- Divide the structure: From the line 0-1 half way to 1-2 plus 0.75cm. The front is on the right and the back is on the left.
Step 2 – Main Lines
Once the main structure is ready, let’s draw the main lines that will define the shape of the culottes.
- The line 0 – 3 is the Waist Line
- 0 – 4: Waist to hip measurement. This is the Hip Line. Mark 4,5 and 6
- The line 1 – 2 is the Length Line
Step 4 – Waist
Next step is to draw the Waist. For that we’ll need to make some assumptions about darts.
- 0 – 7: 1/4 of the waist circumference + total dart measurement, and optional + 0.5 cm ease if you prefer a snug fit
- 3 – 8: 1/4 of the waist circumference + total dart measurement + the optional 0.5 cm ease
Darts are our way to create rounder shapes in the pattern. Every body will need different measurements. The rules are:
- Darts should be maximum 3 cm wide. After that they should be divided by 2.
- 2 darts are used for larger hips/small waist and 1 dart for more rectangular bodies.
- The same stands for the belly
As a standard dart measurement you can use:
- Front: 1 dart of 2.5cm. This is a total of 2.5cm.
- Back: 2 darts of 2cm each. This is a total of 4cm.
Step 5 – Darts
As explained before, darts will depend on your body. This is the standard way of drawing them but use the ones that suit you best.
- To position the darts, divide both front and back waistlines in 3 parts.
- On the back side (left on the drawing) we’ll draw 2 darts of 2cm each, one on each division. The first one is 14cm long and the second one is 13cm long.
- On the front side (right on the drawing) we’ll draw 1 dart on the first division of 2.5cm wide and 12cm long.
Step 6 – The Skirt
The basic skirt foundation is known for being straight. To finish the draft, just draw lines from 0 to 1, from 3 to 2 and a perpendicular line to the hip line, from 5 down.
To finish the pattern, draw the final curves:
- Back: Draw a curve from 5 to 7.
- Front: Draw a curve from 5 to 8.
And there you go, with this skirt pattern instructions you have finished another one of the basic blocks! A small thing you can check is to measure the side seam for both front and back patterns. They should be the same measurement.
For more information on how to modify this pattern, click here.