Sewing Pattern Instructions – Pleated Skirt

In this article I’m going to show you how to draft a Pleated Skirt Sewing Pattern from beginning to end. This is a very simple pattern but there’s some math involved, so have patience and follow the instructions step by step.

This pattern follows the “Rectangular skirt foundation” which means that we can draft it with just some measurements. No need to complete any foundation beforehand. This pattern uses knife pleats but the instructions work for any other pattern. Just be aware that the construction will be different.

One last thing, I would advise you before you start sewing, to make a paper prototype! The pleats are a bit difficult to understand at the beginning and the zipper placement is also tricky to visualise. Just get a piece of paper and make a small sample of your pattern and everything will be easier later on.

Let’s get into how to draft the Pleated Skirt Sewing Pattern.

Measurements

WAIST CIRCUMFERENCE

Measure around where you want the waistband to sit. I used the natural waist. This normally sits just below the rib-cage and in most cases is the thinnest part of your body.

HIP CIRCUMFERENCE

Measure around your hips. If the wides part of your bottom is lower than your hips, measure that circumference.

SKIRT LENGTH

Measure how long you want the skirt to be from where you measured your waist, down. Modifying the length later on is really easy, so don’t worry too much.

WAIST TO HIP

Measure from where you measured your waist to where you measured your hips. Take this measurement from the side of your body.

Step 1 – The Pleat Width

The first step is to define the width and the number of pleats your skirt is going to need.

  1. Define the width of your pleats. The smaller the pleats, the more tedious the sewing is going to be. My pleats were 2cm wide
  2. Now let’s see how many pleats we need. To do that use this formula: #Pleats = Hip Circumference/Pleat width in my case this was 100cm/2=50 pleats

Step 2 – The Total Pleat Width

We defined the width of the pleat when it’s folded, but the truth is that pleats occupy 3 times its width.

  1. Calculate the Total Pleat width: Total Pleat Width = Pleat width x 3 in my case 2cm x 3 = 6cm

Step 3 – The Rectangle Width

Now that we know how many darts we need and how much space they occupy, let’s draw the skirt structure. This is going to be a rectangle

  1. Width: The width will be Rectangle width = Number of Pleats x Total Pleat Width in my case 50 pleats x 6cm = 300cm (3m)
  2. Length: You define how long you want your skirt to be.

Step 4 – The Pleat Distribution

Once the rectangle is ready, it’s time to distribute the pleats. To do that, you have to take into account what closure you want to add. In my case it’s an invisible zipper.

I want my invisible zipper to be hidden below the pleat, so the distribution goes as follows:

  1. Start with Full Pleat Width – 1/2 Pleat width in my case this is 6cm (full pleat width) – 1cm (1/2 pleat width of 2cm) = 5cm
  2. Add all pleats minus one as Full Pleat Width in my case I need to add 49 pleats of 6cm each
  3. Finish with 1/2 Pleat width in my case this is 1cm (1/2 pleat width of 2cm)

The total amount of pleats should be correct once you’re done distributing them.

Step 5 and 6 – The Waist

The pleats have been marked and now there’s only one thing left to do. If you remember, we calculated the rectangle based on our hip measurements. Now we have to make it fit our waist.

  1. First let’s mark the waist to hip measurement in our rectangle
  2. Then, we have to calculate how much we have to reduce every dart at the waist: Waist Shaping = Hip circumference – Waist circumference in my case 100cm – 76cm = 24 cm.
  3. That is the total number we have to reduce, now let’s calculate the reduction per pleat: Pleat reduction = Waist Shaping/Number of Pleats in my case 24/50=0.48 cm.
  4. This means I have to reduce 0.48cm (in my case) in total per pleat. I will divide this number by two and reduce it on each side of the pleat (the top of the pleat marked in red). Do that for each pleat

Step 7 – The Waistband

The last step to complete this pattern is to draft the waistband.

  1. Length: The length should be the waist circumference + 4cm. The 4cm are to have an overlapping waistband with a button closure
  2. Width: You can decide how wide you want the waistband to be. I like to make mine to be 4cm wide.

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 hem of the skirt). If you’re planning on doing french seams, add 1.5cm instead of 1cm to those seams
  2. I like doing an invisible hem for this pattern, so I add 3cm seam allowance to the bottom of the skirt

And just like that, you learnt how to draft a Pleated Skirt Sewing 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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