Sewing Pattern Instructions – Bias Skirt

Let’s learn how to Draft a Bias Skirt Sewing Pattern from start to finish. This pattern is really easy to draft but it’s a bit more difficult to sew if you chose silky fabrics (and you should because the design needs the fabric to drape)

For this pattern you’re going to need the skirt foundation! If you don’t have it, click on the image on the right and do that first. Luckily, this is a very simple foundation to get right, so good luck!!

Let’s get into how to draft the Bias Skirt pattern

SKIRT PATTERN

Step 1 – The Flare

The first step will be defining the length and the amount of flare.

  1. Length: I advise you to make it 5-10cm longer than what you’re looking for, to see how the fabric hangs once it’s finished.
  2. Flare: Just like the length, you can make it as flared as you want. In my version I extended the hemline 15cm and connected it to a point 25cm below the hip-line.

This design is a Bell skirt, but if you want it to flare from the waist, you can do that too. Just do the following:

  1. Draw lines from the dart points down to the hem. They should be perpendicular to the hip/hem line
  2. Cut through that line and cut through the dart without cutting through the dart point (it will be the pivoting point)
  3. Close the darts. You will see that the width of the dart will be transferred to the bottom of the skirt

This design is great if you’re using fabrics with a lot of drape that are difficult to sew with because there’s no darts!

Step 2 – The Facing

Skirts always need a structural piece to hold the skirt into place. For this skirt there are three options:

  1. Facing: Draw a line parallel to the waistline just below the back darts. Measure how low it is and do the same for the front. If you have darts, remove them from the facing and smoothen the curves. These pieces go on the inside of your skirt. This is the method I show you in the images.
  2. Waistband: Drawing the waistband is very similar to drawing the facing. Just draw a parallel line to the waistline in your desired with. Put the front and back waistbands together and smoothen the darts (this is the method I use in all my trouser patterns. Go check them out if it’s not clear). The waistband is a separate piece that goes on top of the skirt, so remember to redraw your skirt panels without the width of the waistband.
  3. Elastic Facing: This is the method I see most people use and it’s the easiest one. In this case the elastic will act as a facing so you don’t need to draft any extra pieces. Just take it into account when adding the seam allowances.

Step 6 – The Seam allowances

And just like that, the pattern is ready! The only thing left to do is adding the seam allowances.

  1. Add 1cm seam allowances everywhere (except for the CF and CB). If you’re planning on doing french seams, add 1.5cm instead of 1cm to those seams
  2. The CF and CB have no seam allowances
  3. As I said in Step 1, make the hems 5-10cm longer than desired to have enough fabric for the rolled hem.

And just like that, you learnt how to draft a Bias Skirt Pattern from scratch! Remember that this design is really simple to draft but the sewing process is a bit more tricky, so be ready.

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